Will a GPS watch work while running on a cruise ship?

June 12, 2012 by Editor Leave a Comment

I had a great question via email today that I just had to write about. Mandy has a brand new Garmin 410 Forerunner GPS watch. This summer, she is going on a cruise and would like to keep up her running while on the ship. That’s great! Congratulations Mandy, on keeping up with your fitness. But, what she wants to know is if her GPS will will work while on the ship.

Image licensed under CC from Flickr user lotopspin. Thank you.

While on a cruise ship, there are 2 ways that you can keep up with your running. First, use the treadmill in the cruise ship health club. Just about all cruise ships have clubs of various sizes. And, typically, a least a few treadmills for you to get in your run.

But, if you are like me, you prefer to run outside. No problem as most of the larger cruise ships have a small walking/jogging/running track on the perimeter of one of the larger decks. So, go outside and enjoy the fresh air and run in many circles.

Now, on to the question…will the GPS watch work while running on a cruise ship. The answer is yes, it will work, but it will absolutely NOT be accurate while the ship is moving. First, out on the open ocean, you should be able to get a very strong satellite signal. But, if you run when the ship is moving, the GPS calculation tracks your movement and the ships movement at the same time.

Let’s say that you are running from the back of the ship to the front while the ship is in motion. The GPS will seem to cover a lot of ground. But, if you run from the front to the back of the ship, you will have covered less ground. If the ship is barely moving in a bay, you may even be standing still according to your GPS.

You best bet is to consult with a member of the ships crew. They should be able to tell you the length of the track on the ship. Then, you can simply count your laps.

Garmin FR60 GPS Running Watch

December 5, 2011 by Editor Leave a Comment

The Garmin FR60 running watch is an advanced GPS running watch that has been created keeping the needs of runners and triathletes in mind. It has everything one may look for in a GPS runner’s watch: all the advanced features that are required by today’s athletes to train. This watch follows from the Garmin Forerunner line and has some of the best features offered, as well as other innovative features. The high price tag and the extra baggage are thankfully missing. Confused as to whether or not to buy the Garmin FR60? Read our GPS watch review before you decide.

Garmin FR60: Design

The Garmin FR60 running watch is light and small and you will have no trouble with it when you go swimming or running. It looks sleek enough to be worn as a daily wear watch as well. It has a good audible alarm clock that is perfect for those times when you are afraid of missing an early morning training session. The Garmin FR60 watch is available in black, lilac and red. Accessories you can buy with this watch are bike sensor, heart rate monitor and foot pod. The compact look of the watch and the way all the features fit inside one tiny package makes us give thumbs’ up to Garmin once again!

Garmin FR60: Usability

The Garmin FR60 is a running sports watch that is perfect for both athletes and the casual wearer. Its compact design and light weight makes the wearer feel quite comfortable when it is strapped to the arm. It has advanced sports features that athletes and trail runners can use in it and the great thing is that it is extremely user friendly. Setting up the watch is easy and so is programming it in a way to suit you! Also, learning to use all the features is really not difficult at all.

Garmin FR60: Features

The Garmin FR60 is totally water resistant. This means that you don’t have to worry if you sweat a lot during your training sessions. You can even take it out on a swim without being worried about whether it is going to work later on! It is triathlon- friendly. This watch is a training aid and can keep track of the current pace, speed, hear rate, average pace, distance and time and also lets you train within your specific Heart Rate Zones. Of course, the GPS records every mile that you can download to your computer. When the watch is turned on for the first time, it will record your age, height and weight. It can also be used to set up alerts for training. The Virtual Trainer Mode is another feature worth mentioning. When you connect the Garmin FR60 to a foot pod, you get a continuous stream of live data like your speed, pace and distance. It can also be connected to a heart rate monitor or bike sensor if you want more data. Minus points? None we could find!

Garmin FR60: Summary

The Garmin FR60 is a must buy for athletes looking for a complete solution to their training needs; plus a watch!

Help support Running Watch Review. The Garmin FR60 GPS running watch is available from these online stores:

Amazon.com: Men’s FR60 | Women’s FR60
Paragon Sports: Men’s FR60 | Women’s FR60
Altrec: Men’s FR60 | Women’s FR60
Backwoods

Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch

December 5, 2011 by Editor Leave a Comment

The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch is a sports watch that offers cutting edge performance and is a perfect companion for runners and swimmers alike. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch has packed in enough features to suit the needs of the most ardent lap timer, race pace trainer and interval trainer. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch has innovative features never seen before, like the drink-timer and fuel timer apart from all the things you would expect in a running sports watch. Whether you should invest money in buying it or not: that is something you will have to decide! But before that, take a look at our review.

Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch: Design

The Timex Ironman Sleep 150 Lap Watch comes in quite a few different colors and styles. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap watchband is an integral part, but looks like it will wear out before the watch, which may be a problem. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 is quite comfortable to wear. One will not have a problem wearing the Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch as a daily watch. The Tap Screen is perhaps the most interesting feature of the Timex Ironman Sleek 150 that is worth talking about. Logging split times is easy with just a tap on the screen. No need to look for buttons ad dials when you are logging in the time of your run! It is sleek and quite nice to look at. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 looks like classic Timex, but it’s thinner and sleeker. The large number display and the angled glass at the bottom give it a contemporary and stylish look.

Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch: Usability

The fact that the Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch is a runner’ sports watch but yet does not have GPS or a heart rate monitor is not something that would make too many people happy. But honestly, the makes up for its deficiencies quite a bit with its very user- friendly Tap Screen. You can wear the Timex Ironman Sleek 150 quite easily when swimming too. What’s more, the Tap Screen works wonderfully in water. It has adjustable sensitivity settings and you can set it according to the kind of swimming you are going to do. Usability is high as you can just tap the screen twice with two of your fingers and the lap timer will stop after a beep. The large number display makes it easy to see the timings when you are running.

Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch: Features

The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch is a fully featured Ironman sports watch targeted at people who run, hop, skip and swim a lot. The Tap Screen is one of its best features. Other than this, the huge memory (it can store 15 laps of information in it, Chronograph, drink and snack timers, target pace timer with audible alarms and 9 interval timers; all speak of Timex’s dedication to the sports segment of the populace.

Timex Ironman Sleek 150 Lap Watch: Summary

Overall, the Timex Ironman Sleep 150 Lap is an excellent sports watch that is great for daily wear as well as for times you get nasty in the mud.

Help support Running Watch Review. The Timex Ironman Sleek 150 lap running watch is available from these online stores:

Amazon.com
Altrec