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Any of you done serious running with AW?

dj1891

dj1891

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 16, 2015
641
343
Northern Ireland
I’m doing my first marathon next spring, I’m just not sure if the AW is up to the job. I have it in my head that a Fitbit is good for up to 5k training, AW good up to half marathon but for marathons, ultras etc Garmin is the way to go. Even the most basic Forerunner 45 will do better than an AW for the serious runner. What’s your thoughts? Yeah the new Ultra might change things but I’m using a SE and sure as hell wouldn’t pay £800+ for a Watch, the wife would put me out if I did.
 
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It depends what is your target for running. Need to get in first third of competitions, maybe you want to some more advanced body metrics, which finally are just some algorithms based on HR readings.
I am an amateur runner / jogger which finished severa half marathons and marathons having the target just to improve my times and having an active life.
Had TomTom, Suunto and Garmin watches. Just switched form Fenix 6X to AW ultra and it seems that it covers my basic requirements: GPS tracking (pretty good), HR monitor, Power and being able to do intervals.
Can mark segments with the action button, scroll screens with crown, pause with 2 buttons, everything is covered without using touch screen.
 
zmx said:
It depends what is your target for running. Need to get in first third of competitions, maybe you want to some more advanced body metrics, which finally are just some algorithms based on HR readings.
I am an amateur runner / jogger which finished severa half marathons and marathons having the target just to improve my times and having an active life.
Had TomTom, Suunto and Garmin watches. Just switched form Fenix 6X to AW ultra and it seems that it covers my basic requirements: GPS tracking (pretty good), HR monitor, Power and being able to do intervals.
Can mark segments with the action button, scroll screens with crown, pause with 2 buttons, everything is covered without using touch screen.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t say more

I’m preparing a marathon next spring just like you, a trail in August…

Ultra is perfect for me with Workoutdoors, I can settle target, map and GPX, interval, health metrics, so far so good
 
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dj1891 said:
You guys have very understanding wives, if I bought the Ultra I’d be sleeping in the Garden Shed for a while lol.
Click to expand...
Everything comes with a price :)))) Besides money, it had another price attached, which I am going to discover later
 
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So I had to test this out folks. Took the daughters Forerunner 245 vs the Apple Watch SE 2, this was 8 mile easy run. I think Garmin is the gold standard really. Is this acceptable enough? Interestingly the Garmin started off 75% battery finished 60%, Apple Watch 100% and finished 85%
 
I’ve ran with both but have settled on my Garmin for running, mainly because it’s easier to use with buttons, especially in wet conditions. I don’t even need to look at the watch to operate it.

They can both do the job well enough but I feel that Garmin is designed for running etc and just works better - for my wants and needs.

With the Apple Watch I would always make sure that the watch was at 100% before i started a run as I can be out for 3 - 4 hours but I have no such anxiety with my Garmin.
 
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I go on n 2-4 hour long walks and hikes 3-4 times per week and it loses almost no battery during those with everything on. I lift weight 2-3 times per week with some stair steppers mixed in.

I run once once in a while and am still in shape to run a 5k at will but I don’t often because in my 40’s it just feels hard on my body to run every day.

It’s tracked time, heart rate, location just fine for me. No better or worse than my S7 just way better battery life.

I don’t know what you mean by “serious” but it works for me.
 
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I have both. You can use either for running, but I think even a midrange Garmin is better for marathon training.

That being said, the Ultra is the first AW in my experience that I could make work for my training, but there are limitations. I think this is the best overview of it’s capabilities as a sports watch –
connectthewatts.com

Apple Watch Ultra review: Is it a true sports watch?

The Apple Watch Ultra is an extremely nice smart watch, but unfortunately it is still missing what it takes to be a modern day sports watch.
connectthewatts.com connectthewatts.com
 
^^^^interesting thing about that article is, almost all of the complaints that make it “not as good as a Garmin as a serious sports watch” can be solved with Strava and the WorkOutdoors app.

From a battery life standpoint, and access to maps, it’s hard to beat a Garmin I’d say you are a professional guides person probably.

Apple really need to design it own offline maps and it would be a game changer. I’m only just messing around with WorkOutdoors. My sports usage doesn’t require much working out, outside of the city though and I’d say that’s true for the majority of the population.
 
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dj1891 said:
I’m doing my first marathon next spring, I’m just not sure if the AW is up to the job. I have it in my head that a Fitbit is good for up to 5k training, AW good up to half marathon but for marathons, ultras etc Garmin is the way to go. Even the most basic Forerunner 45 will do better than an AW for the serious runner. What’s your thoughts? Yeah the new Ultra might change things but I’m using a SE and sure as hell wouldn’t pay £800+ for a Watch, the wife would put me out if I did.
Click to expand...

All Apple watches are by and large general-purpose devices with the Ultra adding some specialization for extreme outdoors. I'm frankly surprised Apple went after such a niche audience.

Meanwhile Garmin Forerunners are a product that's truly targeted 'for runners'. Unless Apple decides to develop a new run specific watch, I think Garmin will continue to dominate the hardcore running community.

