When you are training for a race, especially a big race like an ironman triathlon, it is nice to be able to keep track of your training progress. For instance, it is essential to be able to tell how far you are going and how fast. The easiest way to do this is by using any number of available triathlon watches. But how should one know what triathlon watch to use? For instance, is an Ironman triathlon watch necessary if not training for a full Ironman? Should one buy name brand or go generic? What functions really should matter to me?

The most popular triathlon watches by far are those sold by Timex. The Timex Ironman triathlon watch has been around for a couple of decades and is the most sold of its kind. However, a number of other companies such as Casio, Garmin, Nike, Polar, and Suunto also have their own versions of these watches. Timex has a number of different lines of these watches in different price ranges, so you can spend anywhere from around to hundreds of dollars depending on the watch and the features that you choose.

When you are choosing from among the options for triathlon watches, the first thing you should consider is how much you can afford to spend. How much you would like to spend on this type of watch is a whole different category. That will narrow things down a bit. Then it is a matter of finding a watch within or close to your price range that has the features that you find necessary.

There are a wide variety of options for features for sports watches such as these. Some of the options include water resistance so you can wear it while swimming. Typical functions include a timer, stopwatch, various alarms, an Indiglo display and a heart rate monitor. Various speed measurements (average, real time, maximum), various pace measurements (average, best, and current), as well as GPS functionality are other options available. Some of these watches will predict your finish time or allow you to recall previous training sessions. Others display elapsed time, target time, and countdown timers. Obviously it would be nice to have a watch that does all of this but that can quickly become very expensive and you will probably find that you don't really need all of the extra features.