Disclaimer: This review is based on the personal experiences and opinions of Cat Simpson and the watch was provided free of charge to the athlete but no other incentive was provided by the brand for a positive review. 

When the 100 mile and 24hr runner recently tested the Coros Apex GPS watch, she had high expectations. In this review, we’ll delve into Cat’s experience with the Coros Apex, using her own words to highlight its features and capabilities.

The Ultimate Workout Planning Tool

“I appreciate this is something that most people have been doing forever, but as someone who wrote their sessions on their hand until fairly recently, the feature that lets you plan a workout on the app and upload to your phone is probably the best and somewhat life-changing for me.”

Cat, like many of us, started with pen and paper for planning workouts. The Coros Apex 2, however, brings a new level of convenience. The ability to plan and upload workouts through the app resonated with her, turning a once-manual task into a seamless experience. You can even plan simpler sessions within the watch itself.

Comfort Meets Style

“It’s really comfy – unlike most oversized GPS/sports watches, it has a velcro strap which is much more comfortable and a lot thinner/slimmer than other similar spec models.”

Not only does the Coros Apex offer performance, but it also prioritizes comfort. It’s a watch Cat can comfortably wear all day and night, even for tracking sleep.

“I have got in the habit of wearing it overnight as I really like the feature that tracks your sleep – as a regular night shift worker, this makes me feel better about my sleep quality.”

For night shift workers, sleep tracking is crucial. The Coros Apex’s sleep tracking feature and app adds an extra layer of insight and provides a better understanding of sleep quality.

“It has a built-in HR wrist monitor which has been really useful in summer when not in layers/worn over longer sleeves.”

Impressive Battery Life

“Really good – sadly I received it just after running a hundred mile event in the summer, but for general training, it’ll last me weeks without a charge.”

Long battery life is a game-changer for athletes. The Coros Apex 2’s exceptional battery performance ensures that the watch can keep up with your training without frequent recharging. Fast Running Editor editor Robbie Britton has used the Coros Apex Pro for several years now and it was the watch he wore for the British 24hr record in February. 

Photo: Centurion Running

Sleek Design and Customization

“I really like how slim the design is; it doesn’t feel like I’m wearing a huge oversized watch, as a lot are. Mine’s the gold/coral version which I really like and looks great worn casually too.”

The watch’s aesthetics matter, and Cat’s choice of the gold/coral version showcases that the Coros Apex 2 can blend seamlessly into everyday fashion.

Performance and Minor Gripes

“I find there’s a bit of a lag in pace when doing intervals and transitioning from a slow bit to a fast bit, so for about 10-20s seems to suggest you’re running at well under target pace (although it could just be me being a bit slow at the moment!). I’m also not a massive fan of the auto-lock default feature (where you have to hold down the stop button for 2-3s before pressing again to stop) but I’m sure it can be disabled.” [It can, we’ll show Cat how to – Ed.]

Like any product, there are minor drawbacks. Whilst most watches likely have some lag when starting from a standing start, for example, the difference was notable for the athlete here.

Photo: Norbert Mihalik

User-Friendly Coros App

“I only really use the app to plan a speed workout or look at how long I’ve slept for; to be honest, I’m not a massive data-focused runner and don’t tend to pay much attention to training load, status, and recovery stats.”

Cat’s approach to data might differ from data enthusiasts, but the Coros app caters to both. It offers in-depth insights for those who want to delve into the data while remaining user-friendly for those who prefer a more straightforward experience.

Conclusion: A Running Companion for Every Athlete

Whether you’re a data-focused athlete or someone who values the essentials, the Coros Apex 2 adapts to your needs. With precision, comfort, sleek design, and an impressive battery life, it’s a valuable running companion for athletes at every level.

Disclaimer: This review is based on the personal experiences and opinions of Cat Simpson and the watch was provided free of charge to the athlete but no other incentive was provided by the brand for a positive review. 

The post Coros Apex 2 review appeared first on Fast Running.

For those who are interested in what was said about the Coros Apex model, find the older review here. There isn’t a huge amount of difference in these two watches, for how I’m using it, but I will do my best to give an insight.

