Pedometers - Beginners - Runner's World

Dippy

15/10/2002 at 22:26

What is the general opinion on pedometers? Are they OK for running too? I know HRMs are the norm but at the mo I'm more interested in distance and calories burned than how fast I should run ( I have no option there!)

Buney

15/10/2002 at 22:32

I've had a couple and find them quite fun - but not neccessarily accurate for mileage and the whole calories burnt thing is a bit innacurate because theyre not sophisticated enough to work out your own personal calorie burn

the British Heart Foundation has a project called walking for health and recommends 10,000 steps a day and most pedometres count steps so it would be a good target !

HRM's tell you how hard your working and that may be more important if you want to burn more calories

Plodding Hippo

15/10/2002 at 23:36

mine underestimates, but it helps to see how far ive gone for motivation

The Evil Pixie pirate

pirate

16/10/2002 at 11:21

If you want to know distance only use Accuroute an application for measuring distances on a PC

Linca

16/10/2002 at 13:38

I've got a pedometer, which is pretty good most times and was almost close to the mark in the last two half marathons I did (registering 13.4 miles and 13.07 miles).
Have to be careful about making sure it is parallel to the ground (and not slanted by resting on my hip). Also, gets annoying when the battery starts to run out because there is no advanced warning. Just slowly your distances (and time running!) are less and less. Though you must remember it measures only the time spent moving, so if you go on a route where you have to stop for traffic often, real time and pedometer time might differ by a few minutes.

Steve c

16/10/2002 at 16:28

the hardest part about using a pedomoter is setting the step distance....

the pace when feeling fit at the beginning is so different to the pace at the end of a long run unless you are really fit.....us beginners tend to step shorter when we get tired
when next on your run find a spot 100 meteres long about in the middle and count how many steps it takes to cover the distance beingcareful not to speed up.
then divide 100 by number of steps to get your average step distance
eg

100m divided by 120 pace = 0.833meteres per step

this way it will provide a reasonable measure........

Mij

16/10/2002 at 17:23

I could never get mine to be accurate - I now use trail gauge on my PC to measure from down loaded OS maps.

The Evil Pixie pirate

pirate

16/10/2002 at 20:30

would like trailgauge but can't afford it as a lowly student!
So using accuroute as I got that with the mag

Buney

16/10/2002 at 20:38

is it good EP?
i've been experimenting with MS Autoroute but it doesn't show the golf course

The Evil Pixie pirate

pirate

16/10/2002 at 20:41

bune the software packages of Accuroute and TrailGauge both work off of images of maps such as those freely available off the OS site so therefore show everything!
TrailGuage allows you to mark the map for future use whereas Accuroute just allows you to measure the distance (follow your mouse along the path)
Accuroute can be downloaded off www.accuroute.com can't remember Trailgauges site

Trailing fox

16/10/2002 at 22:53

There was a thread last week relating to a new piece of mapping software. You can download it for a free 30 day trial, then it's just a tenner if you keep it. I've found it to be very user friendly. Go to:
www.littleredfrog.com/mapper

Monkey

19/10/2002 at 00:17

Just a quick note to say that Accuroute is at www.accuroute.co.uk.

Paul

Robert Popper

19/10/2002 at 02:01

I used to live and die by what it said on my pedometer, and got a little obsessed, then a lot of injuries. Now I hate the little buggers. Run as much or as little as you can, as often or infrequently as you can, as fast or as slowly as you can and the rest will sort itself out. I did a calculation in my head today (what else is there to do on a long run?) and figured that I might run another 25,000 miles in the remainder pf my life time if I don't push myself too hard, injure myself or get burned out. So, what's the point of measuring individual pace-lengths on a pedometer? Think forest, not trees.

Plodding Hippo

19/10/2002 at 12:39

scary thought, wonder how many miles ive got left
Some cardiologists think we have a predefined number of heartbeats
Must keep calm

Scully

19/10/2002 at 14:31

But your heartrate slows when your are fitter, so get running!

Plodding Hippo

19/10/2002 at 17:30

damn, knew i wouldnt get out of it

NOMAD COLIN

19/10/2002 at 18:10

going to run my first 10k next week and although i cycle(race) at national leval i'm not sure what sort of warm up to do befor the race

The Evil Pixie pirate

pirate

20/10/2002 at 21:38

Colin, I only started running 3mths ago and to be honest 10K is enough for me so my warm up is walking to the start! My aim is just to complete the distance so I can use the first 1-2 K as my warm up!

NOMAD COLIN

22/10/2002 at 19:22

i'm gratefull for the advise, my only target is to get round the course. What about a cool down routine for after the race ? joking

The Evil Pixie pirate

pirate

22/10/2002 at 19:37

walk to the nearest bar!