Showing posts with label watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watch. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Garmin GPS watch, DIY style

To track my rides and runs, I have been using a Garmin Edge 200 and the Strava's app on my iPhone. I had some pretty good results using my iPhone for tracking the run, however for longer runs it's not very practical (not to mention checking pace and distance is a bit of a PITA) as the battery depletes quickly (I usually loose +30% per hour of GPS tracking) and that it's rather bulky carrying it in my short pockets. Therefore, I have been entertaining the idea of using my Garmin device for running (on top of the biking). At first, I didn't have much of a good experience with that as the device bounced too much in the pocket (causing many false pause/resume events and some lost GPS signals events). I'll probably should just get something like the Garmin Forerunner 110, but I'm kind of a cheap ass ... 

Yesterday morning, I had a bit of an Eureka moment and grabbed some cheap watch which was given to my kid a while back (I wonder if he will remember it ...) and gutted it in order to attach my device to it ... GPS watch style:


Clearly, it's bulky (and feel a little bit heavy on the wrist) but after running 8k with it last night, I can said that it does work. It's not uncomfortable but will it hold-up for long runs (e.g. Marathon) ... I guess I'll have to test that rig during our up-coming long training runs.