Timex Ironman Speed + Distance GPS Monitor

When I walk I would love to know two things: accurate distance traveled and my speed. Several systems have come out that purport to tell me that - from pedometers under $40 to accelerometer units like the FitSense and Nike sdm Triax. While I have gotten dead-on readings from these at times, at other times they have been off by 10-20% Also - these units won't work for biking, skiing, skating, and have to be recalibrated if you are running or racewalking as opposed to "just walking."

Now Timex has teamed with Garmin to produce a Speed + Distance system that doesn't depend on your stride - it instead uses satellite GPS to record your actual movements over time. And guess what - it works, whether you walk, run, bike, skate, ski, sail - this unit tells you how far and how fast you are going continuously. Plus it combines a top notch sports watch with lap, stopwatch, countdown time, zone alerts and recall functions. All of this is 99% accurate outdoors with a good view of the sky to acquire satellites - in other words, to within 5 meters. Yeah, right - too good to be true, eh? Surprisingly - no, it's good and it's true.

The Timex Unit
The GPS sensor is a 3 oz. unit about the size of an MP3 player or cassette tape. It is meant to be worn on your waist or upper arm. I clip mine to the back of my Camelback hydration pack. It is surprisingly light and uses 3 AAA batteries (average life 12 hours). You wear the watch as a watch, and they communicate wirelessly by FM signals.

You step outside and for best results get a clear view of the sky - in my area the satellites seem to be in the south. Turn on the GPS sensor and wait 30-90 seconds for it to acquire the satellite signal. The green light goes on and you are off. Now the watch can continuously display your speed, pace, distance, time, timer, etc. It will also give you your average speed and pace and your top speed and pace. The speed function is very responsive on the regular setting, lags a bit on the smoothing setting. The distance function was dead-on accurate over courses that we had measured with a measuring wheel. In fact, I may throw away the measuring wheel and measure walking routes with this system instead.

BodyLink and Heart Monitor Options
With the Timex BodyLink system, you can use this monitor along with a Timex heart rate monitor and download your workout data to your computer.

Other systems have been picky about miles vs. kilometers - you have to decided before you start the session. But with the Timex you can easily switch from miles to kilometers and back during a session with no loss of data. Displaying pace vs. speed is also simple and easy. The functions are easy enough to use that I rarely had to consult the instruction manual. The face is easy to read and the Indiglo function lights it up on demand at night.

Drawbacks
It won't work indoors, period. But if you do go indoors, the unit takes awhile to lose your signal and reacquires it swiftly when you reappear outdoors - it remembers where the satellites are and takes only a couple of seconds as opposed to the longer wait when you first turn it on. I also had a loss of signal when walking up the north face of a hill, when the hill itself came between me and the satellites. Timex says it has tuned the unit work well in cities and forests with minimal loss of signal. I found it to work well in most areas where I walk - suburbs and parks with lots of trees and hills. Unlike other GPS units, it does not tell you where you are or what direction you are going, just how far and how fast you have moved.

This unit works for runners, walkers, bikers, skiers, skaters, paddlers, rowers, boaters, anybody on the move outdoors who wants to know simply how far and how fast they are going.

Recommendation
I love this unit and consider it to be a great purchase. Put it on your wish list. It is available directly from Timex or from sports stores.