Is there a way to accurately measure the distance, time and speed when out running?

Question

I know you can do this with a bicyle but it works by the number of times the wheel turns.

Is there any way of getting these measurements while out running?

Answer 1

There is no specific way for to figure out the distance and how fast you are running, you have specific land marks that are laid out and you know the distance between them and you can calculate how long it took you to get form one to the other. However if you obviously don't know this and you dont feel lie taking your car out on your runs, you can map your run out on you computer and see how long it is. This way you will know how long the run is and if you have watch can easily calculate your pace, speed, and all that good stuff.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

This is very easy just put in the address of the starting location in the "Jump to" box on the the top of the page then click "Start Recording" button on the left. Then just double click where you want to start and just trace the run. I hope this helps good luck!

Answer 2

A digital trundlewheel

http://oe-initiatieven.nl/images/TRUNDLE...

You will, of course, look terribly daft.

Answer 3

Get a phone equipped with sat nav. Accurate to within a few metres. But costly

Answer 4

Time is the easiest, just use a watch.

Distance is next easist.  You can premeasure with a car or bike if you are running on the roads.  Otherwise, you can use a pedometer (not very accurate), a sattillate gps reciever (accurate but expensive), or something like the nike+ iPod system (an accelemeter).  Most runners eventually learn to give really accurate estimates of distance.

Speed is just a function of the above two, so how accurate you get them determines how accurate you can determine your speed.

Answer 5

There are a few ways I use, depending on how much time and effort I want to put in.

I measure it before I go out using a map and a piece of string, though I also use www.mapmyrun.com which is pretty good and gives you the distance - before I go out

Before I go running, but Im out - I use the car odometer (speedo), or my cycles computer thing

While I am runnig - this is a bit pricey perhaps for everyone, but I have a GPS watch that tells me how far I have run, my current and average speed and time.

So thats distance

Time when running - old fashioned watch

Speed - the GPS thing, or remember the route and distances along it (for example, get to road junction and done 1 mile, get to high street and done 2 miles) and work it out in my head - it gives my mind a distraction to think about as well working it out.

EDIT

Whoops I forgot to add - the GPS thing. You can also use a pedometer that counts your steps, once calibrated it they can calculate distance (or you can) and also some work out speed as well (for example the Nike+ system, - since Im naming things I use a Garmin watch, though there is a Timex one and Samsung also make a pedometer system)

Answer 6

What I always do is drive the route I plan to run, using the car odometer as a guide to distance. Then I run with a stopwatch to gauge my time.

Not ideal I know, but it works for me, although some sort of clip-on device would be great if it measured everything in one go!