Which GPS watches do you guys recommend?
When I'm swimming in open water, I want to know the straight-line distance of the course. I'm not nearly as interested in how much extra I ended up swimming by veering off course. That's an interesting data point, but I don't get credit for the extra distance in a race, so I don't count it in training either.
Because of that, I don't care too much about the swim correction feature. I'm fine if the data ends up with a bunch of zig-zags. As long as I can hit lap to pinpoint landmarks on the course, I can figure out the straight-line distance in Google Earth.
I do care about how quickly it can get a signal.
A lot of my triathlete buddies have the Garmin 310XT. That seems to have a bunch of features I don't need. Plus, I think it's really ugly. I truly hate the idea of spending that much money on a humongous gray and orange watch.
The reviews I read on Timex and Polaris GPS watches don't look that great--I see a lot of complaints about them being slow to connect and the software being a pain to use. Have any of you had good experiences with them? What about lower-end Garmin models?
If I did break down and get the 310XT, would I ever even be wearing it on my wrist, or would I have to wear it under my cap?
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Thanks everyone for your comments.
antenna faces up/forward, then the latex cap over everything, listening for the beep of an inadvertent button press (never happens). i don't press the start button until i'm in the water and ready to swim.
Thanks for this and for the picture. Great idea using your goggles to anchor it. I did have it facing the opposite way.
Katiek: are you using GPS to keep track of your laps in a swimming pool?
No. I've been taking it to the pool to see if I can get the kinks worked out before my next open water event.
I did another test today, positioning it with the antenna pointing up. I didn't hit lap, just Start and Stop. I started and stopped several times and tried positioning a few different ways on my head.
My results weren't any better. On Garmin Connect, it looks like I am swimming across 12 lanes, and thru the parking lot. It looks better in Google Earth, but it still has me 18 meters outside the pool and swimming in random directions.
I hear it beeping quite a bit which I assume means that it's losing its signal.
There is no part of my head that stays completely out of the water, so I'm not surprised it's losing its signal from time to time. But I still wouldn't expect the results to be SO erratic.
I have a race tomorrow, so I'll try it again and let you know how it goes. For the race, I'm turning the beeps off, setting it to collect data every second instead of using "smart" recording. I'm also turning off "Auto Lap" and "Auto Pause" (unless you guys advise me differently).
I'm usually good at this kind of thing...
Thanks everyone for your comments.
antenna faces up/forward, then the latex cap over everything, listening for the beep of an inadvertent button press (never happens). i don't press the start button until i'm in the water and ready to swim.
Thanks for this and for the picture. Great idea using your goggles to anchor it. I did have it facing the opposite way.
Katiek: are you using GPS to keep track of your laps in a swimming pool?
No. I've been taking it to the pool to see if I can get the kinks worked out before my next open water event.
I did another test today, positioning it with the antenna pointing up. I didn't hit lap, just Start and Stop. I started and stopped several times and tried positioning a few different ways on my head.
My results weren't any better. On Garmin Connect, it looks like I am swimming across 12 lanes, and thru the parking lot. It looks better in Google Earth, but it still has me 18 meters outside the pool and swimming in random directions.
I hear it beeping quite a bit which I assume means that it's losing its signal.
There is no part of my head that stays completely out of the water, so I'm not surprised it's losing its signal from time to time. But I still wouldn't expect the results to be SO erratic.
I have a race tomorrow, so I'll try it again and let you know how it goes. For the race, I'm turning the beeps off, setting it to collect data every second instead of using "smart" recording. I'm also turning off "Auto Lap" and "Auto Pause" (unless you guys advise me differently).
I'm usually good at this kind of thing...
