20 MARCH 2017 womensrunninguk.co.ukJaybird Freedom Wireless Buds
£169.99, jaybirdsport.com
These ooze premium style and feel way
too classy to get sweaty (though they are
sweat proof). The sound is phenomenal –
and for sonic snobs, highly customisable
in the accompanying app. With more
than a dozen accessories, from buds to
those weird but effective ear-hook things,
getting a comfy, secure fit isn’t a problem.
The battery lasts four hours – and the
battery charger carries another four hours
and works even when USB isn’t available.
These are flippin’ excellent.Saucony Stride Lab App
Free, stridelab.co.uk
With input from Running Anatomy author
Jay Dicharry, this app offers you a free
stride and movement evaluation. It takes
runners through a 30-minute assessment
that involves you taking photos and videos
of yourself doing exercises – though you
will need a treadmill. Then it pinpoints
areas where you could improve and
provides targeted exercises, stretches and
drills to help you to do so – and points to
keep you motivated. And all without trying
to flog you any shoes.Archon Move Heart Rate
Fitness Tracker
£49.99, idealworld.tv
This tracker is affordable – which we
heartily applaud. Much tech is prohibitively
expensive so this may get couch-favouring
types up on their feet. As well as smart
notifications (albeit barely readable on a
tiny screen) it tracks calories burned, heart
rate, distance and sleep – though accuracy
of the latter is
questionable.
And it’s
deliciously
light. On a
thin wrist, the
buckle can be
uncomfy and
the swipe OLED
touchscreen
lags a bit. But
for the money,
it’s a good bit
of kit.WORDS: DAMIAN HALLStryd
£165, stryd.com
Nothing provides more post-run insight to bore other people with than a heart-
rate monitor (HRM). “I dropped from 162bpm to 160bpm at mile eight!” No
way, Mo! However, the HRM’s Jedi-like status might be about to change.
The wearable Stryd power pod is a 7g, apricot-sized, waterproof
carbon-fibre pod easily attached to muddy shoelaces, like a race timer.
The wireless charger pad is proper fancy Death Star stuff.
Power sounds like something MAMILs are more interested in for
their post-cycling stat freakouts. But Stryd says it’s a measurement
of performance, technique, muscle strength and condition, and the
external environment – the aim being greater running efficiency.
The package includes power-based training programmes
and your training zones are determined via a series of running
tests (no need for a lactic threshold test as you’d need for
HRM training). Usefully, vertical oscillation and ground
contact time are recorded, which no GPS watch can do
(though Garmin HRM-Run’s pod can) and there’s data
for leg spring/stiffness. It’s not perfect science yet- wind impacts the pod for example, thinking you’re
going downhill, and it’s only partially compatible
with Suunto (though likely to become fully).
So it’s too early to be sure the Stryd pod
will improve runners – after all, it’s only
recording data from one leg not both. But
it’s full of promise. Could this be the
end of those pesky chest straps?
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