After a couple of years the watch was working fine, but was a little worse for wear. It had survived the Jordan Trail FKT, Dan Lawson’s LeJOG and a whole host of racing and training, but the glue holding the face together was loose. I’ve not heard of anyone else having this problem and a replacement/repair was offered by the support team, but I decided to fix myself and keep it as a back-up.

Speaking to Coros UK there was an opportunity to become an ambassador for the brand, which meant an upgrade to the Coros Apex Pro, and as it was a product I was really happy with as an athlete, it seemed smart move. So with that in mind, here’s a review of the newer Coros Apex Pro that will endeavour to stay impartial, but be aware of the association.

What’s different?

To be honest, I don’t think there is a lot of different between the Apex Pro and normal Apex multi-sport watches, except maybe the price tag. Listed at £299.99 for the Apex and £449.99 for the Apex Pro in the UK it’s quite a difference too.

On the face of it there are additional buttons on the Apex Pro, which give you a little more functionality, especially in colder conditions. That said, it wasn’t like the Apex ever left me feeling “I need some more buttons here”.

Other improvements include slightly longer battery life for normal GPS mode (35 up to 40 hours), which could be the difference of getting to the end of a 100 mile mountain ultra without being in the ultra-max mode, but probably not a concern for most runners in day to day training.

Altitude mode lets you know oxygen saturation levels, so if you’re heading up Lhotse you can check you’re not rushing. Obviously avoiding HAPE and HACE is important, but I’m not sure it’s a feature most will be using and it’s actually not a responsibility I would happily hand over to my watch.

In time the navigation mode on the Coros Apex Pro is apparently going to get proper maps, which will be a huge update on the “line on the screen” style navigation there already and that is a very worthwhile upgrade that differentiates it from the normal Apex.

The Coros website has a comparison chart for you to check out yourself if you’d like.

Is it any good?

This is where you have to use your critical thinking, as I am now an ambassador for the brand (a free watch, a t-shirt AND a hat) so maybe as a reviewer I’ve sold out to the big businesses. There’s probably a reason though that most people have stopped asking us to review things on Fast Running and we don’t get any paid ads.

The watch is brilliant. The battery life is simply incredible and it’s as accurate as any other watch I’ve used. This is especially true on a track (in track mode) but also on smaller loops. If you’re looking to win the virtual 5k world series by cheating the system, then this isn’t the watch for you.

For a recent six hour event on the Italian coast it was 2km loops. Most watches will struggle with this type of twisty course with two hairpins bends (my knees certainly didn’t like it) but the Coros Apex Pro did the job superbly. I can even spot the time I wee’d behind a bin, went for a poo, stopped to be sick and sat with the medical team for a few minutes (not my finest race).

See if you can spot where I put in the extra metres?

The race directors had chip lap timing and then measured our final lap with a wheel so you know they’re accurate. So how close was it over six hours? The watch came up with 75.912756km and the result was 75.792km. Less than 200m difference and that includes juking round people and the above mentioned extra mileage I put in. It’s impressive. Really impressive.

What about customer service?

One of my athletes did have an issue with their watch this year. The screen started playing up so we also can a good idea of how customer service is for the general consumer.

The responses were quick and the watch was eventually replaced for a new one. A two week wait for the replacement was a little frustrating, but no company is just going to send out a new product without first checking what’s up with the previous one.

Overall a positive experience and the athlete is still content with the Coros as their choice of GPS watch brand.

Extra features worth mentioning?

Given the extensive Apex review here, nothing has changed hugely in my opinion of all the great features.

The workout mode, easily useable with the app on your phone, allows you to create pretty intricate and unique workouts. Whereas the simple interval builder on the watch itself is great for creating a workout on the go. Having the option of an open length of tim for warmup and cool down is really useful too as sometimes we just don’t know how long the body needs to get ready.

As with before I still lose the charging cable every now and again, simply because it’s so long between charges. Even when running 80+ miles in a week it’s not likely I’ll charge the watch and if I am unfortunate enough to be heading out for a longer run with less than 10% it doesn’t take much time to boost it to the necessary level.

