Using the AW as a running Watch?

[dj1891]

So this might be more of a me problem than anything. Anyway for running everyone recommends Garmin, I’ve had a few myself and they are great for running kinda crap for everything else tbh.

So I decided to stick with my S9 41mm but for running I’ve hit a few hurdles, mainly it’s hard to see the metrics especially on the run with arm jiggling about. Workoutdoors seems to be what everyone recommends, I like to load a route onto the Watch and then just run, there’s no turn by turn on WOD and it’s hard to see the tiny map let alone the even smaller metrics at the bottom.

So I’m wondering about solutions, could it be that the 41 is just too small, add to that I’m mid 40s so eyesight won’t be getting any better, all I need really is big metrics and something that tells me where to turn, this is where Garmin was superior. Now if I’m not following a route i can change WOD to big metrics no map and all is fine.

 

[MarkX]

I recently ditched my garmin and went all in with apple and a more than happy with my Apple watch, although I have the Ultra.

WOD is the bomb and have no issues seeing the information on the screen you are talking about but I suspect the larger screen helps with that. I too am mid 40s.

I believe turn by turn for the WOD app is in the works and should be available soon.

As a work around sort your screens so a quick swipe or tap from the map and you can switch between them?

 

[NME42]

You can use Footpath or Apple Maps for TBT navigation. Both do a great job.

 

[Zelegorm]

I recently ditched my garmin and went all in with apple and a more than happy with my Apple watch, although I have the Ultra.

WOD is the bomb and have no issues seeing the information on the screen you are talking about but I suspect the larger screen helps with that. I too am mid 40s.

I believe turn by turn for the WOD app is in the works and should be available soon.

As a work around sort your screens so a quick swipe or tap from the map and you can switch between them?

I did the same thing. The Garmin watch can do NOTHING, absolutely nothing, that the AWU can't do. The opposite is the case. There is so much missing from the Garmin. No LTE etc. Useless. There is everything you need in the Appstore. Even the Trainingpeaks integration now works perfectly. The health functions are much better than on the Garmin. If you want more? Workoutdoors. Footpath. Bevel. Such great apps. Garmin doesn't have them. The display is also much better. The AWU easily lasts an Ultra. I've only run for over 8 hours at a time. All good. You just have to charge it every two days or fully charge it before a long tour. But you get so much more in return.

 

[Psdn]

Try to look YouRace by @rbart or Watchletic. Peaks is also a new exiting app.
Must admit - I use a AWU and a Garmin Fenix 8 😉

 

[meetree]

You can use Footpath or Apple Maps for TBT navigation. Both do a great job.

I have AW9. Used Footpath for some easy trekking. My watch died after 2h30m. Honestly, navigation in FP is not great.

Garmin FR955 used ~20% of battery for the same trail and navigation was very good (anyway, I am planning to purchase Garmin GPSMap 67i for trekking).

So I use AW for everyday life and Garmin for running and other outdoor activities.

 

[NME42]

I have AW9. Used Footpath for some easy trekking. My watch died after 2h30m. Honestly, navigation in FP is not great.

I did not notice a significant hit on battery life. Was using Apple Training for recording, Footpath for navigation.

 

[meetree]

I did not notice a significant hit on battery life. Was using Apple Training for recording, Footpath for navigation.

I used Footpath for recording and navigation. I will recheck it one more time on this weekend.

 

[andiwm2003]

I never could get the AW to work for me as a sports watch.

I prefer the dedicated watches (Garmin, Coros, Polar). Better display of what I want to see, better battery life, better less gimmicky data displays, simpler more intuitive operation, no clutter, only the essential functions, no constant app updates every time I pick up the watch to do a hike or a run or a bike ride. The GPS quality and heart rate monitoring of these dedicated sports watches is now just as good as the AW. Also the Coros Apex Pro I'm currently using covers the sports I'm doing very well: Short runs, biking, long hikes, shorter endurance workouts. It does that in a simple way while on the AW I would have to deal with several apps.

If I go away for a weekend I don't have to worry about if my watch is charged. If I'm somewhere on a multiday trip and decide to do a spontaneous run or hike I know my watch is easily charged enough.

I gave up on the AW as I'm not using most of the apps or features anyway and I think it's better to just have a dedicated sports watch in my bag or suitcase.

I would recommend to take the AW off and use the sports watch for sports. In the end for me it's way less hassle to have two watches around than to try to make the AW work for me as sports watch.

Now I barely use the AW because it's just more of a nuisance to me with the constant notifications, app and software updates, finnicky interface and cartoonish display options. The only thing I'm missing is the ECG as with advanced age it makes sense to monitor that.....

