If you're a stat-crazy, data-nerd then Timex's Run Trainer with GPS is for you.
Basics: The Run Trainer is one of three GPS watches made by Timex. It features SiRFstarIV GPS technology, a large display screen, 8-hour battery and heart rate monitor capability. It is specifically geared toward runners, but though it isn't made for multisport activities, it is water resistant to 50 meters and will display pace in terms of speed rather than just minutes per mile. Both of which make it -- in a pinch -- a usable triathlon watch. [We reviewed targeted multisport watches, see some of the reviews here].
The watch is packed with an overwhelming amount of features, so many that I probably didn't even scratch the surface while I was testing it -- and I tried. The most apparent downside is that most of these features -- like the auto pause and nutrition/hydration alerts -- are only editable from your computer and aren't accessible from the watch itself.
Operation: The watch is intuitive on the surface. It's easy to change the display settings and to toggle through the many modes (chrono, interval timer, timer, recovery, review and alarm). It has clear start/stop buttons as well as a dedicated indiglo back light button. It's the rest that gets confusing. Make display changes and then hit back/done or done/back and cross your fingers that the changes stick. Most times they don't, which inevitably sends me to my laptop to change them in the properties field. It's significantly easier -- and quicker -- to change all of these settings online than it is to navigate the choose-your-own-adventure maze of setting-screens on the watch itself.
Alerts: The watch will beep as the miles go by, as the auto pause turns on, as you start and stop it. It'll beep like a time bomb when it looses the satellite signal (which for me it did often, even in open fields on a clear-sky day). If it doesn't beep enough for you then turn on some of the other alerts, like the hydration and nutrition alerts. These are really handy if you're prone to under-hydrating, or if you wait so long to eat that the trees start to look appetizing. Just go -- online -- and set the type of alert and its frequency and off you go. It'll be like your mother is running alongside you, pestering you to eat your snack.
GPS: GPS-wise this watch, for me, has been consistently short. I've worn it in head-to-head comparisons with my own Garmin 310XT and Garmin's 610, and each time the Timex is behind the Garmins. On one 20-miler in the Shenandoah mountains the Timex was a mile behind the 310, and it was also a mile short on a 12-mile downtown road run.
I tested each watch on a dead-on, one-mile stretch of not too shady sidewalk on the National Mall. The Run Trainer was within one one-hundredth of a mile each time (once in each direction). It's fine on straight routes without tree cover, but the Timex seems to have more trouble with the tall building than the others.
Battery: The battery is advertised to last 8 hours in full GPS mode and 2.5 months in standby mode (it will display the time and date). This is plenty of time for most runners. For the crazy, mid-pack ultrarunners like me you'll probably want something with a longer lifespan (I swear by my Garmin 310xt).
Runner beware if you're battery gets low. I ran a February 50k and forgot to power off the watch. Two hours post-race it had burned through the battery and turned itself off. No biggie -- I thought -- until I got home and tried to upload the race data and realized that too had died a slow death with the battery. (Goodbye Holiday Lake 50k, since you're no longer in my data log, you must not have happened at all.) Lesson learned, save your data to the watch memory as soon as you're done.
What would have saved me in this case would have been to turn the GPS off and leave the watch on standby. On the Run Trainer you can manually turn the GPS on and off, instead of having to wait for the watch to throw a fit (beep beep beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep) and ask you if you're indoors. Hold down the radio button until the sensor menu appears, and check on and off the GPS, heart rate monitor or foot pod.
Fit: This watch is definitely made for a man. I find that the Run Trainer -- with its larger footprint -- fits looser than most other GPS watches I've tried. The face is so large that no matter how tight I make the strap there will always be daylight between the watch and my tiny bird wrists. But, to be fair, this will always be a problem for me until companies start making smaller, women's versions of GPS watches.
The heart rate strap is soft and is snug enough that it'll stay put (I'm a 34" band size and still had enough room to make it tighter). Oddly, Timex put the fastener snaps under the sensor, which means I'll finish my run with two snap-size rubs right in the center of my rib cage.
Online platform: Training Peaks
Uploading your data to Training Peaks is a multistep process. Plug in your watch (it's USB and will charge at the same time) and select it once it appears on the first data screen. From there, choose the workouts you want to save to Training Peaks. The new workouts will upload, but you'll also upload duplicates if you haven't deleted old workouts manually from this screen. The RunTrainer memory will store 15 workouts, and they'll be there until you overwrite them with new workouts.
Your workouts will appear in Traing Peaks calendar format. You can update them, add information or delete whole actives from here.
Overall, I found Training Peaks to be clunky and difficult to navigate. The data I want to see most is buried several menu screens deep. On the plus side, you can use Training Peaks to upload meals, which is great if you're someone who tracks your calories as closely as your miles.
Take note that the free data storage service from Training Peaks will be adequate, but if you're interested in some of the more complicated features you'll have to pay for the premium subscription ($119/year). This upgrade gets you more detailed charts and graphs, a virtual coach, elevation correction and the ability to schedule future meals and workouts.
One nice thing about Training Peaks is the option to buy and customize additional training plans. Pick between running, cycling, triathlon or strength training plans from authors such as Runners World, Hal Higdon, Hunter Allen and many, many more.
Verdict? The Run Trainer is an acceptable GPS watch, but for the cost I'd prefer something else a little easier to use.
Buy the Run Trainer at Timex.com for $225 (watch only) or $275 (watch + HRM)
More GPS system reviews: Find reviews of the Garmin Forerunner 310XT and Suunto's Ambit. Also, check out the Garmin Fit app, then hop over to GearScout for the Garmin 405 review.