Apex Pro versus Apex

So is it worth spending the extra £150 on the Apex Pro over the Apex? For me it isn’t. If and when they include the topographical maps for the Apex Pro then it becomes a slightly tougher decision as that really is useful when following a route and will be important for anyone moving in the mountains.

The Apex Pro is a great watch, a little bit bigger then the Apex and with some extra features. We have heard that “Touchscreen, and TOPO maps are coming to APEX Pro and VERTIX 1 users later in the year as a free update” so that could be a big change.

If you like the look of the Pro better or simply want to have it because the name makes it sound better, then go for it. If you’re just after the all singing, all dancing, does-everything watch, then maybe check out the Vertix 2, the newest release that does have more features with its bigger price tag.

Want a brilliant watch for marathon training or something to last the length of your 35 hour ultra-marathon, then the Apex is still your best option. If you’re going to be out for 40 hours and want to know if you’re suffering from altitude sickness, maybe get the Pro.

If you enjoy Robbie Britton’s writing and reviews then why not check out his upcoming book 1001 Running Tips, that does include a technology section. Available for pre-order now. 

The post Coros Apex Pro review appeared first on Fast Running.

As someone who’s been working on a long term injury, and more recently with my friend Paul Tierney on trying to improve how the bones/joints of the foot articulate so that the rest of my movement can positively benefit, it seemed a no-brainer to try out these gadgets to see if the work we was doing was changing anything.

Not only that, but a we got a free pair to test and they normally retail at £250 so it felt like a good swap for the time to test and review the products, especially if they helped me out in the meantime.

So what is it?

The Nurvv is a couple of insoles that go underneath your normal insoles, that attach to a sensor on the side of your shoe.

There’s 16 sensors in each insole and it links to an app on your phone, with certain watches and just records itself so you can upload and review your metrics afterwards.

If you’re an over-pronator, heel striker or front foot runner, the insoles will show you what they actually looks like across your run, different terrains and as you fatigue as well.

So I imagined it would be super insightful to see what it said about my feet, which Paul and I had found did very little in the way of pronation, even with my super high arch that just likes to stay where it is all the time.

“Your foot might as well be made out of concrete” was how Tierney worded it.

If you’re interested in our stylish tiles then you need to buy an old flat in Northern Italy. Also legs had been shaved for aerodynamic gains in an 1000km bike race and I don’t think it helped. Don’t judge me.

How it worked in action

The kit is all pretty self-explanatory but the instructions show you how to fit the sensor to the side of the shoe and how to secure onto thinner walled shoes too.

Syncing to your phone is also pretty easy and soon you’re ready to go. 

If, like me, you don’t actually run with your phone then you need to look into the traffic light system to tell you when they’re ready, as it’s your only guide. 

The sensors record your GPS location too so could be used instead of a watch in that regard, but it means waiting until they’re ready, which is easy to see with the phone, but not impossible without.

The Nurvv website informs us that the sensors are a lightweight 22g, which isn’t much to add onto your shoes, but it’s unclear if this is the insole unit or the unit on the side of your shoe as my set, for a UK size 9, adds up to 69g per foot.

Is the weight a big deal?



Now 60-70g isn’t a huge amount I hear you say, but if you’re in 250g training kicks then it’s nearly a 30% increase to each shoe. Mine are generally lighter shoes too so the percentage difference increases.

Personally, I’m very unlikely to add this kind of weight to each shoe when racing, which unfortunately removes one aspect of usefulness for the Nurvv for me.

Seeing how my gait changes in a race effort would be fascinating, but that kind of addition could realistically affect your performance. 

For faster training sessions, well if they slow you down a little that’s no bother really as it’s only training.

Up to you to think about the balance between the value in the metrics and the extra weight.

There is however the issue of whether a 30% increase in weight per shoe would change your gait in the first place. If this is actually more at the rear of the shoe too, where the recording units are, then could this have an impact? I don’t know.

Wearing the first time

The first time I wore the sensors I noticed one thing straight away: I was up on the balls of my feet more than normal.