And although a SE or Series 8 aluminum with WorkOutdoor app would probably be okay to train for a marathon, the lack of buttons makes it less than ideal from a usability standpoint.

I've been considering a cheap or mid-range Forerunner for running and a nice SS AW Series 8 for day-to-day wear and health monitoring.
 
7 days a week, about 100km.
Had the highend Garmin models and do not miss them.
 
dj1891 said:
I’m doing my first marathon next spring, I’m just not sure if the AW is up to the job. I have it in my head that a Fitbit is good for up to 5k training, AW good up to half marathon but for marathons, ultras etc Garmin is the way to go. Even the most basic Forerunner 45 will do better than an AW for the serious runner. What’s your thoughts? Yeah the new Ultra might change things but I’m using a SE and sure as hell wouldn’t pay £800+ for a Watch, the wife would put me out if I did.
Click to expand...
I ran 30km (12km short of a marathon) with an Apple Watch 4. Used 50% battery. 2.75 hours Included bluetoothing music.

With an Apple Watch Series 7 I did a 12 hour hike. Adjusted the settings to turn off always-on display, and turned off bluetooth to stop it talking to the phone so much, and wi-fi to stop it searching. I suspect you'll easily get a marathon out of a Series 7.
 
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dj1891 said:
I’m doing my first marathon next spring, I’m just not sure if the AW is up to the job. I have it in my head that a Fitbit is good for up to 5k training, AW good up to half marathon but for marathons, ultras etc Garmin is the way to go. Even the most basic Forerunner 45 will do better than an AW for the serious runner. What’s your thoughts? Yeah the new Ultra might change things but I’m using a SE and sure as hell wouldn’t pay £800+ for a Watch, the wife would put me out if I did.
Click to expand...
I just did my 9th marathon this Sunday in Munich - all of them with various generations of Apple Watches. Honestly, since Series 2 with the GPS chip they have been perfectly able to do it.

I currently run with music on my AirPods Pro offline loaded on the watch and it’s great. The new pacer mode in running is amazing as well.

I do use a GPX Tracker app to force it to lock on to the GPS signal before starting the race to ensure perfect signal from the get go 🤘🏼

I really enjoy running with it and it keeps me motivated to pump in faster times with the new modes - just go for it
 
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dj1891 said:
I’m doing my first marathon next spring, I’m just not sure if the AW is up to the job. I have it in my head that a Fitbit is good for up to 5k training, AW good up to half marathon but for marathons, ultras etc Garmin is the way to go. Even the most basic Forerunner 45 will do better than an AW for the serious runner. What’s your thoughts? Yeah the new Ultra might change things but I’m using a SE and sure as hell wouldn’t pay £800+ for a Watch, the wife would put me out if I did.
Click to expand...
I have run multiple Marathons, and Ultra marathons with different generations of Apple Watch. I owned Forerunners and other expensive Garmins over the years. Here is my experience with different AW.

Series 0 and Series 3 AW: Could barely do a Half marathon.

Series 5: I was able to do few Marathons, and Ultra on the streets. I used Garmin for my trail Ultras for GPS and tracking the path. My primary GPS tracking on trails was All trails App.
Series 6: I moved on from Garmin. Few specialized apps on the AW. I can get 4 miles for 5% of charge. Battery should be good enough for a 70 mile run on AW6.

You don’t need Apple Watch ultra for first marathon. If the Marathon is in city with good directions, you don’t need fancy GPS mapping.
 
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I don't run with mine but I do somewhat extreme hikes which are marathon length (try 50km with a 1500m elevation at under 12 mins/km). My S7 is mostly useless if it gets wet (UI craps out / goes bananas even in wet mode) or if you do really long activities (keeps asking if I've stopped the activity - no shut up I've still got 30k to walk).

I mostly carry a Garmin eTrex 10 now and work with OS maps and GPX manually for milestone tracking and post-route recording.
 
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Danfango said:
I don't run with mine but I do somewhat extreme hikes which are marathon length (try 50km with a 1500m elevation at under 12 mins/km). My S7 is mostly useless if it gets wet (UI craps out / goes bananas even in wet mode) or if you do really long activities (keeps asking if I've stopped the activity - no shut up I've still got 30k to walk).

I mostly carry a Garmin eTrex 10 now and work with OS maps and GPX manually for milestone tracking and post-route recording.
Click to expand...
Use Workoutdoors for hiking - it'll solve both the wet UI issue (it has its own waterlock which is better) and the "Are you still working out?" issue. As well as give you a LOT of useful metrics and maps.
 
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Danfango said:
I don't run with mine but I do somewhat extreme hikes which are marathon length (try 50km with a 1500m elevation at under 12 mins/km). My S7 is mostly useless if it gets wet (UI craps out / goes bananas even in wet mode) or if you do really long activities (keeps asking if I've stopped the activity - no shut up I've still got 30k to walk).

I mostly carry a Garmin eTrex 10 now and work with OS maps and GPX manually for milestone tracking and post-route recording.
Click to expand...
Why don’t you deactivate the asking of start/ended workout? And just lock the display during wet workouts and pause/start the workout with both buttons instead? Works perfect for me. I run I all weathers
 
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