For 5 years I have worn my Suunto 5 almost 24 hours a day. I invested in the watch after my Desert Ultra, where I had to switch between watches because there was no place to charge them . Technology is not my strong suit, meaning I have simple needs when it comes to a GPS watch. My priorities are that it is waterproof (for work, even if I take it off when I shower), a long-lasting battery (I want to charge it less than once a week), different sport modes (my running foot, my indoor bike, my paddle, etc.), GPS accuracy (if it’s not on Strava, it doesn’t count!), heart rate (to keep me in the right zone), and ideally good sleep monitoring.
Suunto watches also have fantastic map features, including navigation tracks to retrace your steps and the ability to download maps. I haven’t tried either yet as I mostly stick to paved roads when running. #adventurestartshere is Suunto’s motto and my Suunto 5 made the round trip to Antarctica. Check out my Strava profile to see where I’ve hiked and camped on my 7th continent. I also noticed last week that there is a digital compass as well and I’m going to try that out as I prepare for my National Three Peaks challenge and coastal navigation.
The Race was released in fall 2023 and I was lucky enough to borrow one for the last two months of marathon training before Tokyo. It’s a little bigger than my Suunto 5, which means it towers over my delicate wrist. Personally, I find the large, bright display easy to read when running or teaching indoor cycling. On the way to Japan, I could tell who a runner was by the size of their watch and the fancy sneakers on their feet. I fit in perfectly! The Race screen flashes when you move your wrist, which is a useful way to save battery. You can also have a “silent mode” in which the screen will not display when there is movement so as not to wake you up at night. I charge the watch every two weeks when I’m not training for a marathon. In the last two months leading up to the Tokyo Marathon, I had to charge it once a week.
Like 5, you need to sync your watch with the Suunto app to record your workouts, which can then be automatically uploaded to Strava if your accounts are linked. The Suunto app also lets you follow your friends and comment on their workouts. With the Race, I used the Bluetooth connection to receive notifications during my morning runs before work. This saved me from having to pull my phone out of my running vest every time I heard a notification go off (we use Whatsapp to let us know if we’re running late or if the first person has a question). You can also receive mobile notifications and adjust your music playlist via the watch.
The alarm function came in handy in my capsule hotel the last night I was in Japan. We were not allowed to use alarms so as not to disturb other hotel guests. My friend suggested I set my watch to vibration mode and that did the trick.
Just before Easter I caught a cold going around at work that lasted 2.5 weeks (which is why this post is so delayed!). I found running incredibly helpful in justifying whether I should rest or not (it was usually rest). Suunto has its own training and recovery algorithm: chronic training load, acute fatigue training load and training stress score (which is the difference between these two scores). Apart from that, it also counts steps, calories burned, heart rate, sleep, and resources. Recovery is monitored by heart rate variability. Sunnto states: “If your HRV values consistently fall below your normal range, this indicates a compromised recovery state. This could be caused by chronic stress, insufficient sleep, overtraining, or an underlying health problem. If you wear your watch 24/7, including when you sleep, the available data will be much more accurate and help you maximize your training plans. Looking at FORM (left side of photo above) shows your progress. You can see here that during my 3rd month of marathon training, I started to improve my fitness (finally!). My training stress score (middle of photo above) gives me the green light to start training while heart rate variability (right side of photo) indicates that more rest may be needed . Note that these screenshots are all from different dates and therefore cannot be used in reference to each other. I hope you can see how each piece of data can be applied as an indication of how to proceed with your training.
Last week I discovered that sleep monitoring is more in-depth than I originally thought. It has a visual display on the watch itself of the amount of sleep spent in different cycles, deep, paradoxical and awake. I still threaten to wake James every time, but he’ll probably relate better to a graphic representation. In perimenopause, sleep is a challenge. If I drink too much alcohol, I don’t sleep well. Body temperature can also influence my sleep. Being able to track the quantity and quality of my sleep will be helpful in determining what impacts my rest and lead to positive behavior change.
Wearing this watch I can 100% say #AdventureStartsHere. This has been very helpful during marathon training and then overcoming a cold during training to maintain my fitness for the National Three Peaks Challenge which I am completing at the end of June. I know the mapping and compass features will be essential as I take on intense day hikes over the next couple of months. Feel free to join me at the Wild Goat Festival at the end of May for hiking, running and gravel biking, accompanied by talks and music. Use MOLLIEMILLI15 for 15% off your tickets and enjoy the outdoors with me.
Do you prefer to run with a GPS watch or “naked”? What data produced by your watch do you refer to most? Let me know in the comments below?