I’d toyed around with the idea of a Fitbit Force for a long time, not sure if I wanted to commit to the price ($129) and wearing something all the time on my wrist but I was intrigued by everything it could do for me
The Fitbit Force will:
1. Sync with other devices through wireless
2. Track how well you slept & how many times you woke up
3. Wake you with a silent alarm in the morning
4. Tell you how many calories you burned & how many floors you climbed
5. It’s water resistant
6. Plays well with other apps including Spark People, Endomondo, My Fitness Pal and more
7. Track steps taken & active minutes
8. Distance traveled
9. Coming soon with IOS 7 you can receive call notifications when your phone is nearby
10. Tells time
Thanks to my wonderful husband I didn’t have to ponder it any longer, he bought me one for Christmas. I couldn’t wait to get it out of the packaging and start playing with it. It charges rather quickly and one of the things I love is that it holds a charge for a very long time. I charge it maybe every ten days or so…it’s never run out of battery on me yet.
The Force comes with a USB dongle & USB charging cable . The dongle is plugged into your computer and facilitates the sync whenever you are near it and the computer is on. The charging cable…that’s self explanatory.
You have a Fitbit dashboard online where you can set goals for yourself such as calories in & steps taken, amount of water consumed, and what time your silent alarm should wake you. I was skeptical about the silent alarm…I’m a pretty heavy sleeper. So the first time it went off it actually startled me…it certainly does work, vibrating on your wrist a couple times. The device doesn’t come with a lot of instructions, they are all online, but the interface is really easy to use and I have yet to read anything but the quick start guide which showed me how to charge the device and get started.
But how well does it keep track of steps? It seems to capture more steps than just a regular pedometer does. However, as a runner I was curious how this would fit into my routine. First…it is fairly accurate for the distance run…I find that it’s maybe within a tenth of a mile under what my distance actually is. Since the device is worn on your wrist this presented me with an interesting challenge for outdoor training runs and race day.
I wear a GPS watch on my left wrist…the same wrist I wear the FitBit Force on. So now I had an arm that was lined with my Garmin watch & Force…a bit of overkill it seemed but I was excited to wear it in the Disney World Half Marathon this January. (I know some of you are wondering why I didn’t just switch wrists…it was just too distracting since I wasn’t used to it.)
Imagine my dismay when at the end of the race heading back to the hotel I realized the Force was no longer on my arm?! Turns out it had fallen off someplace out on the course and I never realized it. And herein lies my main criticism of the Force, the band. It’s very hard at first to get the band to fully close without help from a second person.
This makes it challenging to get on and off when you are by yourself. But it’s also a problem if you happen to hit your arm just the right way when carrying something or walking by or putting on a top…it can rip open the band and the Force will fall off. Now, I didn’t hit my arm on anything while running, so I’m not sure what happened.
I contacted Fitbit to let them know what happened…this couldn’t be good for them…here was a device meant to track fitness etc. that fell off when I was exercising. My brand new $129 Christmas gift was gone. Thankfully they replaced it with the exact same model as the one I had at no charge when I proved my purchase.
So while I love it for everyday wear and training runs around the neighborhood and on the treadmill…I’m a little nervous about wearing it in my next big race. I have a feeling it will be constantly on my mind to check for it.
Do you own a Fitbit? Â Share your thoughts and experiences with us.
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Guest Blogger – Carrie Bryniak
I am your friendly Travel Professional with Kingdom Magic Vacations and a runner as well.  My first RunDisney Race was in 2010, the Wine & Dine Half Marathon Relay…and since then I’ve been hooked on Disney races and others.  Some of my favorites are the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, the Turtle Krawl 5K and the USA Beach Running Championships.  If you’re a runner and you need help with travel plans for a race, don’t hesitate to contact me!  I’m here to help you and support your efforts!
