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Do you use your AW or Garmin for running?

B

bnmcj1

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 13, 2014
398
180
I have previously used gps watches, but now I sold mine and use Apple Watch for running - even without my iPhone. I live in a city and often run between buildings. That means bad gps signal, and my calibrated Apple Watch is not much different from a gps watch that uses cadence/acceleration to calculate distance/speed when no signal. I found that Apple Watch is good enough for me. Especially with the built in heart rate monitor.

Built in gps would be nice to have, but as most people, I know the length of most of my runs. Calibration seems accurate and that will be fine until a gps Apple Watch arrives.

What about you?
 
Both, but probably not forever. I wear the AW to fill the rings and see what it thinks I did. But I use my Garmin for the precision and data analysis. I like to look at my runs and compare splits to other runs. I can't do that yet with AW.

I am currently trying to improve my stride efficiency and increase cadence. So I am running some cadence drills during my regular loop. AW seems to be totally unaware of cadence.
 
exxxviii said:
...I am currently trying to improve my stride efficiency and increase cadence. So I am running some cadence drills during my regular loop. AW seems to be totally unaware of cadence.
Click to expand...
Actually :apple:Watch is VERY aware of your cadence since this is how it measures distance without the iPhone. It just doesn't show it.:eek: There are other metrics you can get from your Garmin (certain models with HRM) that :apple:Watch can't do at all like vertical oscillation, ground contact time and stride length.

Is your cadence low (below 180) and trying to increase or is it inconsistent?
 
My Garmin was actually superior, but it was massive (310XT). I had also run with a Fitbit Surge previously. My favorite overall was probably the Surge, but I got sick of dual wristing it recently and now I'm just down to the Apple Watch.
 
Julien said:
Actually :apple:Watch is VERY aware of your cadence since this is how it measures distance without the iPhone. It just doesn't show it.:eek: There are other metrics you can get from your Garmin (certain models with HRM) that :apple:Watch can't do at all like vertical oscillation, ground contact time and stride length.

Is your cadence low (below 180) and trying to increase or is it inconsistent?
Click to expand...
:) Yep to everything.

My cadence is around 174. Very steady-- been running for decades at all kinds of paces and distances. Pushing for 180. I am currently trying to regain speed after an extended foot problem and some weight gain. A double whammy.

I wanted a 920XT that gives better running dynamics data, but I bought an AW instead. I decided to wait until Garmin puts optical HR in their top watches.
 
Last edited:
Garmin 620 for running, Apple Watch the rest of the day. I've worn both for a few runs – one on each arm, but I've just learned to accept that my activity rings won't reflect the whole day's activity until the Activity app is able to import data generated from third party apps.

I also used the Watch exclusively for a few weeks, alternating between the Workout app and some third party apps (the best of which, for me, was iSmoothRun). After all of that, though, it just convinced me how much better of a running watch the Garmin is, so I've just stopped trying to make the Apple Watch work for that limited purpose.

I'll likely give it another go when third party native apps are permitted, but I'm fine switching off between the two. And I'll probably just vacation with the Apple Watch and use it for running (with iSmoothRun) just to keep traveling simple.
 
Both (Garmin 910XT + Mio Link optical HR monitor) in the case of speedwork and actual races, long runs and cycling. Just Apple Watch for treadmill / casual "base" mileage weekday runs and all the "others" like yoga, strength training, etc.

Can't wait for the day when AW can totally replace the 910XT :)
 
exxxviii said:
:) Yep to everything.

My cadence is around 174. Very steady-- been running for decades at all kinds of paces and distances. Pushing for 180. I am currently trying to regain speed after an extended foot problem and some weight gain. A double whammy.

I wanted a 920XT that gives better running dynamics data, but I bought an AW instead. I decided to wait until Garmin puts optical HR in their top watches.
Click to expand...
 
Garmin has now put optical HR into one of its watches -- the new Forerunner 225. Maybe that's not one of their "top" ones in other respects, but it has a decent feature set and is far better than an AW for running. That said, it isn't a smart watch. So there is a trade-off between the multifunctionality of an AW and the superior single-functionality of the 225.
 
exxxviii said:
I wanted a 920XT that gives better running dynamics data, but I bought an AW instead. I decided to wait until Garmin puts optical HR in their top watches.
Click to expand...
Not sure if you're familiar with the DC Rainmaker blog, but I believe on his podcast he mentioned that he could see Garmin putting the optical sensor on the updated 620 soon, but that it would likely be a longer wait with the watches that are also designed for swimming. I don't know the specifics, but I'm assuming it's harder to get HR accuracy with an optical sensor under water that it is for the chest strap.

I use the 620 now, but would readily upgrade to a 625 with an optical HR sensor. Part of my reason for trying the Apple Watch for running was to get rid of the Garmin HR strap.
 
Yep, I love DCRainmaker's reviews. I am curious what Garmin brings to the 6xx and 9xx series. The 225 is the shot over the bow that they are moving to optical HR. If a future 9xx could do optical, I would buy it in a minute, even if the swimming HR was sketchy.
 
I only use the Apple Watch for running but use Garmin in addition to my watch for cycling. Cadence is one of the prime reasons plus mapping.
 
I use Garmin for sports. Either 910xt or 620 for running, edge 500 or 810 for cycling and 910xt or garmin swim for errr swimming.

The Apple watch has potential for some sports, but as yet I don't think there is a good way to view the data, apple's apps are quite a bit behind Garmin connect for analysing activities. I don't wear my Apple watch for sports because I'm not fussed about the rings filling up. I don't really need the watch to tell me I've had an active day. Having said that, my Garmin data syncs into Apple health so it would be nice if active calories would copy across to the watch.

To be honest, I can't see the Apple watch ever matching Garmin for sports such as cycling. It would be totally impractical to use on a bike, and the chances of it working with Cadence/Power sensors I think a pretty slim. However, maybe that will be Apple's next product, a bike computer.....
 
exxxviii said:
Both, but probably not forever. I wear the AW to fill the rings and see what it thinks I did. But I use my Garmin for the precision and data analysis. I like to look at my runs and compare splits to other runs. I can't do that yet with AW.

I am currently trying to improve my stride efficiency and increase cadence. So I am running some cadence drills during my regular loop. AW seems to be totally unaware of cadence.
Click to expand...

+1
Would love to see Garmin 6xx software as an app someday.
 
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