Distance - Page 2 - Training

Minks

25/11/2002 at 16:45

Scotty H: I've been thinking of getting one of these, having seen it on the John Lewis website.

One question: can I use it on an A-Z type map which involves having to turn the page or go across the crease in the middle? Sorry if this is a dumb question!

Scotty.

26/11/2002 at 15:54

Minkin. Yes - it's really easy. You simply stop at the edge of the map/page, lift the wheel off the page and start again on the next page. It only measures when the wheel actually turns in contact with the page.

It is fun to use but the compass on it is a bit naff though.

Brian S

26/11/2002 at 16:57

I use a pedometer purchased from Argos at under a tenner. Once you have pre-set your stride length and weight(not difficult),each time you go running you just clip it to your shorts /belt and off you go . It records the up and down movement you make when running ,and pauses when you are not moving and shows a display with time, distance, calories , number of steps taken etc etc etc . But I only use for distance and time as I don't understand calories ...
I would recommend this.

Giant Haystacks

26/11/2002 at 20:51

The other alternative is to drive the route. It took me ages to realise I could set my milometer back to 0 (I know, very thick). I'm afraid I'm a complete girl when it comes to this sort of thing. It's the old right side/left side of brain thing. I bought a pedometer last year but couldn't be bothered to read the instructions, so have never used it! It's the same with watches, I can't be arsed with all the lap things. And my copy of AccuRoute is still wrapped in plastic... It's at times like this I think it would be handy to have a man in my life. Then I come to my senses again.

Tom Bombadil

27/11/2002 at 09:23

Stay well clear of pedometers for measuring distance unless you can gaurantee that your stride length with be identical for all terrains, all distances and all speeds. They are usually at least 20% out. The one that I got from Argos was even a bit dodgy at recording time since it would occasionally miss seconds here and there.

If you want an accurate distance then measure it on a map, using software like Accuroute or Trailgauge makes this very easy and accurate to usually within 1%.

If you're not too bothered about accuracy and you can drive round the route then use the car. Car odometers should be within 5 to 10%.

If you've got money to burn get a Timex SDM which will be accurate to within 2%.

BusyBee

27/11/2002 at 20:45

Well I gave in to my gadget craving and got the old man to get me the Timex ironman GPS system for crimbo! Much more expensive than a pedometer but I did get it on ebay for less than 1/2 the UK retail, and that included shipping! ($134 for the watch $30 shipping about £109!)

Can't wait for the boxing day run!

Chris Tarpey

04/12/2002 at 20:28

Another option is some new software called Mapper, which is similar to Accuroute and Trailguage, but lets you edit routes, do multiple routes on multiple maps (oh, and actually see your route!).

With all these programs, you can use any map off the internet, or scanned in from a paper map, and you're not restricted to places you can get a car or bike.

Download it for a free 30-day trial from http://www.littleredfrog.com/mapper
It costs £10 to use it after the free trial.

(declaration of interest: I was asking the same questions about measuring distances a couple of years ago and couldn't find anything suitable, so decided to write the software myself, with the help of a friend who's a much better programmer than me! - Mapper is the result)

Joemac

05/12/2002 at 00:15

I'm not sure what the Timex GPS does but to measure a new route I run with an Etrex Summit GPS (around £100 - I already had it for hillwalking). Not much bigger than a cigarette pack it weighs about half a pound. It'll tell you trip time and distance in Kms or miles, average speed, you can spot check elevation if you're running up hills and you can save a lot of routes for future reference. Also handy for getting you home if you're lost!

Mike S

05/12/2002 at 10:57

Some interesting Web links here which I'll check out.
I do find it irritating that accurate maps at a scale lower than 1:25000 are so difficult to get hold of. They are available - down to 1:1250 - but cost a bomb. <rant>Thanks a lot Ordnance Survey - the only mapping agency in the world allowed to make a profit in this way.</rant>
I'm very keen to get really accurate measurements of relatively short distances such as the lengths of the hill reps I run, and the "usual" sources are pretty useless for this purpose.
One other alternative is a measuring wheel - but from what I can see, a decent one costs at least £100. Wonder if they can be hired - and at what rate?

Chris Tarpey

05/12/2002 at 14:46

Mike, if you are lucky enough to live (or run) in an area covered by the ariel photography feature on www.streetmap.co.uk you can get a fairly low scale picture. Not sure what the 1: scale is, but you get 500 metres in a square about 5 inches across on my screen!

I used Mapper to measure the track at Crystal Palace and it came up with 398.48m, which I worked out as 99.62% accuracy.

Unfortunately not much outside the M25 seem s to be covered.

Mike S

05/12/2002 at 14:56

Afraid there's no aerial photgraphy available here (Wirral - circa 200 miles outside the M25). Strange - as I know a number of aerial surveys have been flown in this area.
Anyway Chris - yes, I am going to have a look at Mapper!

patrunner

19/02/2003 at 13:47

I have just got the accuroute but cant find a map to use it with has anyone got any map sites they can suggest? The ones I go into are not detailed enough to use.

Lardass TPFKAJ

19/02/2003 at 20:55

www.map24.com, go to address search, put your start address and then when the map comes up you can zoom in or out and then I think you click on direction and then put your cursor at the start and click around the course. It does it in Km but easily converted to miles with a calculator (times by .6214)

Barry Lennox

15/10/2004 at 09:07

Hi I get some use from my pedometer. But I wonder if there is one that indicates your current cadence (paces per minute. After all your speed is made up of only two variables, length of stride and stride rate

Cameron Ross 2

03/03/2006 at 13:19

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

This is a great website to measure your distances.

Neems22

03/03/2006 at 16:43

Nike run london has just created a routefinder on its website. You don't have to have run the nike 10k to use it either. I've found it to be quite useful and it also has recommended routes saved on there from other runners. Alternatively, you can plot your own routes in and it tells you the distance, good low scale too.

Patrick Randell

11/10/2006 at 14:56

I use Google Earth to work out distances. It has a measuring tool you draw out the route you run as a "path" (like a piece of string) It seems to be pretty accurate when comparing routes to my bike computer.

Northern Gear

11/10/2006 at 15:32

Google earth works for me

Brian Huevo

11/10/2006 at 17:00

http://www.mapmyrun.com/

uses google map/earth and is specifically for runners ;)

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