A Serious* Runner’s Thoughts on AW SE

[Long Run Nick]

*Some street creds: 77 yr old long distance road runner, began logging my miles back in April,1976. Current total 94,221 and counting. 549 road races(20 marathons/27 ultras). Still running 40-50 miles a week, though a lot slower. I tell folks I am practicing running in slow motion. Have used more running watches(Garmin,Polar, others too numerous to mention). Hear Rate training for many,many years. Was using Polar when most folks thought Polar was a bear. Stryd Power pod for several years. I mention this to hopefully gain some credibility prior to my thoughts on the AW SE.
Full disclosure, had several early generation Apple Watches, gave them to Grand Children, great smartwatch, not so great running watch. Have had the SE for a week: 6 runs- total 45 miles. I am impressed! Ran with my Coros/Garmin Dual HR strap/ Stryd Power Pod on one wrist/AW on the other. Heart Rate very close to HR chest strap on average. A little slower to respond to hills/surges. But impressive for wrist HR. Elevation very close between the 2 watches. Sadly, GPS is quite generous. I found it to be about .15 miles longer on 7-8 mile runs. That means a difference of 10-15 seconds on pace per mile. Not the end of the world, but can result in AW users thinking they are going further and faster than they actually are. My 77 yr old eyes struggle a little with the read out, but I like the mile times shown on the watch. Battery not a big issue for short runs, but longer distances not recommended. My Coros battery use is by far the best running watch battery I have ever experienced. Rarely run with music because I don’t need it to run, prefer to be one with my running.
Any way to increase exercise time to more than 1 hour? I tell folks I normally run for 11/2-2 hours and look at the data from Strava,Stryd and Coros for 3 hours
I am very grateful for my health and the gift of being able to keep running. Question most asked by people,”how are your knees?” I tell them they are as knobby as they were in high school.
I have coached hundreds of runners, including time as coach of the All Army Marathon Team in the early 80’s. My advice, slow down- start easy then back off. Nike used an ad that said there is no finish line, I have added maybe the cemetary.
Thanks for letting me share. Get/stay fit- it works!! Nick

 

[jz0309]

*Some street creds: 77 yr old long distance road runner, began logging my miles back in April,1976. Current total 94,221 and counting. 549 road races(20 marathons/27 ultras). Still running 40-50 miles a week, though a lot slower. I tell folks I am practicing running in slow motion. Have used more running watches(Garmin,Polar, others too numerous to mention). Hear Rate training for many,many years. Was using Polar when most folks thought Polar was a bear. Stryd Power pod for several years. I mention this to hopefully gain some credibility prior to my thoughts on the AW SE.
Full disclosure, had several early generation Apple Watches, gave them to Grand Children, great smartwatch, not so great running watch. Have had the SE for a week: 6 runs- total 45 miles. I am impressed! Ran with my Coros/Garmin Dual HR strap/ Stryd Power Pod on one wrist/AW on the other. Heart Rate very close to HR chest strap on average. A little slower to respond to hills/surges. But impressive for wrist HR. Elevation very close between the 2 watches. Sadly, GPS is quite generous. I found it to be about .15 miles longer on 7-8 mile runs. That means a difference of 10-15 seconds on pace per mile. Not the end of the world, but can result in AW users thinking they are going further and faster than they actually are. My 77 yr old eyes struggle a little with the read out, but I like the mile times shown on the watch. Battery not a big issue for short runs, but longer distances not recommended. My Coros battery use is by far the best running watch battery I have ever experienced. Rarely run with music because I don’t need it to run, prefer to be one with my running.
Any way to increase exercise time to more than 1 hour? I tell folks I normally run for 11/2-2 hours and look at the data from Strava,Stryd and Coros for 3 hours
I am very grateful for my health and the gift of being able to keep running. Question most asked by people,”how are your knees?” I tell them they are as knobby as they were in high school.
I have coached hundreds of runners, including time as coach of the All Army Marathon Team in the early 80’s. My advice, slow down- start easy then back off. Nike used an ad that said there is no finish line, I have added maybe the cemetary.
Thanks for letting me share. Get/stay fit- it works!! Nick

Thanks for sharing! Curious, which previous generations Was did you have and what was not to like vs the SE? I've had S0/3 and now S4 (for 21/4 yrs), I don't run but do mountain biking and even the S0 seemed ok for me, but never had any other fitness device besides AW.
Keep it up and stay healthy!

 

[MJ22]

I’m 40 and been running since 1994, so not quite as long as you but still pretty “serious*” LOL!

I have the S6 and DC Rainmaker’s review had it as slightly better GPS than the SE. It’s much better than the S4 which I had previously. I also have the GPS only version now, and previously had the LTE version. I feel the GPS only is more accurate. Overall in the past my AW accuracy has been fine. With an S3 my last half marathon was 13.22 miles which is a perfectly fine deviance from 13.1 when you consider weaving and not running tangents the whole time. All versions are fine for mile - 5K - 10K and odd distances in between (5K I have gotten measurements from 3.07 to 3.17 which can be dependent on how a course was measured too). On my last 10K race it measured 6.18. I do a 9 miler every year and that’s varied. Last year my S4 completely sh*t the bed and measured 9.27 (!!!!). This year it measured 9.07. Garmins on the same course have been around 9 flat to 9.05.

I also feel for whatever reason the program WorkOutDoors is more accurate! And you can customize the screens (and set up multiple screens to use during a run by swiping) with over 300 metrics (even though I don’t care about most metrics). I’ve used prior Garmins as well (I think the 610, 210, FR 10, and FR 35) and I like the AW better than them. I can wear it all day and it looks nice with any outfit. You can probably relate to this but I don’t go nuts over super precise accuracy because 1) I understand it’s not an exact science because this small device is literally communicating with machines in the sky and 2) since I began running using a Timex and my coach’s route measaurements made with his 1990 Cutlass Supreme, I’m good at innately pacing and calculating time in my head as I run so I’m not totally dependent on a pace readout.

 

[Long Run Nick]

Thanks for sharing! Curious, which previous generations Was did you have and what was not to like vs the SE? I've had S0/3 and now S4 (for 21/4 yrs), I don't run but do mountain biking and even the S0 seemed ok for me, but never had any other fitness device besides AW.
Keep it up and stay healthy!

I think AW 1/2. Never considered the AW a go to running watch.