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Joggers: get a friggin' PokeWalker!

Started by Jutter, August 10, 2013, 09:23:47 AM

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Jutter

I don't jog. Maybe you jog.
Do you use one of them pedometer thingies to keep track of things? Well guess what... according to studies your pedometer is a mickymouse piece of shit compared to the motherfucking PokeWalker!

http://archive.news.iastate.edu/news/20 ... Pokewalker
No religion for me thank you very much; I 'm full of shit enough as it is.

Being flabbergasted about existence never made anyone disappear in a poof of flabbergas, so nevermind why we're here. We ARE here.

Solitary

I used to use one to prevent blood clots, and then I got blood clots and quit walking. Now I take a bunch of pills.  :shock:   :roll:  Solitary
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.

SGOS

#2
I picked up a free pedometer once.  It came with something I bought, but I can't remember what it was that I bought.  I know it was more than a box of Crackerjacks, but the pedometer was some plastic mickey mouse looking thing.  I tried it on a known route that I frequently walked.  It wasn't even close, not even in the ballpark.  I tried it in both directions, and walking the same route twice came up with different results.  Yeah, it's what I figured would happen.  Granted it wasn't an expensive instrument.

I have actually counted my number of steps in 100 feet (measured with a 100 foot tape measure) so that I could pace off things.  Now pacing is just a ball part estimate anyway, but in pacing, I actually use a specific rhythm, and a familiar pace.  In a small distance like 100 feet, there is always error.  Over long distances I wouldn't expect much.  And if you introduce varying grades like on a mountain trail, you might as well forget the whole thing.

I have also used a GPS.  It's more accurate.  It's very good at telling you how many feet you are from a known point, but if you are walking on a trail that zig zags, it's not as good.  It will measure a wandering path to an extent on one of it's settings, but an amount of error is introduced.  The error is magnified with a weak signal from the satellite.   I've stood stationary with a GPS and watched my location drift about, but it was with a very poor signal.

If you try Geocaching (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching  ), you will see that there is an amount of signal drift.  This may account for all those smart bombs we drop down theoretical chimneys that end up wiping out the neighbors, rather than the actual terrorists.

SilentFutility

GPS watches are fairly decent for running. I've got one of those.

SGOS

Quote from: "SilentFutility"GPS watches are fairly decent for running. I've got one of those.
They make them for mountain bikes (well, any kind of pedal bike).  Very light weight, and they also report speed.  When I was a kid, they used to have speedometers for bikes, but they were heavy and clunky, probably even created some resistance to the wheel.  A few of my friends had them.

aitm

I sit at the bar and watch joggers.....


I win!
A humans desire to live is exceeded only by their willingness to die for another. Even god cannot equal this magnificent sacrifice. No god has the right to judge them.-first tenant of the Panotheust

LikelyToBreak

In my health studies, many seem to think it is the number of steps you take which is really important, rather how far you go.  Three thousand steps a day, seems to be the number they recommend.  In which case, any pedometer which counts steps is as good as any other.  I got a cheapo one for under five bucks, which fits the bill okay.  But, you have to be careful where you put it on your body.  In the right place, wrong place I guess, it won't count at all.  But, in the right place, it does the job.

Colanth

Quote from: "SGOS"If you try Geocaching (  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching  ), you will see that there is an amount of signal drift.  This may account for all those smart bombs we drop down theoretical chimneys that end up wiping out the neighbors, rather than the actual terrorists.
Augmented GPS can have an accuracy of a couple of centimeters, and I can't believe the military wouldn't be taking advantage of that.
Afflicting the comfortable for 70 years.
Science builds skyscrapers, faith flies planes into them.

SilentFutility

Quote from: "SGOS"
Quote from: "SilentFutility"GPS watches are fairly decent for running. I've got one of those.
They make them for mountain bikes (well, any kind of pedal bike).  Very light weight, and they also report speed.  When I was a kid, they used to have speedometers for bikes, but they were heavy and clunky, probably even created some resistance to the wheel.  A few of my friends had them.
Yeah I know my dad's got one as he's into road racing & sportives & things like that, good bits of kit they are.

About ten years ago I had a very primitive cycle speedometer that had some other basic funtions. You attached a clip onto a wheel spoke, and a sensor onto the fork that had a wire leading to the display on the handlebars. I assume it was some sort of inductive sensor. I could never get the bloody thing to work properly.

My running watch is good though, instantaneous pace while running is good as I can see whether or not I am slowing, and looking through records at average paces is good to see improvements.

Jutter

I just stop running when I start feeling tired, and I don't start unless I'm actually in a hurry. And what's in between doesn't last long.

Call me a minimalist.
No religion for me thank you very much; I 'm full of shit enough as it is.

Being flabbergasted about existence never made anyone disappear in a poof of flabbergas, so nevermind why we're here. We ARE here.

SilentFutility

Quote from: "Jutter"I just stop running when I start feeling tired, and I don't start unless I'm actually in a hurry. And what's in between doesn't last long.

Call me a minimalist.
I did as well when I started but if you are wanting to make significant leaps in fitness and to get better at running they do make a world of difference.

Having said that I did run a half marathon (although it was very slowly, and I was unable to walk without great pain for two days) three weeks after starting running and that was more of a case of "start running....don't stop...that's all there is to it". I did just have the watch at that point though, so at least it told me how far I'd gone. I wanted to see if I could do it.

I know you were joking around, but it's a point worth making imo, a lot of people see them as a bit gimmicky but they are extremely useful for maximising the effectiveness of your runs. I don't particularly like running, so if I do get my arse out and do it I'd rather it was actually doing something for me.  :lol:

SGOS

Quote from: "SilentFutility"I know you were joking around, but it's a point worth making imo, a lot of people see them as a bit gimmicky but they are extremely useful for maximising the effectiveness of your runs. I don't particularly like running, so if I do get my arse out and do it I'd rather it was actually doing something for me.  :lol:
I used to ride my bike everyday around a 16 mile loop.  I didn't have a fancy watch, but I did have a minute hand.  I would check my time midway and at the end.  It felt good to shave off a minute every so often.  And there was no question about being in good shape.  Eventually, I got to a point,where I couldn't shave anymore time off, but I still rode every day.

Once some younger guy showed up along side of me.  I didn't know he had been there.  He said, "I've been behind you for a long time.  You're a hard guy to catch up with."  And then he passed me, and I was behind him for a long time until he went out of sight.   :-D

Agramon

"And, tricked by our own early dream
And need of solace, we grew self-deceived,
Our making soon our maker did we deem,
And what we had imagined we believed."
- Thomas Hardy