I would like to get a new HRM for running that will display my min/mile pace. I know they are out there, but do you have to have the footpod to get this feature to work? A friend had the foot pod for a polar HRM and never could get it to work right. Seems like an enormous PITA. Do the Garmins do it without a footpod? They should be able to if they track your distance and speed through GPS I would think. Thanks.
The Garmin Forerunner 50 uses a footpod that works well, the other Forerunners (205, 305, 405, 310XT) all use GPS and provide pacing that works well too. Pace & HR are managed by all, but they each offer different things for different athletes. Do a bit of research on Garmin’s sight to learn all the differences.
The footpod was really simple for me to set up.
Put it on your shoe and turn it on.
Run a few times on a known course and adjust as necessary.
My Garmin was allways inconsistant but I had an old one. Maybe the newer ones are better.
jaretj
To get your run pace, you could use a GPS-based device like a Garmin or a footpod device like a Polar (though some are also compatible with a separate GPS pod as well.) I personally use a Polar RS800sd, which I selected because the foot pod it uses calculates both pace and run cadence, which I have found helpful to let me know when I may be falling off my pace. (Note: You need the Polar S3 pod for cadence, the S1 only does pace.) As far as footpod setup is concerned, I haven’t found it to be difficult at all. You can calibrate it by running on a known distance (ie. track @ local HS) when you get a new pair of shoes. I haven’t had a need to recalibrate mine and it appears to work consistently (ie. I don’t see weird spikes in my pace times on known courses.)
One advantage of a footpod is when you use your HRM in heavily wooded areas or an indoor track as it works in the absence of a GPS signal. GPS devices are cool in that you can upload your runs to a map, and some may find the GPS devices better for multisport since they measure your speed on the run or the bike. You can get a foot pod for the Garmins to add functionality to your GPS unit and get a pace reading when the GPS signal gets lost. I’m not sure if the Garmin pod has a run cadence function, however, like the Polar S3 footpod offers.