Rollerblade skating can be an awesome form of exercise and many great cities across the USA are well equipped
for it, from San Diego to Chicago and Boston. A GPS watch can revolutionize your rollerblading because this new technology will accurately
measure your speed, distance, heart rate and even map out your courses to Google Earth.
GPS watches like the Garmin Forerunner 210 are unbelievable giving you real-time speed, distance, heart rate, calories burned and
more. Sure, you could get a basic heart monitor for rollerblading but it's just not as productive as knowing your heart rate together
with average speed and distance. It is the correlation of your heart rate with your speed that allows you to get better and understand your pacing
accurately.
A heart monitor paired with the old technology of foot pods wouldn't work for rollerblading, so the GPS watch has been nothing short
of revolutionary for rollerbladers.
While the Garmin Forerunner 210 is great for those desiring real-time pace, the Garmin Forerunner 110 will do you average pace, along
with heart rate, distance and all of the other features, including the post-workout mapping. GPS watches have removed the barrier of knowing
real-time pace and distance, sure you could train with a heart monitor but making the connection between heart rate and pace was a huge and
missing variable. This is how top cyclists and marathoners do it and this understanding of the correlation between heart rate and pace cannot be
understated.
The other nice thing for the rollerblading clan is that most of these GPS watches, like the Garmin Forerunner 110 are fairly
easy to work with gloves on. Simple button depresses, or bezel scrolls in the case of the new Garmin Forerunner 410, and you've changed
screens in a jiffy.
Like so many other sports, skating requires base training and mileage to get fast. You can manage your aerobic base building making sure it is being
completed at the proper intensity so you build a good foundation upon which to add later speed training.
The Polar RS300X G1 GPS watch is probably the least expensive GPS solution at around $225. The minor downside is that you have to wear an
external sensor on your upper arm but if that does not bother you then it saves you a few bucks over the Garmin Forerunner models. The
Garmin Forerunner models range from $199, for the Garmin Forerunner 110 with no heart rate strap, all the way up to $379 for the
Garmin Forerunner 410. The Garmin Forerunner 210 is $299 with heart rate and offers you both real-time and average pacing.
The new Garmin Forerunner 410 offers you a Virtual Partner pacing feature which is pretty cool for those that like to be paced. Just put a
pace into the watch and it will show you every inch of the way just how far ahead or behind the actual pace you are. It is a great tool for working
on your tempo training.
So, while you can just use heart rate based training and buy a simple heart monitor, we feel the benefits for rollerbladers are far
greater when using a GPS watch so the distinct correlation between pace and heart rate can be established. All of these watch companies offer
free training software and all of these watches allow you to download your training.
All of the GPS watches we have placed in this category exemplify the best available technology for measuring speed, distance and heart rate
while skating. If you'd prefer just a simple heart rate monitor we would suggest visiting the heart rate monitor section of our store.
If you'd like some assistance determining which GPS watch will be best for your rollerblading needs just give us a call us, toll-free,
at 866-586-7129 and talk to a real expert.