Just knowing that my gait was being analysed on every step made me change something. 

Even as someone trying to be aware of this and trying to stay relaxed and normal, I couldn’t help myself.

Then there was a blister that occurred within about 30 minutes of the session on my right heel. I doubled checked afterwards for the fit and it was correct and it didn’t affect me in any other shoes, but my Adidas Adios didn’t like them. Or more specifically, my heel didn’t like them paired with the Adi.

Other than the blister though, you don’t really notice them in your shoes and changing from shoe to shoe is easy enough.

What did they tell me?

So the data and feedback from using the sensors was something I was really excited about. Having spent time trying to “re-educate” my feet a little, I wanted to see if there was some pronation going on.

Pronation was going on, more with my left than the right, which is one of the reasons I have had long term issues with my right lateral chain. Cheers Nurvv.

How about my foot strikes? Well the sole of every shoe I’ve ever owned can tell you that with it’s faded tread on the heel, but the sensors confirmed what I already knew there.

The feedback and the advice from the app was okay, if a little generic. How much do you want from an app though?

What’s good to see is that there isn’t any “X is bad and you should change it” messages in there.

With foot strike, cadence and pronation we are all a bit different and if you’re not injured and you’re running well then nothing might need changing.

After the initial excitement?

For the first few runs there was actual excitement to download the data and see what came out.

Testing different shoes, different terrain, gradient and pace all brought out similar results but was interesting none the less. 

Pretty soon the extra hassle of swapping shoes or the thought of adding time onto my intervals with the extra weight didn’t seem worth the trouble.

Maybe a one off use if I were trying to improve something, but beyond that they’re not getting much use.

So do you need a set of Nurvv sensors? Not really. A nice to have sure, but I can’t see people using these long term, as the makers seem to target. 

Could they be useful for someone working with a physiotherapist remotely? Maybe, but so could a slow motion video you take on your phone and send to them.

The conclusion?

So the big question, would I buy these for £250? No, I would not.

If you’re not changing how you run to adapt to the sensors and extra weight then maybe there is some usual data looking at how you run and how that changes over time with fatigue, but not every run and certainly not in a race.

A good physiotherapist or coach can eyeball a lot of what the gadget is telling you, plus if you use one of the apps like Hudl to take a slow motion video yourself then you can see a lot there too, for a lot less.

So thanks to Nurvv for letting us test our your product, it’s pretty neat and does it’s job pretty well, but ultimately I think a wiser investment of your money would be with a well recommended physiotherapist or knowledgable people in gait analysis like Profeet Custom or the big man Paul Tierney himself.

Robbie Britton is a coach, 2:29 marathoner and ultra runner who’s run 261km in a single day, so he does a lot of running. It makes senses to get him to review some products on some of those miles. 

The post The Nurvv run sensor review appeared first on Fast Running.

Rewind six months and my, very quick, response would have been “what on earth is the point of a virtual race?”

For someone who doesn’t need a lot of motivation to go far into the pain cave on a solo run and isn’t in this for the “bling” (well we’re kind of against the bling) the idea of a virtual race was an alien one.

Fast forward to loads of races being cancelled in the current COVID-19 pandemic and my own personal thoughts are… pretty similar when it comes to the bling but having a target event as a bit of motivation, I can start to see the value.

Once again I have signed up for a Zwift membership and then very quickly remembered why I stopped it the last time, every single ride because an utter smash fest of a race. That is obviously not ideal and totally my own choice, but having a goal race alongside training elsewhere seems a bit more sensible.

But is there value to signing up to some of the virtual races popping up? If you feel there is a value for you, should you be bothered about what a few angry people on Twitter might say?

Are there downsides?

Some might say that racing should be the last of our worries at the moment, with the current situation but keeping motivated and healthy is certainly just as important at the moment as it is normally. If a virtual race can help you do that, then great.

We’ve already seen some virtual road relays and there is the option for a few more clubs to get involved here, but one thing to be careful of is everyone heading down to the same speedy 5k loop in a certain area.

