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For my running activities, I use my Suunto T3 with the optional Foot Pod – this allows me to track my speed and distance as I run. I find it quite useful: if a section of a run feels particulary difficult I can check my speed and see that perhaps I’m pushing harder than usual, as an example.

The thing I don’t like about it is the calbration: to ensure its accuracy you have to calbriate it, meaning running at distance you know to be true (1 mile, for example) and then stop the Suunto and check the distance. You can then make an adjustment up or down to ensure it is set at a mile as well. I went through this when I first bought the watch two years ago by running a half mile on a high school track and then setting the calibration. I haven’t messed with it since then.

But…when I ran the 5 mile Spring Dash at the end of April I found a discrepancy between what my watch said and what the course was. The couse (as mentioned) was 5 miles, the Suunto told me I had run 5.35 miles. Uh… Maybe their course wasn’t exact and was a little long, but not that long, no way.

I didn’t get around to recalibration until today. Yesterday I got in the truck and drove my run route and found a landmark at one mile. Today, I ran it and found at the one mile mark my Suunto read 1.05 miles. I calibrated the Foot Pod and set it to 1 mile and finished my run (5.25 miles).

If the Pod were GPS operated I would not have this problem and I am bummed now that I didn’t get the GPS Pod instead. But, now that this is calibrated I at least know that my running distance is more accurate, even if it’s longer.