Blog article
Are you and wearable tech a good fit? A runner’s guide to taking your training to the next level
What is wearable tech?
Wearable technology for runners is about smarter training, injury prevention, and pushing the limits with data support. The main players in the running world are watches, insoles, chest straps, smart clothing, and water bottles. Basically, running is becoming smarter and wearable tech can deliver data, drive and mental motivation.
It’s not just while you’re training, or on your feet either - this new way of holistic running can also monitor sleep patterns to guide your workouts and nurture your nervous system. There’s a lot to get your head around though, so let’s dive into the crowd favourites while also addressing what you can do (that technology can’t).
1. Watches (the core running wearable)
A lot of runners who track their runs use a GPS watch as their primary tool, especially for events like HBF Run for a Reason, races, and training blocks. Consider it a training coach (on your wrist), ready to help you with:
- Pace, distance, GPS routes
- Form and efficiency
- Structured workouts and races
- Recovery and readiness, a great way to avoid overtraining or injury
Instead of guessing ‘Am I doing too much or too little?’, smart watches can tell you if training is productive, maintaining, or overreaching as well as whether intensity distribution is balanced (easy vs hard runs) and in terms of training for either the Specsavers 12km or the Brooks Half as part of HBF Run for a Reason, this information is very finish line friendly.
If you’re looking for a device that will help you decide how to train, when to push, and when to rest as well as give you some big picture data on your body battery. This is it.
2. Rings (recovery & sleep specialists)
Rings are not run tracking devices and runners tend to use them alongside watches. They’re designed to be super comfortable (no wrist fatigue, wahoo!) and will also help with:
- Sleep tracking
- Resting HR, HRV, body temp trends
Runner tip: Some runners wear a watch + ring together for training and recovery.
3. Chest Straps (accuracy lovers)
Chest straps are the accuracy kings and are heavily loved by runners who train by heart rate zones or care about clean data and instant response with no lag. They use ECG sensors that detect your heart’s electrical signal making them more reliable during intervals, tempo runs, hills, cold weather and sweaty conditions.
We’ll also give honourable mention to WHOOP (screen free recovery wearable) which are popular with endurance runners focused on strain, sleep, and recovery and Footpods (Stryd) which are small wearable sensors that attach to your shoes and give runners precise running data. Via chats with our HBF Run for a Reason running community, these are loved by advanced runners for power based training and are said to be great on treadmills, hills, and variable terrain.
Who is wearable tech good for?
Both committed and casual runners can benefit from wearable technology and the marathon of features it adds to training, form, enjoyment, and overall health.
You may especially benefit from wearable technology if you’re
- Trying to build a habit by running
- Training for HBF Run for a Reason for the first time
- Returning to running after time off
Our resident runner and merch model, Laura is currently on her wearable tech journey and can’t get enough, so we thought we’d ask her to write bit of an ode to her tech!
“My Garmin gives me context around my runs including how recovered I am, how my fitness is building, and when it’s time to rest. It’s helped me listen to my body. The race predictor has had me signing up for races I definitely haven’t discussed with my legs yet.” Laura
Health benefits outside of running data
If we strip away pace, distance, splits, and performance charts, does wearable tech really benefit health? As a warning, the health benefits of wearable technology should not be relied upon for gauging your whole-body health and trusting your own senses is important.
That said, the health benefits that may come with wearable tech (and are often raved about by runners) include:
- A focus on sleep: Early identification of sleep debt as well as measurement of consistency and duration can help identify fatigue accumulation and get you to a better place with sleep through data and behaviour suggestions.
- Injury risk reduction: Wearables don’t diagnose injuries but they provide early warning signals before breakdown occurs.
- Early illness and immune stress detection: By looking at elevated resting heart rate, reduced HRV, disrupted sleep, wearables can detect physiological distribution allowing runners to pull back when their body needs them to the most.
- Mental health, stress, and burnout awareness: While it may seem obvious when you’re stressed, and you don’t need a watch to remind you, validation may allow you to rest without guilt, spot burnout signs, and look after yourself more during high-volume training phases.
There are still a few things you can do (that your watch can’t)
The hype is real, but it’s also a good idea to home in on some tech-related factors that could lead to fatigue or distract you from enjoying your runs or unnecessarily worrying. It’s a good idea to remind yourself that you know your body, so you don’t:
- Experience data overload
- Ignore how your body actually feels
- Miss out on the enjoyment of being outdoors, moving your body, ie: looking at your watch more than the light at the end of the tunnel!
For example, if your watch is telling you you’re tired but you feel well rested, unnecessary worry could creep in.
Remember the words of American long-distance runner Julie Isphording, “Run often. Run long. But never outrun your joy of running.”