Overcrowding Battersea Park or your local parkrun route at this moment in time isn’t going to be helpful and counter-productive to the whole idea in the first place. Are we encouraging this with bigger virtual events or can we actually rely on a bit of common sense? (Most likely not).

If virtual races have a bigger time window for completion, so can be done any day of the week like Aravaipa Running have done in the US (obviously you can enter anywhere in the world and not have to deal with the heat of the desert or the air travel), then that could be a good way of making sure we’re not congregating and congesting areas when that’s the opposite of what we need to do?

Solidarity and support

Probably the main reason I’m actually writing this in support of virtual racing (well, kind of in support) is that it can be a really good way to support the people who put on the events we all love.

It’s a hard time for many people and race organisers certainly fall into that category for me. Their businesses are getting hit by refunds, race cancellations and postponements and unfortunately you can imagine that some businesses might disappear because of it.

So whilst smashing yourself to win a virtual race might not be the dream goal you’re after, could it be a nice way to remain a strong and contributing part of the running community?

In the UK the advice is to have one outing a day for your physical activities and basically to not be a complete dick about it. Don’t go coughing through crowd of people, don’t run in groups and try not to touch everything you run past.

Signing up for a 50k virtual run might go against that advice and it’s here we need people to be sensitive to the rules and advice in their own countries and regions, but 5 or 10k virtual might just be the motivation someone needs to keep fit and positive in uncertain times.

If you’re not keen on the idea of virtual racing then maybe go for some retail therapy and just take advantage of the 25% sale at the Centurion Running store and support in that way too. Don’t buy shit you don’t need, but get ready for all the good times ahead, they will come.

We don’t need to judge everyone

One thing that is important at the moment is to try not be too judgemental of everyone and everything we see. Personally, a virtual running race might not ever be for me, but if it works for someone else then I can get behind it.

We need to stick to the advice in our local areas and one of my main life rules in general: don’t be a dick.

If you want to enter a virtual race and you can do so without putting others at risk, sticking to government guidelines and not blowing snot-rockets all over your local park, then why not?

Now I’m going to sign up to a virtual race in Zwift in a few weeks time, because it’s two weeks into lockdown here in Italy and I’m solely training on the bike on my balcony, but also because I need some time to make sure I don’t finish last.

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patreon. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Anyone fancy a virtual race? appeared first on Fast Running.

A few months back I started to notice that a few buddies were wearing a nice watch brand, Coros. The Chinese company are based in California and started by signing up a few good American ultra running athletes, including speedster Hayden Hawks.

With Hayden raving about his new wrist wear I wanted to try it out, but mainly because it was super lightweight. No one wants heavy wrists when you’re running right?

So Coros gave me one of their Apex watches to test. Full disclosure, I got the watch for free but I’m not sponsored or paid by the brand. The words and opinions that follow are my own. I have been a TomTom athlete for many years, but they’ve stepped back from the fitness industry it seems.

The first impression

Looks aren’t everything, but they help right? This watch looks good. Getting it out of the box the first thing I noticed was just how light it was. Remembering back to my first Garmin Forerunner all those years ago, it felt like a lump on my wrist, but many GPS watches are built for lifestyle these days and the Coros Apex is no different.

Weighing in at only 57g and pretty thin too, it wears just like any everyday timepiece. The TomTom Adventurer was similar and I wore it everyday but when using some brands they feel more like a sports watch they you just put on just before you go for a run.

Setting things up

Getting the ball rolling was easier enough. There is just the Coros app and once installed it does most of the work for you. I charged it up over a couple of hours and was able to get out the door for a run. 

At first, and this my show my age a little, I was wary that there was only an app to update everything. Some of the other watches I have used just don’t sync with the app or I have lost data because the app has crashed. With the Coros app I’ve had no such problems.

It makes me wonder actually, how a relative newcomer to the industry can get their app and software so right at the first try, when the big boys already in the market have countless issues. Going on Twitter to find out if the Suunto app has crashed again is a regular task for some runners. 

