what do you use to tell you how many miles

ronn

Any tips on how to calculate how many miles im running, is there a watch or some device i can buy,, are they expensive
any help or info would be great thanks

a lot of people use gps watches like this one

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Forerunner-305-Wrist-Worn-Personal/dp/B000FMQ296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301932664&sr=8-1

this, in conjunction with pc software will track your progress and mileage and will also give you heart rate information. can do lots of other useful things also.

if you just want a rough guide you can use something linked to google maps like this to see where you ran and / or plan out routes.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

sconhome

There are a wide range of watches or heart rate monitors (HRM's) available that will track, time, distance, heart rate & calories burned as a basic function.

You can add mapping capability by moving into higher priced units.

A very simple means of a rough record is to use mapmyrun.com to mark out your route (if a road is where you run) and time yourself over the run. Putting in the info will give you a guide to the distance and your pace.

Otherwise there are loads of topics on Polar, Garmin, Timex and other running watches that can help track your distance. Work on allowing a budget in or about €200 and you will find many above and below that threshold, it will come down to functionality and the level of information / detail you are looking for.

RayCun

From this thread

The cheapest option is to use a stopwatch to time your run, and use mapmyrun (or a similar site) to measure the distance.

Next cheapest is a watch linked to a pedometer (the Nike + for example)
The pedometer isn't great for accuracy - basially you calibrate it by running a known distance, it says "okay, that km took X steps" and from then on calculates distance run by counting steps and comparing to X. Which is fine, as long as your stride length doesn't change. If you recalibrate regularly, it should be within 5-10% of your actual distance. When you upload your run it will tell you (roughly) how fast you were going at different stages.

A GPS watch (such as a Garmin, see megathread) uses a satellite signal to calculate your position... and your position a second later... and another second later... and so on. It uses this data to calculate how far you've travelled, and how fast (and will usually have a range of other features such as programmed workouts, heart rate monitors, etc). They usually cost at least 150 quid.

If you have an iPhone, there are several apps you can use to track your time and distance, such as Runmeter.

ronn

thanks folks think ill try the mapmy run thing see how that goes;)

spmccann

Ronn.

I've been using endomondo pro software http://www.endomondo.com/home for my android. It tracks you using gps and uploads the route and times to the web site so you can review. The free version is pretty good I upgraded to the pro version just 5$ so I could support the developers. I know I broke the bank It runs on , android, iphone, blackberry, nokia and even some watches!
I was using my tracks by google for a while but the GPS kept crashing! You can share routes and challenges with friends. It has audio split times every km or mile if you like so its great for keeping pace during a run. Most importantly it has a button to kick off the tunes for my run , need the "rocky" music towards the end !

There's a lot of good apps like that out there.

Cabaal

Used to use a Nike+ but then changed to one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Forerunner-305-Wrist-Worn-Personal/dp/B000FMQ296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301932664&sr=8-1

Cheapest Garmin I could find and very happy with it, great to have a heart rate monitor also.

nutts_77

I use a Garmin 305, and can't rate it highly enough. Upload all data onto Garmin Connect and you will find everything you need to analyse your runs. A++

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-Forerunner-305-Wrist-Worn-Personal/dp/B000FMQ296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302552071&sr=8-1