As a runner and a geek, I have tracked my running for some time now using my Garmin Forerunner 405. I absolutely love it. It tracks my pace, elevation, and heart rate (with separate HR monitor) while running, and it will even track my cycling speed and cadence (with cycling attachment). The data tracking is fantastic, I can wirelessly download all of my data from the watch to my computer and analyze each mile. I can dig into the data and see why my heart rate increased or how my pace varies over time and distance. I can see how many miles and how many minutes I was in each heart rate zone and speed zone. I can basically geek-out over the data, and it's awesome.
While it is great, there are some drawbacks... I have to be home at my computer with the Garmin ANT Agent on with the ANT "stick" plugged into a USB outlet to download the data. THEN I have to separately upload it to the Garmin Connect website to have access to the data when I'm away from my computer. Also, the blatantly obvious point is that I have to wear the watch to track anything. If the battery isn't charged, I can't use it. If the satellites won't connect (which can occasionally be a problem), I can't get data. Plus, when I use a treadmill (with vehement disdain by the way), I can't track distance or pace with my watch. Also, what about days I don't run and do yard work. I'm exerting energy, but how do I measure it...?
Hence, the onset of fitness trackers like, Jawbone Up, Nike Fuelband, Fitbit Force, and others (newly released Garmin Vivofit). These trackers track your activity, food intake, liquid intake, calories burned, sleep, etc. With various features and pros and cons, I chose the Fitbit Force, and here's why...
Fitbit has a number of tracking devices in addition to the Force. I wanted a device that not only tracked steps (activity) but also stairs. The Force additionally allows the user to set goals, has a built-in clock, tracks active minutes (equivalent of minutes of elevated heart rate) and quality of sleep. For Fitbit, it is the top-of-the-line product (the price tag says that...), but for me, it "fit" the bill for what I was looking for.
In comparison, other fitness trackers have similar features, but the selling point to me was the Bluetooth 4.0 integration with my smartphone. Some of the other fitness trackers (when I bought the Force back in October of 2013) have to be removed from your wrist to synchronize with your phone or computer but not the Force. I only remove it from my wrist to shower, clean it, and charge it. Which brings up another point... With 10+ days of battery life, I can't remember the last time I charged it. I honestly couldn't tell you when it was.
Back to the geeky part, what about data. The Fitbit website will track more data than the Force collects. For example, I can track food intake and water intake. I used MyFitnessPal for a while doing this very thing, but with my not needing to lose weight, it was not really helpful other than to know whether or not what I'm eating is "healthy." Fitbit takes it another step and compares what you eat to what you burn! Now that's valuable. You can easily see if you are one maintaining a healthy diet and two if you are maintaining a healthy balance.
Now, I couldn't talk about data without talking about accuracy. Back to the Forerunner, the GPS data from the Garmin watch is fairly reliable and consistent. Garmin actually overlays my route on a map so that I can see how close the data collected is to the route I ran. It is generally pretty accurate. For the Fitbit Force, there have been several critics of its accuracy. I'll admit, I noticed just last night that my brushing my teeth added several steps to my day. As noted by other users, playing the guitar will also add a few thousand steps. While it may not be perfect, I don't see this as a problem. For me, buying the Fitbit was about tracking my activity level. If I exert energy that does something other than take a step but the Fitbit logs it as a step, does it really matter? Do I care if the distance traveled and calories burned exactly match what I have done? I don't think so.
What matters is that I can track how active I have been in a day. This is a far cry from the geekiness I exert with my Garmin, but the Fitbit serves a different purpose. I like being able to compare day-to-day how I'm doing and being able to see how certain activities (or lack thereof) impact my energy level, sleeping pattern, and caloric intake. I don't see a need to have acute accuracy. I think it does well enough as-is.
For me, I'm a Fitbit fan. There will be more newcomers into this market as the popularity grows. Fitbit will continue to improve as others do as well. I'm sure people will think of new and exciting things that we have yet to even fathom. Until then, I'll keep tracking.
(Note: the Fitbit Force is currently under a voluntary recall because some users (less than 2%) have had issues with the band causing dermatitis. Fortunately, I'm not one of those, but you can read about it here: http://www.fitbit.com/forcesupport)
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
The Bell Center Fundraiser
The annual Mercedes Marathon is coming up on Sunday here in Birmingham. This event allows for a great opportunity for exercise and fitness, but also an opportunity to benefit an extraordinary local charity in The Bell Center.
The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs in Homewood is dedicated to maximizing the potential of children from birth to three years of age who are at risk for developmental delay.
APC Marketing has a relay team that will complete this year’s marathon running the event in five segments. Team members this year include:
Bryan Coley
April Owens
Bevin Tomlin
Todd Rath
Scott Nix
One of our members serves on the Service Guild of Birmingham's board that supports the Bell Center and another team member has volunteered for service projects to raise money for The Bell Center in the past. Together we will run a combination of 26.2 miles during The Mercedes Marathon, and we hope to raise at least $100 per mile, or a minimum of $2,620 for The Bell Center. This money will be used to fund the Bell Center that provides life changing programs to its families and children.
As a part of the fundraising effort to benefit the children of the Bell Center please consider supporting our relay team through a donation.
The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs in Homewood is dedicated to maximizing the potential of children from birth to three years of age who are at risk for developmental delay.
APC Marketing has a relay team that will complete this year’s marathon running the event in five segments. Team members this year include:
One of our members serves on the Service Guild of Birmingham's board that supports the Bell Center and another team member has volunteered for service projects to raise money for The Bell Center in the past. Together we will run a combination of 26.2 miles during The Mercedes Marathon, and we hope to raise at least $100 per mile, or a minimum of $2,620 for The Bell Center. This money will be used to fund the Bell Center that provides life changing programs to its families and children.
As a part of the fundraising effort to benefit the children of the Bell Center please consider supporting our relay team through a donation.
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