Full Written Review of the Timex OVA Ironman Triathlon Watch.

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Full Written Review of the GARMIN Forerunner 101 Wrist Mounted GPS Fitness Computer.

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Read the Full Written Review of the Nike Midsize Triax Speed 10 Regular watch.

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Full Written Review of the SIGMA ONYX Classic Heart Rate Monitor Watch.

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Timex OVA Ironman Triathlon Watch

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $79.95

Amazon Price: View Sale Price

The revolutionary design of the Ironman Triathlon Sleek with OPTIMAL VIEWING ANGLE puts the display in your natural line of sight, without breaking form. The START/LAP button is located in the best possible position for instant and mistake-proof access. The case and strap are sculpted like a second skin, ensuring maximum comfort. The end result is less effort seeing the time, surer tracking of splits, the best possible fit and — most importantly — a faster finish.

The Timex OVA Ironman Triathlon Watch is a tough timepiece designed to withstand a tough triathlon, and all the training that goes with it. Constructed with a lightweight resin case, the watch includes a stationary plastic bezel and a blue resin wristband with an adjustable buckle clasp. A durable mineral window shields the large blue-shaded digital-gray dial face, which displays time as well as the day, date, and month. Four black and blue buttons decorate the bezel and include mode, set/recall, Indiglo, and stop/reset functions. A prominent blue start/lap button rests above the 12 o’clock position. This athletic timepiece is powered by digital-quartz movement and is water resistant to 330 feet.

“I recently bought a Timex OVA (optimal viewing angle) watch. I bought it as a replacement for my old Nike Triax watch, which inexplicably stop functioning correctly. After comparing several different watches, including the new Nike Triax watch, I was impressed at the lightweight of the OVA; I can’t even tell when it’s on my wrist. Also the OVA comes in large- and mid-size versions, which is very important for many runners like myself that have thin wrists. The viewing angle makes looking at your watch slightly easier while running versus the conventional angle. Furthermore, the placement of the buttons is the best on any watch I have ever owned or tried; the start/lap button is literally fool proof and very easy to find without having to look down! The indiglo night feature works the same as many new sport watches, by lighting the numbers rather than the screen, which works very well at night. The memory feature gives lap times, total time, best time, average lap time and also the date at which the time was recorded, which makes recording training information very easy. Finally this watch not only performs fantastic… but it looks awesome with a ton of different color options.”

“Coming from a long distance runner, I find this watch to be one of the best watches I’ve had in a long time.”

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However, not everyone is really on board spending much money in the equipment for improving their training. This is especially true, for running and running watches. Many runners, especially those just in it for leisure and not for competitive purposes, would think that running watches are nothing more but added expenses. They would think that running watches cannot really help them improve their training.

This is wrong of course. A running watch, when properly used can definitely help you in improving your training and other workout sessions. Here are some of the ways where having a running watch handy would help you better your exercise.

Accurate Distance Travelled through GPS features:

One of the ways that people train is through running a set distance. For example, a person would want to set a goal of being able to run or jog for 3 kilometers a day. However, they may not have a way to accurately measure just how much they were able to train.

Through the GPS feature of a running watch, you have a way to accurately know just how much distance you have covered while you run. There are even some running watches that beep or inform you if you are about to cover your set training goal.

Tracking your Heart Rate:

A running watch when equipped with a heart rate monitor can help you track your target hear rate zone. This is important for you to be able to determine whether you were able to get an effective workout. A good workout would mean that you were able to reach your specific target heart rate.

With a running watch, you have a handy way of knowing if you were overtraining or under training. Under training means that you could have probably wasted time as your workout is insufficient. Overtraining, on the other hand, may be dangerous because you are pushing your body to levels that it may not be able to handle. This may cause injury or unnecessary stress to your body.

See improvement over previous performance:

People respond well to motivation. One of the best motivational tools is to see improvement or progress with what you are doing. Through the use of a running watch’s log of all your exercise data, you would be able to see your improvement in pace, speed, distance covered, and other factors.