The ability to customise the watch face, update firmware and look at my runs are all there. It syncs up to Strava straight away so I don’t really use their own interface for checking out the activities, but who does these days?

It seems Coros are pretty active in updating the firmware/software as well. At first there was no navigation ability for the watch but after a couple of months they had it live on the Apex and I was good to go. You get the impression that they want to keep improving the watches as they go along.

In the Jordanian desert and the lightweight watch does not hinder ability to eat crisps. Photo: James Vincent Photography

That battery…Wow

Now one thing that is a massive stand out feature for this watch is the battery life. It’s simply brilliant. It lasts for such a long time that at the start I kept losing the charging cable because it had been a week since I had used it.

Having run the Wicklow Way race in just over 12 hours recently I wasn’t even worried about charging the night before. Having a full charge at the start of the week and then the race itself only took the charge down to 44%.

Travelling to Jordan to run 650km in March I forgot the cable (just keep losing it) and the battery still lasted two and a half days! For backup I had a Suunto Peak Vertical and two TomTom adventurers but none could even last a full day. The Suunto actually lost a huge swath of the data from Jordan, which was infuriating.

As soon as I had the charging cable back for the Coros Apex it was an easy decision and I didn’t even need to carry a spare for those last few days. I knew the watch would last and be accurate.

Accuracy 

Funnily enough my teammate Dan Lawson had another brand of watch out in Jordan. Not only could it not even last a full day on ANY of the days, but it was also was running long on each day.

It would have been lovely to be as far along the trail as Dan’s watch said but we knew it wasn’t accurate. The Coros (and the TomTom Adventurer) always were. The Suunto, in the long battery life mode, just didn’t cut the mustard either. Only the Coros and the TomTom measured the distances accurately on every day. 

On a day to day basis I have had a couple of issues, with one run seeing me hit a two minute mile, but on the same day my wife’s Suunto 9 did exactly the same too. It was more than likely an issue with satellites or interference (or aliens) that affected both the watches.

Distance has been accurate, vertical has been accurate and, for the most part, the cadence too. Now onto the wrist mounted heart rate monitor…

Watch testing was hard work. Photo: Ry Webb

Put your heart into it

You were starting to think this was going to be all lovely, but then we get to wrist mounted heart rate monitors. I have yet to find a wrist heart rate monitor that I’m happy with. When working with TomTom it was one of the first and I often used the phrase “consistently inaccurate”.

Maybe in perfect conditions wrist HR can be excellent. You need a perfect wrist (whatever that means), the watch so tight you lose feeling in your hand and then the right level of warm/blood flow for it all to work. I honestly don’t think anyone has made a wrist HR that I would be happy with…yet (which could be due to metal from old wrist surgery too).

Speaking to Coros they are clearly intent on improving every aspect of their watch going forward and I would not count against them improving that wrist HR in the future, but for me, it’s not good enough. 

I use a chest bluetooth HR strap and nine times out of 10 it’s excellent. Sometimes the watch struggles to find the strap, but I think that is often due to it being a cheap bluetooth strap I got from Decathlon. 

In summary

To avoid waffling on, I’ll summarise. I love this watch. It’s super lightweight, accurate and has the best battery life I have ever seen in a GPS watch. The app is swish, it syncs easily and you get the impression the company want to keep improving their product, rather than constantly releasing other watches (although they have a couple other products).

The only downside is the wrist based HR measurement. It just doesn’t work for me so I cannot endorse it, but I do have a piece of metal in my scaphoid bone that might just mean I’m incompatible with all brands.

They also sponsor some pretty cool male and female athletes like Hayden Hawks, Camille Herron, Harry Jones and Alice Wright and I must say I like that as well. They seem to be pretty savvy on that front. 

Anyone who supports Camille’s 24hr world record like Coros did (with a limited edition watch) is going to win favour with me.

So I’m recommending this watch. It’s pretty darn good. They have given us a code for an extra watch strap if you buy one on coros.com. It’s “ultrabritton” funnily enough. 

Are you a fan of Fast Running? Then please support us and become a patron. For as little as the price of a monthly magazine you can support Fast Running – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The post Coros Apex watch review appeared first on Fast Running.