 

[NME42]

I used Footpath for recording and navigation. I will recheck it one more time on this weekend.

Great. Don’t forget to set „Use with other fitness app“ to on at the main screen of Footpath.
Sadly a little hidden and can’t be made a default.

 

[NME42]

I would recommend to take the AW off and use the sports watch for sports. In the end for me it's way less hassle to have two watches around than to try to make the AW work for me as sports watch.

Interesting. I do 15-20 hours of sport each week (running, cycling, strength, rowing) and just use my Apple Watch Ultra 24x7. Would be more hassle for me to have to deal with a second watch.

Was a Garmin user for their high end watches for 10 years and do not miss them at all.

 

[andiwm2003]

Interesting. I do 15-20 hours of sport each week (running, cycling, strength, rowing) and just use my Apple Watch Ultra 24x7. Would be more hassle for me to have to deal with a second watch.

Was a Garmin user for their high end watches for 10 years and do not miss them at all.

Yeah, it seems the users split into two groups: people who like the broad capabilities of the apple watch and they can make it work well for them. The other group are "simplistic" users like me who want to press a button and run or hike. I also don't wear a watch 24/7.I only wear it when I think i need a watch for something.

I think that's the reason why the dedicated sports watch wasn't killed off by the AW as the hardware is now for practical reasons good enough on all high end platforms.

 

[James.K.Polk]

To the extent this makes me (or less) authoritative on the subject, I’m a 2:21 marathoner and have used the Apple Watch as a full-time running watch during several training cycles (currently I have a Coros Pace 3, but am considering a Series 10 now).

With the AOD, it’s extremely good. GPS and HR are, of course, accurate. The biggest misses in my eyes are:

1. Hard to take splits. Some apps let you use both buttons for a split (which Workouts reserves for stop/pause). This works well.

2. Difficult to feel the mile auto-laps often (even with pronounced haptics - Garmin and Coros are just better on this).

3. Battery - it can obviously make it through any training run I need but that often means I need to charge it shortly thereafter, and certainly a morning long run + a full day will be a battery challenge.

I have much more to say - and would note the Ultra solves some of these issues (too big for my wrist) but am happy to answer any questions if needed.

 

[spacemnspiff]

I am about to run my first marathon in Philly and I have a AW S7. I am on the fence to upgrade to S10 or get a Garmin Forerunner 265.

I use my AW7 daily as normal extension of the phone, but that has reduced as I need reading glasses to read the watch screen. I can't use reading glasses during a run, so it's makes it hard for me to use the watch, I can make use the WOD screen and get an idea of the distance, time and pace. But I cannot see the other smaller metrics on the watch.

Going forward, I am going to be running for the foreseeable future, so I am not sure if I should get a Garmin as my primary watch. I don't like the idea of having two or multiple watches, but could warm up to if I can make the case for it. All my running friends have a Garmin, I am the only one with a AW. So that also plays into it. I don't like the no lap button on AW for interval workouts.

And I don't like heavy watches, so AW Ultra is out for me. Hence the inclination towards S10 and I carry my phone with me, so cellular on a watch is not a necessity.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

 

[kitenski]

Workoutdoors seems to be what everyone recommends, I like to load a route onto the Watch and then just run, there’s no turn by turn on WOD

I moved over from Garmin to AW for running, not looked back. For WOD I have 3 screens with large fonts on each for easier reading, just swipe between them if needed.

I think the WOD author is adding TBT, there is very active thread on here. You can add an alert if you go off route.

 

[PeteBurgh]

I moved over from Garmin to AW for running, not looked back. For WOD I have 3 screens with large fonts on each for easier reading, just swipe between them if needed.

I think the WOD author is adding TBT, there is very active thread on here. You can add an alert if you go off route.

View attachment 2438066

Running while listening to Test Match Special? A man of culture!

Thanks for sharing these screens. I find the default Workout app screens a little small on the 42mm watch for my eyes. I have downloaded WorkOutDoors but haven't really tinkered with it yet - I think this might prompt me to give it a go!

 

[James.K.Polk]

I am about to run my first marathon in Philly and I have a AW S7. I am on the fence to upgrade to S10 or get a Garmin Forerunner 265.

I use my AW7 daily as normal extension of the phone, but that has reduced as I need reading glasses to read the watch screen. I can't use reading glasses during a run, so it's makes it hard for me to use the watch, I can make use the WOD screen and get an idea of the distance, time and pace. But I cannot see the other smaller metrics on the watch.

