When the adorable tri-athlete in my life reverently handed me a small box at Christmas, I should have guessed that rather than jewellry, it would contain a sports watch. (It could have been worse – my mate, whose husband was training for the Iron Man, got padded bicycle shorts.) However, despite initial reservations, I have come to realize that my partner was right to be proud of his gift choice as this is no ordinary sports watch. Oh no ladies…this is a Garmin, the Rolex of sports watches.

Unlike your pedestrian-style sports watch which will merely tell you how long you’ve run, the Garmin contains advanced GPS technology that connects to satellites, which means that it will tell you how long you’ve run, how far you’ve run, how fast you’re running, and your pace for each lap. At the end of the run it will tell you your overall distance to the hundreth place, your average speed, and for those who are running as a result of too much holiday cheer, how many calories you’ve burned based on height, weight, and age data that you enter when you initialize the watch. Some of the styles come with a heart rate monitor, and when you finish your run, you can upload information directly from the watch onto your computer.

There are down sides to this marvelous little invention. The charging clip can be a bit fiddly; if the tiny rods on the clip aren’t exactly aligned with the discs on the back of the watch it won’t charge properly. When you start using the watch, it can sometimes take awhile to initially hook up to the satellites, resulting in several uncomfortable minutes hopping around in the cold, ineffectively waving your arm at the sky. Also, your current pace is the result of calculated averages and can be quite deceptive – too slow if you had to decelerate for a crowd of tourists at the start of your run, too fast if you sprinted by a pack of growling German Shepherds several streets back. It will give you accurate timings once you’ve completed a lap, so it’s usually better to use that to judge your speed.

These niggles aside, the Garmin is an utterly addictive gadget, and has turned my running from gentle trots around the park to a loping geek girl statistics game. So much so, that I suddenly find myself training for a half-marathon…

Until next time.

loloknows

If you’ve ever lost your car in a car park after a long days shopping (it’s a girl thang), or misplaced your tent at Glasto (that’s a boy off his face thang), then this could be the gadget for you! It’s a teeny weeny GPS system that you attach to your keys that gives you the much needed directions before you start crying.

You simply ‘lock’ in your starting location, get out and about, possibly lost, and if so, just follow the ECCO’s idiot-proof LCD display back to where you started. Even better, the ECCO will store up to three locations, mmmm so I’m thinking Jimmy Choo via Selfridges with a quick stop at Zuma for a bite to eat. Perfect.

It’s charges via USB and lasts for a month on standby and approximately 2 weeks if you use it for ten minutes every day. Then again, if you need to use it more than that then you probably shouldn’t be left to go out on your own. Mwoooaaaah.

Available at www.firebox.com for £69.95.

Features

• Tracks up to 32 satellites within 60 seconds.
• Tracking distance up to 9999 miles.
• Store up to 3 locations (car, tent, hotel, etc).
• Rechargeable battery USB connection at home, computer, or in your car.
• Highly sensitive GPS receiver provides faster acquisition times and improved tracking capabilities.
• Built in electronic compass that provides bearing information while you’re standing still, always pointing you in the general direction.
• Display directional arrow, direction and distance counts down as you move closer to your saved location and counts up as you move farther away.
• No service fees.
• Global range.
• Smallest personal GPS system that fits on a keychain.

Ok, so this strictly speaking isn’t that gadgety as it’s a s £500 pair of nix but wait for it, they do come with a GPS tracking system ! I know *gasp* – what self respecting girl about town would willingly be tracked in her pants (that’s not a eupehmism btw) and what nutter came up with the idea…

The ‘find me if you can’ range of underwear has been described as a modern-day, high-tech chastity belt and is designed by lingerie maker Lucia Lorio of Brazil, yes it’s a woman, errr why Lucia?

The set consists of a lace bodice, bikini bottom and faux pearl collar, with the GPS device nestled in the see-through part of the bodice next to the waist and it’s fair to say has caused some controvesy with feminists out there.

Lucia says her design targets the ‘modern, techno-savvy woman’ – slightly off the mark methinks. Maybe we should come up with a similar range for men, now that would be more fun.

Or alternatively you could agree to be tracked and then just as things were hotting up you could switch it off, maybe just as you were passing his best mates house.

Is there any girl out there who thinks this is a good idea?

I say give me Agent Provocateur anyday.