Pedometer incorrect..pretty excited!

Options
Al77
Al77 Posts: 47
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so I posted this week about being a new-ish runner and entering a 9K and blah blah. Well last week I started running and ran supposedly 1.15 miles and was rather discouraged by this, especially that it took 19 minutes. Yeah well, my pedometer is either defective or I am and don't know how to work it. I decided to run the track at my old high school tonight instead. 4 laps around is a mile and I ran 7 laps and the pedometer said 1.05 miles! NOT! So, I really ran 1.75 miles in 14 minutes! So I'm running an 8 minute mile, not a 16! Pretty excited right now. I KNEW something was off, I knew I could run a mile under 16 minutes! On that note, anyone have a reliable pedometer to recommend??

Replies

  • gnme4243
    gnme4243 Posts: 120
    Options
    I have an Omron that I have always had good results with. I walked a route a couple times, then my husband drove the same route and the distances were super close- not off enough to even think about. They have them on Amazon.

    And huge great job on the fast run!! Good for you! :flowerforyou:
  • acakeforawife
    acakeforawife Posts: 207
    Options
    I agree that Omron's are great, BUT I don't think you can really use a pedometer for running. Because your stride is quite different (longer) when you're running -- so it was probably calculating the steps correctly, just didn't take into account the longer the length of your stride. Maybe you could just re-calibrate the pedometer for running, by recalculating your stride length (for running as opposed to walking.)
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    Options
    I agree that Omron's are great, BUT I don't think you can really use a pedometer for running. Because your stride is quite different (longer) when you're running -- so it was probably calculating the steps correctly, just didn't take into account the longer the length of your stride. Maybe you could just re-calibrate the pedometer for running, by recalculating your stride length (for running as opposed to walking.)

    I have the same suspicions about pedometers not being very accurate for running. At least not typical pedometers. GPS devices should work. My boyfriend has a great app on his phone that he uses for biking. Otherwise, I just map my running routes using http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ and I find it to be pretty accurate.

Categories