With an average of 20 activities uploaded every second with distance, speed, heart rate and a whole host of other factors included, Strava is a huge database of the world’s physical activity. So what can you take away from the numbers that are collated annually?

Within the UK and Ireland we could just look at the league table of who was faster on average or ran the furthest, but do we really want to make it all about bragging rights….? Oh, we do.

Well on average the Irish ran further and faster than the rest of us, averaging 8.3km per run and 5:49/km, with Northern Ireland second in both tables too with 7.9km per run and 5:59/km. Next is Scotland (7.7km and 6:08/km), England (7.5km and 6:12/km) and Wales (7.5km and 6:28/km). Given how hilly most of Wales is this might be a little unfair.

Actually, the Orkney Islands of Scotland also average 8.3km per run as well, but that could be directly linked to long distance runner William Sichel, who, despite only logging 99 runs on Strava in 2018, clocked 1684 miles. A big part of this was the 3100m Self Transcendence race in New York, where athletes run around a one mile block in New York.

Given that Orkney only has a total population of 21,670 – at last count – and that one of them is an ultra distance athlete of the rarest type, it’s not surprising to see them near the top for an average distance run.

Faster together?

The second fastest place in England was Brighton and Hove (5:33/km), just behind London’s 5:31/km but that is surely linked to everyone in London always being in a bit of a hurry and half of the cyclists listing their bike rides as runs so that they can take all the Strava crowns too.

RELATED: Has a London cyclist stolen your Strava crown?

Brighton and Hove was also in the top three for the furthest average run in England with 7.8km and both factors could be down to groups like Bigg Performance and the AB Training Group. Just what impact does training in a group have?

Gareth Mills, UK Country Manager at Strava, said: “We’ve analysed billions of athletic data points from Strava’s 36 million members and put them to good use for Strava’s Year in Sport 2018 report. As we hit 2 billion activities uploaded from the community, one thing that stands out especially is the importance of social exercise.

“Our data shows that sociability dramatically improves motivation – joining a club, setting a goal and exercising in a group – all boost activity. Runners who set goals were 14.2% more active in 2018.”

Where do we like to run?

If you put your thinking cap on it’s not hard to imagine the most popular route in the UK and Ireland for running in 2018. First of all, you might get the London marathon or Great North Run route, but what happens every weekend throughout the year that we love?

The most popular running route in excess of five km was the home of parkrun – Bushy Park in Southwest London, which regularly sees around 1,000 people turning out at nine on a Saturday morning.

We have to remember though that fastest and further aren’t always the most important measures. It might be interesting to see where we saw the highest number of average PBs for the year and if this related to either of the other statistics. If everyone is running further and faster do we all get quicker on race day?

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Polar has unveiled its Polar Vantage V, a premium multi-sport watch for athletes serious about performance, and its sister product, the Polar Vantage M, an all-in-one sports watch with advanced heart rate technology for goal-oriented athletes.

The Polar Vantage V is the company’s most advanced watch to date and the Polar Vantage M, offers serious athletes advanced performance metrics and new Smart Coaching features at an affordable price.

Both watches introduces Polar’s new Precision Prime wrist-based fusion heart rate technology for enhanced accuracy. The company says its new unique sensor fusion technology and customised smart algorithm delivers a new standard for wrist-based accuracy.

“We’re thrilled to introduce Polar Precision Prime, which is the only heart rate technology that integrates three sensor types to deliver leading wrist-based heart rate,” says Sanna Merio, Segment Manager at Polar. “Precision Prime uses nine optical channels that deploy two colours and wavelengths of light to extract data from different layers in the skin.

“In addition to the 3D accelerometer, we’ve also incorporated new electrode sensors that measure sensor-skin contact. These advancements mean a faster response time, more sensitivity for readings, and much higher accuracy and reliability for wrist-based heart rate.”

The new devices also come with Training Load Pro, a new Smart Coaching feature that guides athletes to reach the ideal amount of training to perform at their very best. The new feature monitors training load from each training session and helps athletes recognise personal limits by informing them when they’re overtraining, undertraining or training just right.

