The Lap Recall Feature

Athletes who do repetition work need to keep track of their times, for later analysis. Most athletes who are serious about improving their performances will maintain a training diary and thus need a record of their session times over a period of a week or so, to allow enough time to enter their performances into their diaries.

Lap memory recall is the solution.

A basic sports wrist watch, keeps a running stopwatch, but, loses past times once you reset the chrono. The Lap Recall overcomes this problem by keeping a history of time in the watch's memory.

I cannot stress enough the importance of the Lap Recall feature. It is the number one feature I look for in a sports watch. Lap Recall should be standard in all good quality sports watches, but is often omitted, so be sure to check for it when purchasing your watch.

Countdown and Interval Timer Feature

The countdown timer simply counts down to zero from a specified number of minutes or seconds. Once it reaches zero, it will sounds an alarm and stop or sometimes repeat the countdown over and over. This feature can be useful when performing a timed repetition session, where you are running against the clock rather than over a specified distance.

A sequence of linked Interval Timers takes it one step further, by running a series of timers in succession, then optionally repeating the sequence. An interval timer is a great way to time your recovery as well as repetition time.

Finish Time

Finish time is a feature offered in some Timex Ironman watches that is useful for competitive races or extended rep sessions.

The way it works is, say you are competing in a race or fun run and are aiming to run a certain time. Simply enter your target time and the distance of the race into your watch. As you pass each marker (either 1k, or 1mile) press a button and the watch displays your estimated finishing time.

This feature is only found in certain watches, but can be handy if you like to keep track of time in your races.

Heart Rate Zones

The heart rate zone feature applies to watches that support a heart rate monitor. It enables you to set up an acceptable upper and lower heart-rate limit for an exercise session. When you perform a session, your watch will monitor your heart rate signals and alert you when your heart rate falls out-of-bounds. Many heart rate monitors will also record how much time you spent "in the zone".

This is a standard feature that should be present in all good quality heart rate monitor watches.

Speed & Distance Tracking

Whether on long run, in a competitive race or a rep session, it can be extremely useful to be aware of your current speed, pace and just how far you have traveled in a given time. There are several technologies that do this job: Pedometers, Foot Pods and GPS.

Pedometers
Pedometers are the cheapest and most inaccurate of the tracking devices. They work by keeping track of your number of steps, then calculating speed and distance statistics based on stride length. This can work reasonably well in some circumstances, but often your stride length varies depending on the speed you are running, rendering the pedometer's calculations inaccurate.

Foot Pods
A more accurate mechanism (when correctly calibrated) is a foot pod unit, which is an external device that clips into your running shoe and transmits a signal back to the wristwatch. The foot pod calculates speed and distance information based on the actual motion of your legs through the air.

GPS
Arguably the most accurate measurement of speed and distance is GPS tracking. GPS tracking watches accurately calculate speed and distance based on signals broadcast by a network of satellites orbiting the earth, but require an obstructed view of the sky making them ineffective around tall building or trees, an issue a foot pod overcomes.

Rod McAnally is a competing long distance runner and sports enthusiast.
Rod's mission is to take the confusion out of selecting, comparing and purchasing leading sports watches.
To learn much more about the ins and outs of sports watches, visit SportsWatchInformant.com, where you'll learn about the different types of sports watches, how to find a sports watch and what it really takes to get the most out of your sports timepiece.