Over the years, I've become overly obsessed with my GPS watch's average pace. But as most trail runners will tell you, pace per mile during a 5-hour training run in the mountains becomes far less important due to steep climbs and descents. So in an effort to break my nasty habit of obsessing over splits and pace (and being the King of Impulse Buys), I ordered an ABC (altimeter/barometer/compass) watch: the Suunto Core Blue Crush. I wanted an ABC watch because, as I get more and more into trail and mountain running, I want to know the total elevation gain and loss during my more adventurous runs. Critical information? Maybe not (especially considering the terrain of my normal running routes). But cool and kind of helpful? Absolutely.
When I got home from work at lunchtime yesterday, there it was sitting on my doorstep. I stared at the glorious package as I pulled into the driveway and briefly weighed the option of hitting the pedal then mashing the brakes so I slid sideways across the grass toward the porch in an effort to get to my new prize in the quickest (and most fashionable) way possible. During my daydream, I nearly took the garage door down and parked in the mudroom. Luckily, I snapped out of my trance before that happened, safely set my clunker down in the garage, and walked over to retrieve my package from the front porch like a normal human being.
Once I was inside and gently pushed aside the perpetually starving beast of a cat, I ripped open the package and found.... a set of colored pencils and a bookmark Kate ordered. Just kidding. It was my watch! After ripping open the package and pulling out my glorious new timepiece, I turned it on and quickly discovered I had no idea what I was looking at. But before I get to some of the cooler functions, here's a very brief overview of what the "ABC" of an ABC watch are:
Altimeter: measures altitude
Barometer: measures atmospheric pressure
Compass: determines direction (duh)
For day hikes and camping trips, I knew the altimeter, barometer, and compass would be useful to have. And while I also knew what an altimeter was and how I wanted to use it, I didn't know how useful the barometer function would be as a day-to-day running watch. So after a few Google searches about altimeters and barometers, I found my answer. As a day-to-day running watch, the barometer won't be all that useful, but it'll sure be neat to have!
Side note about the barometer: A really cool feature the Suunto Core has is the weather trend indicator. With this feature, you can check previous weather patterns and predict future weather through changes in atmospheric pressure. The barometer function shows you how the atmospheric pressure has risen or fallen in the last few hours. (This is especially helpful on backcountry adventures.) There's also a storm alert function that warns you if the pressure is steadily dropping, which is a good indicator that heavy rains are coming. Pretty cool.
So after getting the basic gist of how my fancy new arm weight worked, it was time to put the Sunnto Core into action. Although my usual trail route around Lake Williams doesn't have much in the way of elevation gain or loss, I knew it'd still be fun to track during and review after my run. Yesterday was a cold and windy day (upper twenties and 25 mph wind gusts), and there was a fresh dusting of snow on the ground which dissipated quickly with the shining sun. After nursing a sore knee for the previous five days, I was anxious to test out both my watch and my knee. So I drove to the park with intentions of getting in a good, long trail run. But sometimes you have to *cliché alert* listen to your body and adjust your plans accordingly.
To get a more accurate reading, altimeters need to be calibrated frequently. As I learned from my brief Googling, the more you calibrate, the more accurate your readings will be. Once I got to the parking lot and was ready to start my run, I looked up the most recent atmospheric pressure reading for my location (found on The Weather Channel website), input the reference value into my watch, and off I went. When in the altimeter mode, the watch can record your activity, and you can view live stats during and after the activity. Since I didn't know what the elevation gain and loss of this route was, it was interesting to see. (I'm anxious to try it out on more mountainous terrain where the results will be much more intriguing.) While many websites can show elevation gain when you connect your GPS watch after a run, I wanted to A) get a more accurate reading and B) see my total elevation gain and loss throughout my various runs. Here's what I found during my maiden run:
Total Ascent: 1,148 ft
Total Descent: 1,161 ft
Highest Peak: 774 ft
Whoa! You're probably thinking, "How'd he breathe up there without an oxygen mask?!" Yeah, like I said, we're not talking monster elevation gains or losses by any means, and I certainly didn't incur any altitude sickness as a result. But for me, it was definitely cool to see what I was working with.