Some additional features of both watches include:
– Running Index: A straightforward number that scores running performance. Running Index automatically provides an estimate of a runner’s Running Vo2max score based on their submaximal or typical runs.
– Running Program: Polar’s free, personalised and adaptive training program offers guidance on completing anything from a 5k to a marathon.
– Polar Sleep Plus: Automatically detects the timing, amount, and quality of sleep and provides feedback for improvement.
– Daily Activity and Continuous Heart Rate: Intelligently combines activity and heart rate data to calculate daily calorie burn outside of training, offering a comprehensive view on everyday life, accurate calorie consumption and activity data.
– Swim Metrics: Tracks indoor and outdoor swimming sessions with metrics such as stroke rate and distance.

The more advanced Polar Vantage V also comes with features such as Running Power, Recovery Pro and Polar Flow for Coach.

Running Power

Running Power lets athletes train with a level of convenience and effectiveness that hasn’t been possible without a separate sensor before Polar Vantage V.

Polar’s running power unifies several running metrics into one, easy-to-understand number that represents the power that the runner produces during running.

Wrist-based running power also has the added benefit of no need for external sensors. As the trusted brand for heart rate accuracy, Polar now provides both metrics to enable athletes to train smarter and more effectively, so they can reach performance goals.

Recovery Pro

Recovery Pro, exclusive to Polar Vantage V, provides a holistic understanding of the balance between training and recovery by measuring daily and long-term recovery.

Together, Training Load Pro and Recovery Pro offer personalised training guidance to help ensure athletes are improving personal performance while avoiding injury.

Polar Flow for Coach

Polar Vantage V provides Polar’s free Polar Flow for Coach online service. The service allows coaches to develop robust training plans that sync with an athlete’s Flow account and Polar Vantage V.

Athletes can follow daily training sessions on their watch, with coaches able to view data, compare actual training sessions to original plans and make adjustments.

Polar Flow for Coach includes advanced seasonal planning features, providing easy-to-use tools and visualisations that offer an annual overview as well as a detailed look at weekly and monthly training sessions.

Release and cost

Both watches are available for pre-order now on www.polar.com. Polar Vantage V costs £439, while the Vantage M will cost you £249.

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Zwift’s newest training feature, a collection of flexible training plans, are designed by leading professional coaches and athletes, with a focus on helping you achieve specific goals, such as running a first marathon.

Plans vary in duration and intensity based on the training goal and your available time to train both in Zwift and outside.

Zwift’s new flexible Training Plans adapt according to your schedule, so you can complete workouts that suit the time you have available, and the plan will adapt accordingly.

Plans will give you windows in which you need to complete a specific workout session within each weekly block.

Overtraining

To avoid, the negative impact of overtraining, if a session isn’t completed within the set window, it simply becomes unavailable. The plan will then rework the rest of the week to ensure you are able to get the most from the remaining sessions.

From launch, Training Plans will integrate seamlessly with Zwift Companion App (ZCA). Runners will be able to keep on top of progress as ZCA will notify when new workouts have been unlocked and available to complete.

When in Workout Mode, ZCA transforms into a fantastic training aid, allowing control over EG mode, adjusting FTP bias and showing upcoming interval block. The app also clearly displays key metrics such as current power (measured in watts), heart rate and cadence, making it easier to stay on target and focus your effort.

“We’re thrilled to roll out the next phase in flexible online training with our new Training Plans,” said Eric Min, Zwift co-founder and CEO. “These plans are expertly developed, to allow you to reach your goals while remaining flexible enough to adapt to real world time constraints.

“Sometimes life simply does get in the way! Like all Zwift experiences, our Training Plans are designed to bring more enjoyment to your training.”

So how does Zwift work?

From friendly competition, to racing & structured training programs, athletes from around the globe can train and compete with each other in rich, 3D-generated worlds simply by connecting their existing devices & hardware (e.g. cycle trainers, power meters, treadmills heart rate monitors, etc) wirelessly via open industry standard ANT+ and BLE.

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