Ma
Gear
This is Spartan!
The Suunto Spartan Ultra brings a new type of beast to the GPS running watch market, and after a month-long wear-testing experience with the unit, I have concluded that this a watch really geared for the serious athlete, like Comrades, Ironman or Epic entrants. – BY ROXANNE MARTIN
OK, let’ s start with the basics. The Suunto Spartan Ultra is an advanced multisport GPS watch with a colour touch screen and up to 26 hours of battery life in training mode, that can accurately measure your pace, speed, distance, altitude, heart rate( in HR versions) and calories. It has 80 pre-set sport modes, including running, cycling, swimming, triathlon and various adventure sports such as hiking or even skitouring, with sport-specific metrics included, and you can follow your progress not only in your own personal best and tracking data, but also by comparing yourself to other athletes thanks to the Suunto Movescount feature that links you to other users of the unit.
Technical challenge( at first)
My first take on this watch was that it requires a tech-savvy user, because the set-up is not quite a simple one, two, three, and if you are a firsttime Suunto user, I would advise using Google to guide you. But once you are set up, the menu tabs are easy to find, and a simple swipe on the screen will take you through the options – or you can use the three buttons if you prefer.
In the training mode you are presented with what seems a million and one options. Well, 80 to be exact, and that includes every sport imaginable, as well as indoor options for those sports. There is even a stretching option! At first I was completely overwhelmed, because all I wanted to do was swim, but I soon got the hang of using the watch. The watch keeps you incredibly well informed, from your pace to average heart rate, to split times, and more. It’ s great having all this information, especially when you compare it over time.
Tech Specs
• GPS Route navigation with digital compass
• Sport expertise and support for over 80 sports or activities, with racing and training use
• Training insights and community-powered progress tools in Suunto Movescount
• Barometric altitude( FusedAlti)
• Colour touch screen and button navigation
• 100m water-resistance
• 26 hours of battery life in training mode Note: Some units in the range come with a heart rate strap and added HR features.
I also loved that the popular sports like running and cycling have dedicated modes such as interval running, obstacle race running and even treadmill, and in interval running, for example, you can see your latest times in the lap table display while running. You can also create and customise new sport modes from Suunto Movescount, and can sync up to 19 new custom modes on your watch at a time. For example, in trail running you can call up specific metrics for your display, such as altitude or temperature.
But wait, there’ s more …
Another great feature of the watch is that it measures how many hours training you have put in versus how many hours you have been in recovery, by measuring your activity and training load 24 / 7. For any athlete training for a big race, this is vital information, as many of us fall into the trap of overtraining, so this simple yet effective function helps you train effectively and efficiently, and get to race-day fresh and ready to race.( As part of this, the watch has a step-counter, but unfortunately this doesn’ t seem to be‘ loaded’ for you to use on Discovery.)
The Spartan has the functionality to connect to your smart phone, we only tested this on an IOS( Apple) phone, so can’ t comment on the functionality on Android. I found downloading my activities very easy – simply open the app and connect to the watch, and it downloads as simple as one, two three. Another nifty feature is that after exercising, the watch has an option for asking how you felt during your workout, and over time that gives you valuable insight into what works or doesn’ t work for you, especially if you start seeing that after specific workouts you feel less than great, or better after others.
Who should buy it?
This is definitely a watch for the more serious athlete, and with a price tag of R11,999, it should be seen as a long-term investment in your endurance sport. If that sounds like you, place your order now at www. in2sport. co. za, or find the units at Suunto stockists nationwide.
Image: Suunto
42 ISSUE 91 FEBRUARY 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za