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Sunday, November 09, 2003

Running man

Standard pedometers are a waste of time. Rarely do they work, period, and when they do they have always been very innacurate for me. The average digital pedometer will cost you between $15 and $40 - money far better spent on a heart rate monitor.

With several failed attempts at using pedometers in training behind me, the best I can do to measure a run right now is to drive up the coast with the car's trip distance recorder on. It's a pretty sucky way to measure a run - not only do you have to constantly look at the damn thing while you're driving, you have to fudge the numbers a bit as the route you drive is never the same as your run.

So now I'm thinking about trying a cheap GPS to record runs and set routes and waypoints. The [Garmin Geko 201] looks like it will do the job, and is small enough to strap on a forget as it records a run. With an RS-232 adapter dongle it can be connected to a computer and you can save out the GPS data for later use. Now, while the [Rino 120] is my dream GPS because of it's radio and P2P features, I'll probably wait for the next version of it before I buy in, and it's way too big for running. Garmin does have a new product specifically designed for running - the [Forerunner 201], though it's only becoming available now, so who knows how well it can track GPS satellites. It has some interesting features though.

For now I'm thinking the plan is to mount a Geko 201 onto Blackhawk web gear on the right rear shoulder and to run with it up there and out of the way. When I get the bike, I'll get a nice little handlebar mount and use it for that too!

11/09/2003 10:29:00 PM ] [  0 comments  ]
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