Conversely, you would also be able to see if your performance is dipping in some aspects. This would allow you to force yourself to do better in it.

Through these features you would be able to see just how a running watch would be able to help your training. Maybe it’s not time for you to consider using one on your own workouts.

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3. Features to look for in a Running Watch:

To the uninitiated, running simply helps you get in shape by burning fats and toning your muscles. While this may be true to some extent, there are actually more benefits that running can do for your body. Here are some of the ways where running can help in your development.

Cardiovascular exercise:

Running is a very good cardiovascular aerobic exercise. When one person runs, you are able to strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, which helps facilitate the flow of air in and out of the lungs. It also helps improving circulation efficiency and reduce blood pressure.

Regular running helps keep your stamina up, and give you more time before you get that “out of breath” feeling.

This is one of the reasons why running watches are equipped with logs for a history of your training. It checks whether you were truly able to improve your running strength and endurance by checking how fast or how long you were able to maintain a certain pace.

Strengthens leg and foot muscles:

Aside from being out of breath, one of the reasons that people are not able to go the distance that they want would be because of the pain in their weak leg muscles. When a person lives an inactive lifestyle, these muscles weaken and are unable to endure moving long distances.

On the other hand, a person who runs regularly would be able to strengthen these muscles making them more capable of enduring longer distances.

You would notice this improvement more thanks to the running watch’s powerful GPS sensors that could accurately track the distances that you have travelled during each training session.

Increases speed and reflexes:

Running regularly would help you increase your speed reflex times. This is because you are able to make your muscles move more efficiently and in a preprogrammed manner due to the continuous training or running movements that you have done.

You would be able to see a drop in your lap or split times because your muscles in your entire body have now become stronger and more capable to push your pace.

You would be able to track this improvement thanks to the running watch’s capability to track your time accurately up to the hundredths of a second.

Now that you see the benefits of doing running training regularly, what are you waiting for? Strap on a running watch and get on the road, oval, or athletics track and begin your running training  now!

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While the different manufacturers and models of running watches would mean that each one of them would have unique features, there are some things that are consistent in a running watch. These are the features that should always be great in any model so that it would become a good running watch for you.

Here is a list of those features that you should look for in a running watch to determine if it would help you:

Connection to GPS

A GPS powered running watch would definitely help you in your training. This is because the GPS system would help you accurately track data such as your location, pace, and total distance covered.

The power of a GPS powered running watch is truly capable of providing you with the highly accurate data that you would need if you are serious in your running training.

Large and Legible Display:

It could be hard to focus on your training if you would not be able to read the data on your running watch. Having jumbled data, or very confusing data fields would be frustrating for you to see while running.

Related to this, you should also check whether the running watch display can still show you good data at night or at bright light. You may want to invest in a watch that has a backlit display such as those termed as Indiglo.

Computer Connectivity:

Having a running watch that has good computer connectivity would definitely help you in your training. A whole host of options becomes available for you if you are given the capability to download or upload your training data.

You can get professional advice from various runners, or run training analyzing software for you to know which aspects of your training would still require improvement.

Toughness:

Running training could lead you to situations where nature can be difficult to work with. Rain, sleet, snow, or even extreme heat can be your enemies. That’s why you should check if the running watch is able to withstand harsh environments.

Things to check for could be water resistance, as well as how tough the construction of the watch and its straps are. You don’t want your watch to break down right in the middle of your training!

The ones listed are just some of the basic factors and features that you should take into consideration when purchasing a running watch. Being able to find a watch that can satisfy all of them would truly help in ensuring that you would have a good partner as you work out.

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Garmin Forerunner 101 Waterproof Running GPS

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $114.27

Amazon Price: $274.99

The compactly designed Garmin Forerunner 101 is capable of providing precise and accurate speed, distance, and pace data to all the runners. It can track calories burned, lap history, and all other performance data necessary for improving training.

The Forerunner 101 even takes this data a step further and can create a Virtual Partner that helps runners reach their goals better. The Virtual Partner can be configured so that the runner can check if they are able to keep to the pace that they want their running training to have.