Going forward, I am going to be running for the foreseeable future, so I am not sure if I should get a Garmin as my primary watch. I don't like the idea of having two or multiple watches, but could warm up to if I can make the case for it. All my running friends have a Garmin, I am the only one with a AW. So that also plays into it. I don't like the no lap button on AW for interval workouts.

And I don't like heavy watches, so AW Ultra is out for me. Hence the inclination towards S10 and I carry my phone with me, so cellular on a watch is not a necessity.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

I also dislike having more than one watch at a time; which is why I inevitably end up switching every year (or more often!). I don’t know if you’re using “Garmin” specifically or not, but Coros and Polar also make some decent watches worth considering. I really don’t like AMOLED screens besides Apple (who seems to have cracked the brightness and responsiveness necessary), so I gave up on the FR265 pretty quickly. Really like the Pace 3 - but obviously it does a lot less than Apple.

 

[meetree]

.

 

[spacemnspiff]

I also dislike having more than one watch at a time; which is why I inevitably end up switching every year (or more often!). I don’t know if you’re using “Garmin” specifically or not, but Coros and Polar also make some decent watches worth considering. I really don’t like AMOLED screens besides Apple (who seems to have cracked the brightness and responsiveness necessary), so I gave up on the FR265 pretty quickly. Really like the Pace 3 - but obviously it does a lot less than Apple.

I don't think switching watches every year is something that I want to do. I am currently using AW S7 as my running watch, I am contemplating switching to AW S10 or Garmin 265. But I see your point about AMOLED, 265 has AMOLED, but 255 does not. Maybe I can switch to that and see how I like it.

 

[James.K.Polk]

I don't think switching watches every year is something that I want to do. I am currently using AW S7 as my running watch, I am contemplating switching to AW S10 or Garmin 265. But I see your point about AMOLED, 265 has AMOLED, but 255 does not. Maybe I can switch to that and see how I like it.

Assuming you can get it on sale (you should be able to - especially around Black Friday, but even besides) I think the 255 is the best running-specific watch Garmin offers at the moment. Just my $0.02.

 

[PatrickNSF]

Assuming you can get it on sale (you should be able to - especially around Black Friday, but even besides) I think the 255 is the best running-specific watch Garmin offers at the moment. Just my $0.02.

The downside to the 255 is that it doesn’t have the training readiness features that the 265/955/965 watches have. I’m not currently looking at any of that now, but I think some people find those useful.

 

[dj1891]

The downside to the 255 is that it doesn’t have the training readiness features that the 265/955/965 watches have. I’m not currently looking at any of that now, but I think some people find those useful.

255 is also old at this stage so will only really get bug fixes in the future, in saying that Garmin of late seem to release a fix to fix one thing and break 3 other things.

 

[PatrickNSF]

255 is also old at this stage so will only really get bug fixes in the future, in saying that Garmin of late seem to release a fix to fix one thing and break 3 other things.

I used a 965 for nearly 18 months – including a few marathons and many half marathons – and never had any software issues (but I did have to do a swap for a button that became less responsive) . It was a completely reliable watch for my usage.

I'm taking a break from races (and running metrics) for the rest of the year and running with just my AW and find that equally reliable.

 

[spacemnspiff]

I used a 965 for nearly 18 months – including a few marathons and many half marathons – and never had any software issues (but I did have to do a swap for a button that became less responsive) . It was a completely reliable watch for my usage.

I'm taking a break from races (and running metrics) for the rest of the year and running with just my AW and find that equally reliable.

If and when you get back to the races, would you go back to a Garmin for training? I believe that AW with WOD can do everything that a Garmin could do, only downside of AW being and battery life.

Feel free to weigh on any other differences that are useful for runners?

I also would like to have a dedicated lap button for training, which AWU has but is too heavy for me.

 

[PatrickNSF]

If and when you get back to the races, would you go back to a Garmin for training? I believe that AW with WOD can do everything that a Garmin could do, only downside of AW being and battery life.

Feel free to weigh on any other differences that are useful for runners?

I also would like to have a dedicated lap button for training, which AWU has but is too heavy for me.

If you believe in the Garmin training/recovery metrics, it’s nice having all of that data with your workouts stored in Garmin Connect. I’ve also loosely followed the suggested workouts for one marathon and two half marathons with moderate success (but not close to the times I ran with a coach). I race using manual laps (so the lap button helps).

But I think you can make it work with an AW. When I take breaks from the Garmin data overload and run with just an Apple Watch I think it's totally fine. I primarily use the Workout app and run based on "rolling mile" and heart rate. With music and LTE on the watch it's an overall more enjoyable experience TBH.