Running watch - current best options?

sim12

I find the info on the GPS watch to be very addictive , it updates every 5 seconds or so , more so than music .lol.

There are so many choices on the market I look forward to seeing what you settle on

Lancia34

The Nike app voice updates are really good - you can set how often it tells you so I have it set to every 500m and it gives me current distance, time, pace. I think if I kept looking at a watch I'd end up running into traffic (or in summer the canal I run along)

Will see if anything interesting pops up on Black Friday....

PSM1

I do not think apps should come with items that encourage headphone use when running to be honest. Cutting out an important sense like hearing when out running is not a good idea in my view (much the same as headphones when riding). Had a number of issues on shared use paths with runners plugged into their own little world of music and being a real menace as they have no awareness of what is around them.

sim12

Most running events now ban the use if ear phones for similar reasons , they can be more of a danger than anything else...

imightbewrong

I couldn't be doing without my music - don't have the mental endurance to run with no entertainment

Lancia34

But you can still hear traffic etc... with no problems. I would never wear fully noise cancelling headphones (don't like them anyway) so just use basic over the ear ones and I can hear the music, Nike  , my exhaustion and pretty much everything around me as well

As @imightbewrong sais - couldn't run without music

PSM1

I can only talk from my experience of people with headphones.
You may well be fine but I am sure the people I have had issues with would have justified their use of them and that they were fine, but clearly this was not the case. It is the same arguments you hear from people using phones when driving, texting when driving and even drinking and driving. We will all justify what we do in our own mind and I am sure I do it on some of the things I do that if I looked from the outside would not look too clever.
I also see it at races I do with people complaining that they can not race without their music when the rules say they can not wear headphones.

imightbewrong

What is the actual problem though?  Presumably not hearing itself as I assume deaf people are allowed to run?

Lancia34

Think they are banned from running as they are from driving...lol

@PSM1 - This is leisure running, not races or park runs or anything like that. Have listened to music the past few years I've been running (admittedly very on\off running) - never had any issues and can hear everything. In fact around 7pm at night barely see anyone around anyway

Definitely not the same as driving while texting or on the phone  - completely different scenario - when I'm running I'm paying full attention to everything going on around me, not in a world of my music oblivious to everything and everyone.

Maybe it's not the same with the majority of other runners.

PSM1

The problem is around things like cycling from behind on a shared path and they just pull across the path in front of me. I woukd have already shouted to say I was coming up but can hear due to headphones. Seen other things were they have caused issues due to not being able to hear things around them. Different for deaf people who have no choice in the matter and they tend to be more aware as they are used to not hearing. Ultimately no law against it but I do not feel it is something to be encouraged.