Nike+ SportWatch GPS

[lorei]

Hey all, has any one here used or bought the Nike+ SportsWatch GPS? I know there are lots of avid Garmin users here so I'm wondering how the Nike watch stacks up...

It looks so so pretty... (Yes, I do get distracted by shiny things )

[LisaB]

I bought one for my son. I really like the simplicity of it. He's 10 and uses it without any problems. The site to upload your runs is pretty cool too. When I've worn my Garmin on our runs we get the same results. Once we figured out how to customize the face when running it got even better. Just my two cents.

[Robinandamelia]

I have one, and love it. I've had it since the beginning of 2011 (wasn't yet available in Canada). I've had no problems with it and find it really easy to use (and see). Dummy proof which is important for me. Heck I can't even set the stop watch feature on my watch. Find that the gps is very reliable and accurate and no problems at all (despite what that you may read on line).

[lorei]

Awesome!! Glad to hear, I find I don't use 90% of the features on my very large garmin.... so I'm excited to try some new tech!

[runfbrun]

Just had a question about this watch so thought I'd revive this thread. I've been using this watch since the beginning of last year, but I will be using it in a race for the first time tomorrow. In my previous races, I used to use the cardio trainer app on my phone (yes, I took my phone with me...I know..I know) and it would tell me my average pace and total time elapsed after every km. Currently, when I run, I have my watch display the distance and my pace at that instant, which I guess isnt as helpful as average pace if Im trying to come in under a certain time.

Does anyone know if one can customize the watch to display average pace? For a 5k, it is not such a big deal, but I'd still rather not do the math in my head when Im running a race!

[Robinandamelia]

Sorry I didn't see this before now (and too late for your race), hopefully you figured it out. You have to change all display settings while it's hooked up to the computer. You go into settings on the Nike+ sportswatch bar that comes up and switch the main setting to avg pace (that's what I do for my races). Again sorry I'm so late...

[La]

One thing I'll add to this is that you can't always trust the "average pace" on a GPS watch in a race as the distance you've run and the official, on-course markers won't always line up, especially in long races, and especially toward the end. Your best gauge on race day is to have your elapsed time splits at certain intervals (e.g., 3, 6, 9K) so that you can compare your elapsed time to see if you're ahead or behind your desired pace.

[Jwolf]

One thing I'll add to this is that you can't always trust the "average pace" on a GPS watch in a race as the distance you've run and the official, on-course markers won't always line up, especially in long races, and especially toward the end. Your best gauge on race day is to have your elapsed time splits at certain intervals (e.g., 3, 6, 9K) so that you can compare your elapsed time to see if you're ahead or behind your desired pace.

What I do is I just mentally adjust the average pace my watch is showing by about 5-6 sec/km (about 2%) to figure out what the "real" pace will be. As in, if you want to run 6:00/km you would expect to see see 5:54/km on the watch.

I don't set mine for average pace for the whole run, but for lap pace which will show the average pace for the current lap (I set my watch for 1K autolaps in the race, even though these don't match the exact course markers). I don't have a Nike watch, but I would guess there's a similar setting in there. Instantaneous pace jumps around too much and is not very useful, IMO, unless you're also looking at total time vs. expected splits.

[Robinandamelia]

I find that for Scotiabank (downtown Toronto with large buildings) not too accurate. Mississauga (no tall buldings), pretty spot on. You need to know your terrain etc. before relying on average pace. I used it in Mississauga though no problem, in Toronto now (because I learned the hard way) I wear a pace band...