On a much less fun note, I also found that my knee was OK during the first four miles, hurt a fair amount once the trail plateaued after a short climb, and became manageable for the remainder of the loop. So my long run turned into a fairly uncomfortable 7.5 miles. Certainly not the news I hoped for if I still want to run the C&O Canal 100 in a month, but we'll see.
Anyway, this post wasn't intended to be a review of the Suunto Core Crush. Actually, I'm not really sure what the point was. But if I had to sum the watch up, I'd rate it "sweet" to "pretty sweet." (I'm still working on review verbiage.) I guess I was just excited about the watch and this was an excuse to write about it. On a final note... this morning, Kate began asking me a few questions about my run yesterday and my fancy new watch. Nice! But after 15 minutes of nods and okays, she asked, "So why do you need it?" Not so nice. After debating whether to answer with a hopeful or snarky reply, I opted for factual and said, "I don't. It's just cool to have."
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| Suunto Core Blue Crush |
Barometer: measures atmospheric pressure
Compass: determines direction (duh)
For day hikes and camping trips, I knew the altimeter, barometer, and compass would be useful to have. And while I also knew what an altimeter was and how I wanted to use it, I didn't know how useful the barometer function would be as a day-to-day running watch. So after a few Google searches about altimeters and barometers, I found my answer. As a day-to-day running watch, the barometer won't be all that useful, but it'll sure be neat to have!
Side note about the barometer: A really cool feature the Suunto Core has is the weather trend indicator. With this feature, you can check previous weather patterns and predict future weather through changes in atmospheric pressure. The barometer function shows you how the atmospheric pressure has risen or fallen in the last few hours. (This is especially helpful on backcountry adventures.) There's also a storm alert function that warns you if the pressure is steadily dropping, which is a good indicator that heavy rains are coming. Pretty cool.
So after getting the basic gist of how my fancy new arm weight worked, it was time to put the Sunnto Core into action. Although my usual trail route around Lake Williams doesn't have much in the way of elevation gain or loss, I knew it'd still be fun to track during and review after my run. Yesterday was a cold and windy day (upper twenties and 25 mph wind gusts), and there was a fresh dusting of snow on the ground which dissipated quickly with the shining sun. After nursing a sore knee for the previous five days, I was anxious to test out both my watch and my knee. So I drove to the park with intentions of getting in a good, long trail run. But sometimes you have to *cliché alert* listen to your body and adjust your plans accordingly.
To get a more accurate reading, altimeters need to be calibrated frequently. As I learned from my brief Googling, the more you calibrate, the more accurate your readings will be. Once I got to the parking lot and was ready to start my run, I looked up the most recent atmospheric pressure reading for my location (found on The Weather Channel website), input the reference value into my watch, and off I went. When in the altimeter mode, the watch can record your activity, and you can view live stats during and after the activity. Since I didn't know what the elevation gain and loss of this route was, it was interesting to see. (I'm anxious to try it out on more mountainous terrain where the results will be much more intriguing.) While many websites can show elevation gain when you connect your GPS watch after a run, I wanted to A) get a more accurate reading and B) see my total elevation gain and loss throughout my various runs. Here's what I found during my maiden run:
Total Ascent: 1,148 ft
Total Descent: 1,161 ft
Highest Peak: 774 ft
Whoa! You're probably thinking, "How'd he breathe up there without an oxygen mask?!" Yeah, like I said, we're not talking monster elevation gains or losses by any means, and I certainly didn't incur any altitude sickness as a result. But for me, it was definitely cool to see what I was working with.
On a much less fun note, I also found that my knee was OK during the first four miles, hurt a fair amount once the trail plateaued after a short climb, and became manageable for the remainder of the loop. So my long run turned into a fairly uncomfortable 7.5 miles. Certainly not the news I hoped for if I still want to run the C&O Canal 100 in a month, but we'll see.
 |
| Less than thrilled about my stupid knee |
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