Ahead of the Gadget Show’s live appearance at the NEC Birmingham next week, Men’s Running met tech guru Jason Bradbury, who revealed his four top running related pieces of technology.
This is one for the treadmill runners and trainers out there.
By purchasing an iFIT module and slotting it into a compatible treadmill (Nordic Track, Pro-Form and Health Rider), you’re able to run a true version of any course of your choosing.
On your computer, tablet or phone, through the iFIT website you choose a race, the London Marathon for example, and this will communicate both distance and gradient changes through the iFIT module to the treadmill. This will really feel like you’re running the actual course.
Meanwhile, on either certain treadmills with a screen or on your personal tablet, you can track your progress. This works via Google Maps. You have the option to either watch yourself as a pin on a map or use Street View to get a real feel for what running a race will look like.
Street view only loads images, so it’s not a smooth video.
You can also plot out your own routes too, as long as it’s on Google Maps.
An app that is downloadable on most portable devices, does a bit of what the iFIT can’t, and can’t do a bit of what the iFIT can.
The best bet is to download the app onto either a phone or tablet, one that can either slot into your treadmill, or carefully rest on it so that the front facing camera is looking at you.
On the app you can choose a video of a running route, say the London Marathon, and it will video play that run at the speed you’re running.
What this piece of technology does, is it tracks your movement using the camera, and through that analyses how fast you’re going.
You can upload your own videos of a specific route too with their camera, so if you want to practice things like timing, it will do it. What it can’t do though, is affect the treadmills gradient, like the iFIT.
With a huge display at nearly 4cm², the Garmin still stays incredibly light. It offers an UltraTrac mode that turns GPS off at certain intervals, extending its GPS mode battery life from 24 hours to up to 40 hours.
The watch acts as a good BPM pacer and cadence measurer. The sweet-spot to aim for is 170-190bpm, this watch can help you get and stay there.
Used by runners and cyclists alike, the Recon Jet is what Jason believes to be the future of running.
What looks to be a similar invention to the Google Glass, the Recon Jet deals specifically within sport.
It mounts what can only be described as holographic image on your lens, which is perfect for runners wanting to see their pace, distance, duration, ascent, descent, heart rate and cadence.
It also has a built in 720p HD camera so everything can be recorded.
The Recon Jet will keep a track of everything, which can then be downloaded onto third party apps.
