Used the Band for the Philly Marathon

[mfm77]

Full disclosure: I have an iPhone and an iPad but am all about good products. I've been looking for a multipurpose fitness band/watch for some time now, something that I could use not only with my runs but also with my other sports activities. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon the Band and was able to get one two days before I completed my first marathon yesterday. At first, I was a little nervous with all of the mixed reviews, but I have to say, it held up very well during my run! I had GPS turned on, so the battery was low by the end of the race (more than 5 hours later), but it hung in there like a champ. It did well measuring my distance, heart rate (though I had never had a heart rate monitor before so I couldn't compare the accuracy), and other stats. I loved the haptic feedback I got when I completed a mile, and the final stats (especially time and pace) were much more accurate than MapMyRun, which I used just for comparison. Feel free to ask questions!

 

[eyecrispy]

Full disclosure: I have an iPhone and an iPad but am all about good products. I've been looking for a multipurpose fitness band/watch for some time now, something that I could use not only with my runs but also with my other sports activities. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon the Band and was able to get one two days before I completed my first marathon yesterday. At first, I was a little nervous with all of the mixed reviews, but I have to say, it held up very well during my run! I had GPS turned on, so the battery was low by the end of the race (more than 5 hours later), but it hung in there like a champ. It did well measuring my distance, heart rate (though I had never had a heart rate monitor before so I couldn't compare the accuracy), and other stats. I loved the haptic feedback I got when I completed a mile, and the final stats (especially time and pace) were much more accurate than MapMyRun, which I used just for comparison. Feel free to ask questions!

Congrats on finishing the full! That's amazing! And it's really great to hear that the Band lasted through the whole run. Did you have it charged to full at the beginning?

 

[mfm77]

Thanks! I'm glad I can put one foot in front of another today, lol. I charged it overnight and then strapped it on right before I left my hotel, so I guess I could say I used it from about 5:30 am to about 1:30 pm, including the 5 hours running the race.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Congratulations on completing the Philly Marathon! That's awesome. :smile:

I'm glad you got good results using your new Band during the race also.

 

[eyecrispy]

Thanks! I'm glad I can put one foot in front of another today, lol. I charged it overnight and then strapped it on right before I left my hotel, so I guess I could say I used it from about 5:30 am to about 1:30 pm, including the 5 hours running the race.

That's great to hear! I think battery life is what's really lacking in the Band and causing me to want to return it. It's great to hear that it can last through a marathon on a full charge. I doubt I'll ever run more than that, but who knows.

 

[Scienceguy Labs]

Congratulations.

 

[boltz82]

Congrats, I finished the LA Marathon. Awesome accomplishment.

 

[cardingtr]

Congrats! Did you have display on?

 

[Jean Sagarese]

okay what I was told at the store was the first few times run it down completely and then charge up to 100 after doing this my battery life has been pretty damn good and I have lots of tiles going

 

[mfm77]

Congrats! Did you have display on?

I had display off, but it came on briefly as soon as I hit each mile. If I needed to check in between miles, I easily could hit the button. Hopefully the battery life will improve enough to leave the display on, but honestly, how often do we look at displays while running 26 miles?

 

[Marutigroupidr]

Full disclosure: I have an iPhone and an iPad but am all about good products. I've been looking for a multipurpose fitness band/watch for some time now, something that I could use not only with my runs but also with my other sports activities. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon the Band and was able to get one two days before I completed my first marathon yesterday. At first, I was a little nervous with all of the mixed reviews, but I have to say, it held up very well during my run! I had GPS turned on, so the battery was low by the end of the race (more than 5 hours later), but it hung in there like a champ. It did well measuring my distance, heart rate (though I had never had a heart rate monitor before so I couldn't compare the accuracy), and other stats. I loved the haptic feedback I got when I completed a mile, and the final stats (especially time and pace) were much more accurate than MapMyRun, which I used just for comparison. Feel free to ask questions!

Amazing!!

 

[luxnws]

Grats on finishing the marathon! Good to see that the Band lasted the entire race. It looks like the earlier estimates of the Band's four hour battery life were on the conservative side. How many total miles logged compared to the 26.2 mile course (you'd be surprised how much it can vary).

 

[EuroKnuter]

okay what I was told at the store was the first few times run it down completely and then charge up to 100 after doing this my battery life has been pretty damn good and I have lots of tiles going

This is true for some older NiMH / NiCd batteries, and possibly the (external) clock that predicts charge left, but does nothing for Li-ion batteries like the one in our bands.

 

[EuroKnuter]

Congratulations on finishing / participating in the marathon! That's awesome, thanks for telling us how the band faired during your run (but hearing about your run is a bit better than hearing about the band )!

 

[mfm77]

Grats on finishing the marathon! Good to see that the Band lasted the entire race. It looks like the earlier estimates of the Band's four hour battery life were on the conservative side. How many total miles logged compared to the 26.2 mile course (you'd be surprised how much it can vary).

Actually, the Band logged a few tenths more than the 26.2 (I think it was almost 27), probably because I was exhausted and forgot to stop it in time.

 

[BobLobIaw]

Well done, and thanks for the feedback. I'd probably want to be checking my heart rate fairly frequently in a marathon so having the display on would be very helpful. I wonder how much faster the battery would run down. Five hours plus isn't bad but I hope that MS will continue to make battery life improvements in future models. Congrats!

 

[tk-093]

Congrats! I respect the hell out of anybody that can run a marathon because I just can't comprehend running that far at once. I can ride a century on my bike no problem but running... any distance at all... ugh... Y'all are awesome.

Just curious.. when you said the battery was low after you were done.. like how low? Did it go the rest of the day?

 

[WayCool]

Congrats on the marathon !!!

 

[eyecrispy]

Actually, the Band logged a few tenths more than the 26.2 (I think it was almost 27), probably because I was exhausted and forgot to stop it in time.

I've only run half marathons, but my tracking apps always track more than actual distance. I think it's from the extra swerving in and out of other runners and crossing of streets.

 

[cardingtr]

In a marathon, distance based on GPS is not reliable esp on downtown starts when tall buildings will mess up your pace.
I use it for relative distance. I rely more on my split time and when you're out of downtown when the signal stabilizes I look at my average lap pace to calculate splits. That's why average lap pace is important.
But GPS is very helpful, don't get me wrong, just don't rely on it esp if you are tryinng to run a PR with minutes to spare.