What separates the Forerunner 101 from other devices is the fact that it is a high quality Garmin GPS device. This means that precise latitude, longitude, and altitude data can be expected from it. This allows runners to mark specific areas, and navigate to them through an electronic map

It is also notable that the Garmin Forerunner 101 is easily adaptable to any situation. There are many accessories available to suit your need. There are available accessories to make it better equipped for cycling, distance running or other physical activities.

What’s in the box:
Forerunner 101 unit, wrist strap, manual, and quickstart guide.

Buy/More Info

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Garmin 101
Disappointed with the unit. It has great capabilities and the price was right, but the pace function does not work dependably, and the battery life does not appear to be the 14 hours advertised. I needed a battery operated unit so that I could use the Garmin while hiking peaks from a backpack/backcountry situation, therefore being able to replace batts and use it every day, and during the pack, to track elevation and distance, etc. I have the 201 for day hikes, which charges electrically. It could be operator error, but battery life should not be…

1 Star Worked, For About 2 Weeks
My loving wife gave this to me after I commented how much my brother liked his. And for about 2 weeks it was pretty cool to watch my speed and distance while and ran or rode my bike, and to get data from the runs. Then it started acting up, and I switched batteries a couple times and re-read the manual but by the end of 3 weeks of semi-daily usage it quit altogether. I didn’t use this product in the rain or combat or anything, just for running and bike riding, honest. I am about to send it back and I hope to heck I just get our money back. The product I got was truly garbage and I advise anyone against buying it. Who needs to spend good money on something that only works 2 weeks? This reinforces my philosophy that sports and fitness should be kept simple, that going high tech is a waste of time and money.

4 Stars Nice little GPS
GPS system works great. I was originally skeptical of it being comfortable due to its size, but it hasn’t been a problem. The only complaint I have is that it goes through batteries very quickly. I probably put a new set in every week. Need to get some rechargeables.

Otherwise, I’m very happy with my Garmin.

3 Stars Good for distance, Poor for pacing.
If your looking for a GPS watch under $100 to just measure distance walked, run, or biked, then this watch will fit the bill. But if your a runner or biker looking for more advanced features like pacing you will probably be better served getting the Forerunner 205 for $50 more.

Here is my experience with the Forerunner 101:

I run a 5 mile loop along a pedestrian only parkway next to a lake. The distance markers have been measured and verified by a local track club so I know they are accurate. The Forerunner 101 usually hits the markers right on or is within +/- .05 of the marker, and the total distance is also within this variance. The pacing is a different matter. I usually run this 5 mile loop in around 40 mins. for a mile pace of about 8 mins./mile. The watch pacing swings wildly up or down per mile so one minute it says I’m running 10 mins./mile and then a few seconds later 7 mins./mile. During the course of the run it will level off for awhile to what seems a fairly accurate pace reading of about 8 mins./mile, but at some point will fluctuate wildly again. I have also used this watch in a 5K race with the same pacing fluctuations.

The GPS acquisition when you first turn on the watch does take awhile, normally 2 – 5 minutes. So you definitely don’t want to turn the watch on a few seconds before they fire the gun to start a race. I like the history log that records and stores the times for each run by weeks, this makes it easy to track each run without having to enter the information in a database.

The bottom line here is to keep in mind this watch has been around since 2002, so the technology is dated. If your on a tight budget and just want to know your distance traveled this watch should work for you, otherwise put the money towards a newer model.

4 Stars satisfied
This is the first & only gps watch I have owned. I live in a rural area with no tall buildings. I have been very satisfied with the Forerunner 101 as compared to the cost. I typically turn it on and set it on my front porch a few minutes before I run. 98% of the time I have no problems, when I have a problem it’s with signal strength. I love having time/pace/total distance all displayed at once. The distance seems to be very accurate & consistant. I was afraid the bulk of the watch would bother me but it hasn’t. Two AAA batteries are lasting me over 50 miles which is not bad if you only run 10-15 miles a week like me. I recently ran my first half-marathon and enjoyed being able to go back on the watch and see my pace for each mile of the race.

Buy/More Info

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