Racing and GPS

[limewave]

Just a quick question: Do you wear your Garmin or GPS watch during a race? I was planning on wearing it to help my pacing, but I've heard that they can be inaccurate during a race from interference and other people's gps.

Thoughts?

[Veronica]

Mine has been accurate in race situations.

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

I've never had interference on mine. Once it pairs with your HRM, footpod, cadence sensor, whatever, it won't pair with anyone else's.

I REALLY value it for pacing, especially my first race at a given distance.

If yours has a vibrating alarm, it would be polite to turn the sound off. If not, I don't think it's a big problem. I hear other people's and it doesn't bother me.

If you have a footpod, calibrate it and set the watch to display pace from the footpod, since instantaneous pace is more accurate from the footpod than from GPS.

[Bike Chick]

I have had no problem using mine in a race. Just remember to hit start when you cross the start line, not when the race starts. In a big race, there could be several minute's difference.

[colby]

I didn't wear my GPS last week when I ran the 12k, and I have mixed feelings about it. I'm not sure how accurate it would have been, but I would have liked to compare and find that out in a safe venue. I would have liked the detail to review the speeds I was running at different course profiles (how fast was that hill, how fast was the downhill, how did I do on the flats). I would have liked to be able to push the pace from the start, then gradually increase pacing as the race went on - I often find that at the end I think I could have pushed miles after the first 1 or 2 to make up a little extra time. At the same time, I am somewhat afraid it would have either encouraged me to work harder or held a less sustainable pace.

Bottom line, I think I'll wear it next time and see how I like it. As with my HRM, if I find it frustrating in a race, I can just pull it off or turn it off and still measure time and press the lap button for distance at each mile marker.