Best GPS Running Watch 2012

Serious runners know that in order to train effectively it takes serious planning. Keeping track of all the data along the way can be a stumbling block that gets in the way of your goals. Whether your goals are to run every day, or whether they are to beat your fastest time, runners who are able to track and evaluate goals are proven to have more success in reaching their goals.

During your training you need to be able to run different distances at different intervals and in different types of terrain. A running watch with a heart monitor can be the perfect way of quickly keeping track of all the data you have and then making the adjustments you need to in order to reach your goals or effectively plan for a race.

Importance of GPS for Running (see more detail below).

A good GPS for your watch will allow you to remember where you've come, how long it's taken, the distance you've come, and how to get back to where you were. The greatest part about this is the ability to remember your favorite runs and use that in the future when you are by yourself or with a running partner. Since visualization, a technique used by almost all olympic athletes, is an important part of running, you can make up a course similar to the one you will be facing on the day of your race and be able to more effectively visualize what you plan to face during the race.

What's your Plan?

Whether you are doing weight training, hill training, or speed training what's your plan for keeping track of all that data? The Garmin Forerunner can easily do this for you.

Features:

Waterproof

The Garmin Forerunner GPS Watch is waterproof and made for use with Garmin's wireless bicycle cadence and speed sensor. It's perfect for triathletes.

Functions for Training (Condensed Summary from Amazon)

"The 305 is first and foremost a training tool, and its ability to organize a ton of data types into a user experience that is intuitive and simple is no small feat. Whiz-bang technology aside, if you can't use it and make it a natural part of your exercise routine, it's worthless. When it comes to these factors -- and here's the take home message on the 305 -- this device is successful where many other devices fail.

The heart and soul of the 305 can be found on the data screens, which give you real-time information about all aspects of your workout. In fact, the 305 can display a dizzying array of data, such as calories burned, distance, elevation, grade, and heading, as well as multiple lap and pace modes. The 305 adds the ability to track heartrate, lap heartrate, average heartrate, and heartrate zones via the included coded heartrate chest strap. With the purchase of a separate wireless cadence and speed meter, you can also track bike performance data."

Simple Docking Cradle

Easily Charge this device and connect your running data to your computer with the included docking cradle. A customer reviewing this portion of the device mentioned "The PC software is very good for presenting time/distance/pace/heartrate/calorie data."

Rudimentary Mapping and Location Functions

With the Forerunner 305 you can use rudimentary mapping and waypoint marking in order to keep track of locations along your run. After you have defined a location you can use the "go to location" function which will map out a way to get back to a certain location. Once you've got several locations in your saved route you can keep using it in the future to help you remember your favorite runs and bike rides.

I hope you've enjoyed this hub on the best GPS watches. If you have, then please leave a comment below. If you feel like I should feature another runner watch with GPS on this page, then let me know which one you'd like me to feature and I'll try to incorporate it into the page.

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