The Running Geek

Aside from being a full time developer and a gadget fanatic I'm also an enthusiastic runner. Running helps me stay fit - that's obvious - but it also gives me an opportunity to expand my geeky horizons.

There are many aspects of running that can make a geek truly excited. You have your selection of motion control-super comfy-arch supporting-long lasting shoes, the dizzying array of light weight-sweat wicking-all weather-quick drying clothes, and of course the energy bars, gels, drinks and powders that fill up aisles and aisles in your local organic food co-op. But my two favorite running gadgets are, by far, the running watch and the music player. I'll start with the watch.

When I first started running I bought the cheapest stopwatch I could find in my neighborhood drug store. It cost me 10 bucks, and it worked perfectly. I ran the same 5k course twice a week, and all I really needed was to know how long it took each time.


After a while I decided I also wanted to track my heart rate. Many runners claim it makes training more efficient, but to me it wasn't about that. I just thought it was cool to be able to see your heart rate change in real time while running. So I went out and got the Nike C8 running watch with the HR monitor.

I enjoyed the C8 for a while, but there was a problem. It had no memory. It didn't keep a log of my runs, so I couldn't compare runs, track my progress or view my running history. All the data it displayed, disappeared as soon as I reset the timer, and that just didn't cut it. Oh, and there was one more issue. Over the years I started to run in more diverse locations. Tracking my running distance was becoming more important to me as well.


So I decided to spend the cash and buy the Polar RS200 with the accessory foot pod. This was a huge technological leap forward. The polar collected information about the time, distance, pace, heart rate, and more, showed it in real time, and - my favorite feature - allowed me to upload the data to the Polar Personal Trainer site for logging. I would sit for hours analyzing each run. I enjoying comparing recent runs with older ones, examining my progress. I generated reports showing the total distance I ran in the last year, and the aggregated number of calories I've burnt since I bought the watch. It was great. It was fun. But, you guessed it, there were some problems. First of all, the foot pod. The main issue was its accuracy. The foot pod could be very accurate as long as you calibrate it properly. And by properly I mean a different setting for each shoe, track and style of running. If you calibrated it for a road run, it would be off if you ran on a trail. If you calibrate it during your 18K slow pace run, it would be off in the 5K dash. Plus, it was bulky and inconvenient, and the batteries ran out just when I most needed it - in the middle of a race, of course.

Then there's Polar's "special" data transfer protocol. It goes like this: You place the watch close the your PC microphone and hit the send button (oh, and you have to make sure that the PC software is in listen mode first). At that point the watch starts emitting these horrible sounds just like an old 14,400 baud US Robotics modems sounded. About 50% of the time, the connection would fail mid-way through the transfer, and you'd have to start all over again.


These reasons, plus the unbelievably low price ($160 at Amazon) convinced me to purchase the coolest running watch (if you can even call it a watch) I ever had - the Garmin Forerunner 305. I'll never forget the first time I took it our for a run - it felt so good to loose the foot pod. Here's what I like about it: it's light weight yet feels very solid on the wrist. It has a large display that is very easy to read while running. It hooks up to the PC by USB, it even has its own little cradle. And it stores so much data about your runs it will knock your socks off. Since it has a GPS unit built right into the device, there's no foot pod, no external GPS, no calibration, and best of all, it works great during other outdoor activities like biking, skiing, or horse back riding (you can't swim with it though - it's not water proof).

Garmin offers a desktop client (Garmin Training Center) that lets you analyze your runs and store your training history. But I personally prefer the online options they offer. Garmin offers several online applications each for a different purpose or device. There's Training Peaks, New Leaf, Motion Based and the most recent addition to the Garmin web arsenal Garmin Connect. I currently use Motion Based which is decent - it provides plenty of information regarding the activity - but the UI is kind of old and confusing, and for some reason they charge $12 a month to view all your activities (with the free service gives you just see the last 10). Hopefully, it won't be long until they finally complete the migration to Garmin Connect.

Music players are the second piece of running gear I love to geek out on. Music goes exceptionally well with running (see Nike+). I love to run outdoors, and music helps me stay motivated and strong when I go out on long runs al by myself.

The first player I owned that's worth mentioning is the 3rd Gen iPod I got in late 2003. It had a 40GB hard disk - enough to store my entire music collection - but it was relatively big and uncomfortable to run with. I even bought an arm band for it, but it just didn't work well. After it got stolen, I bought a 60GB 4G Photo iPod, but again, it wasn't ideal for running. It often skipped, it was heavy, and not very resistant to hits and bangs. It died less than a year after I bought it.

That's when I bought my first running specific player - the Rio Forge. The Forge was small and curvy - designed to hold in your hand while running. It featured a built-in stopwatch, FM receiver and a memory card expansion slot. But it was terribly slow to start-up, the navigation controls were horrible to use while running, and the arm band was not comfortable at all.

Luckily I got a 1st Gen 1GB iPod Nano as a Christmas present from work. It was an amazing player. Tiny - compared to anything else at the time - slick, and real easy to use. Navigation was easy, start up was instantanious, music syncing was a breeze with iTunes, 1GB was just enough to store all my favorite running songs, and the Nano was small enough to hold in my hand while running. It's the player I used the longest so far.

Recently I gave up my Nano for a new player - the Sansa Clip 4GB. I was looking for a really tiny player that will clip on to my running shorts. I considered getting the iPod Shuffle, but the Sansa Clip turned out to be a much better deal. It cost about half of what a 2GB Shuffle would have cost me, it has a screen so I can see what's playing and choose a playlist, it has an FM tuner, a voice recorder, excellent sound quality, and comfortable in-ear headphones. I love the Clip - it's so small and light I barely notice it when I run.

So much for running geekyness. Next time I'll write about my other obsession - mountain biking.

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