How Four Popular Timex Running Watch Models Can Kick-Start Your Training

By Rod McAnally The Traditional Timex Ironman Watch

These Timex Ironman Watch models are designed to look very similar to the original Timex Ironman Watch of the 1980’s, but since the early era, Timex have added a few enhancements and innovations on top of the original. Still, this watch is a “bare-bones” Ironman, with basic features, yet still offers a lot to athletes, even with only minimal functionality and at the dirt cheap price you expect from an Ironman! The watch features an 100-hour chrono, with the option to display the current lap or split aside the running time. The 30 laps of memory storage, allows a runner to store lap times of a session, then recall them for viewing at a later stage. The countdown timer provided, can be directly applied to repetition sessions where you wish to run for a fixed length of time, as opposed to a fixed distance. Like all Ironman watches, (but unlike the original) these watches include Timex’s patented the Indiglo electroluminescent lighting technology that consumes less battery power than most other watch illumination systems as well as the Night Mode feature, that activates Indiglo at a press of a button. The Traditional Timex Ironman may be a starter level watch, but to this day, remains a viable option that athletes can directly apply to their training. Just as Timex designed it to be. Timex Ironman Fitness Heart Rate Monitor Watches (T5C401/T5C411, T59751/T59761) These watches are essentially two different shaped watches, with two color variations and identical features. They can be purchased for a relatively inexpensive price, making them a great starter heart rate monitor. All Timex heart rate monitor watches use Digital FM, synchronized transmission preventing cross-talk from other heart rate monitor devices, transmit readings continuously and feature user-replaceable batteries. In addition to basic features (see the description for the Traditional Timex Ironman Watch), these watches include some rudimentary, but reliable heart rate features including a target heart rate zone, recording of the time you spend within the zone, recovery heart rate measurement (a useful measure of over-training) and calories burned. While lacking the bang of more sophisticated heart rate monitor watches like Polar and the Timex Bodylink watches, these models offers continuous ECG accurate readings of very high quality making them a great choice if you want to benefit from basic heart rate features, without spending a fortune. Timex Ironman T5F001 or BodyLink T5F011 The T5F001 is a more advanced Ironman watch model, the Bodylink T5F011 is feature identical, but comes bundled with the power of GPS tracking. Both watches include a heart rate monitor, but unlike the T5C4XX and T597XX watches these watches support 8x Target Heart Rate Zones, five of which are preset, the other three can be customized These watches support 100 laps of memory recall and can record heart rate information on a per-lap basis. Perhaps the most appealing feature however is it’s Interval Timer Mode, a flexible six-interval countdown timer that can run five different sessions of up to four intervals which can be repeated up to 99 times. Optional heart rate zone goals can also be set for interval groups, the groups include warm-up and cool-down intervals – a nice touch that caters to the natural structure of an athlete’s sessions. GPS tracking allows an athlete to monitor, speed, pace and distance over their run. Timex GPS comes in the form of a light-weight, external device that attaches to your upper arm and transmits wirelessly to the watch unit. The T5F001 is sold as a standalone watch and heart rate monitor with no GPS included, but is compatible with the Timex GPS device, allowing you to upgrade at a later stage. Timex Ironman TK092, TK093 Women’s Sleek Fitness Tracker Watch Targeted at female athletes, this watch differs from most others in that it features a clip-on pedometer unit that accurately tracks steps, distance, miles and calories burned, transmitting readings wirelessly back to the wrist watch unit. The watch includes 50 laps of memory storage and can record split time, speed, pace, distance per lap and also total stoppage time. Interval timer mode is supported too making it a great fitness watch for runners and a relatively inexpensive alternative to a GPS system. Summary All the watches mentioned here can be purchased relatively inexpensively and can offer direct and positive benefits to your fitness training. More information on these and other popular running watch models can be found on our website. Rod McAnally is a competing long distance runner and sports enthusiast. Rod’s mission is to take the confusion out of selecting, comparing and purchasing leading sports watches. To learn much more about the ins and outs of sports watches, visit SportsWatchInformant.com, where you’ll learn about the different types of sports watches, how to find a sports watch and what it really takes to get the most out of your sports timepiece.