cheap jogging watch-type device

[dpopiz]

my gf wants to do some serious jogging, but she claims that the only way exercise works for her is if she can keep careful track of her improvement (ie she can't just "go out and do it"). She wanted to get a pedometer or something but doesn't want to spend any sizeable amount of money - probably not more than $20.

what sorts of devices are there out there for tracking jogging? like for just keeping track of how far and how long you jog and calculating mph and calories burned and such?

 

[SWScorch]

There are no reliable pedometers, especially for under $20. The only thing that's anywhere near accurate is a GPS-based device, such as a garmin Forerunner 201, but that's around $100 IIRC. There are those crappy cheap step-based pedometers which increment based on how many strides you take, but they are woefully inaccurate. How about you just drive a few routes in a car, record the mileages, and have her run those routes and use a plain jane Walmart digital watch to record her times and calculate her progress as such?

 

[aceO07]

I got one from Mcdonalds once. Or was it Wendys. It was free with a salad. 🙂 I wouldn't trust it. Nor would I trust the one from target that was ~$20. They just use a trigger that bounces up and down, and unfortunately it only bounces so fast and requires a certain amount of force to move it. I can't say how accurate it is, since I haven't used it. It makes a ticking sound which I'm not fond of. The sportline model that I have (unused in real jogging) has time, distance, steps and calories.

 

[dpopiz]

well aren't there some watches that are specifically design to be really easy for calculating fitness related stuff?

 

[Grey]

Originally posted by: dpopiz
well aren't there some watches that are specifically design to be really easy for calculating fitness related stuff?

You are thinking of Heart rate monitors. Use a car mileage to plot a course and then use a heart rate monitor for your target range and run!