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Charge On The Run

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|[[File:Charge On The Run - Batteries (3).jpg|none|thumb|200px|A close up of the PulsePak battery.]]
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The Anker is much bigger (3.75"/9.5cm) and heavier (2.9oz/82g), though it's shape makes it easy to carry in your hand and it will slip into the pockets of Race Ready shorts. It holds 3,350 mAh, which is way more than you need, recharging the Fenix 3 over ten times. It's reasonably priced at <jfs id="B005X1Y7I2" noreferb="true"/>. The PulsePak is far smaller (2"/5cm), lighter (0.5oz/15g), and cheaper at <jfs id=" B00WBIK25C" noreferb="true"/>. It only holds 500 mAh, but that's enough for a full charge, and it's small enough to carry a couple.
=Charging in the Rain=
One concern I have with this approach is the issue of charging the watch in the rain. I've never tried this, and I'm a little concerned that something might short-circuit and damage the watch. If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know.
The Fenix 3 is a great choice, as it has a good battery life, and the charging dock fits under the watch quite comfortably while you're wearing it. You can use the standard charging dock and cable that came with the Fenix 3, holding a battery in your hand, which is shown below. I'm not a fan of this approach as the battery occupies your hand and the cable is rather long. You can tuck the battery in a pocket, but then the cable really annoys me. (Putting the watch and battery in a pack or pocket seems to defeat the object of having a watch if you can't see it.)
[[File:Charge On The Run - Fenix3 (1).jpg|center|thumb|300px|The Anker and the Garmin cable.]]
You can use an adapter to use the PulsePak with the Garmin charger which requires a full -size USB plug, which makes the batter lighter, but still isn't ideal.
[[File:Charge On The Run - MicroAdapter.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
Inspired by [https://dejswa.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/garmin-fenix-3-on-the-go-charger/ David Jackson's blog]], I decided a better approach is to use an aftermarket dock. The advantage of the aftermarket dock is that it has a microUSB socket rather than a cable, which is <jfs id=" B017SDY9BM" noreferb="true"/>. While the quality of the aftermarket dock is not quite as good as the Garmin original, it's surprisingly close. Because the dock sits under the watch, it naturally stays in place.
[[File:Charge On The Run 7.jpg|center|thumb|300px|Original Garmin dock and an aftermarket alternative.]]
Here you can see the microUSB socket with the dock worn under the watch. The underside of the dock does not cause me any problems, such as skin irritation or pressure points.
[[File:Charge On The Run - Fenix3 (5).jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
I find it's a little more comfortable worn over a wrist band. The thickness of the wristband combined with the thickness of the dock does make the watch feel a little more cumbersome, but I found I was boosting the battery charge by about 50% in half an hour, so you shouldn't be wearing it for an extended period.
=Garmin Epix=
While the [[Garmin Epix]] has been rather abandoned by my Garmin, with no firmware updates to fix bugs, it remains a high functioning watch at a price that starting to decline. The Garmin Epix has its charging port on the side, and the cable just clips in. You can see the standard table below, along with an aftermarket adapter. (The yellow cable tie is just a marker so that I can find where the watch is plugged in when I've got lots of them on charge at the same time.)
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (1).jpg|center|thumb|300px|The standard charging cable that comes with the Garmin Epix.]]
As with most other watches, you can wrap the long cable around your arm and hold the battery in your hand, though this is a little cumbersome.
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (7).jpg|center|thumb|300px|The rather cumbersome option of using the standard cable.]]
Here is a side view showing how standard connector clips on.
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (6).jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
You can buy a cheap aftermarket charging adapter that has a micro-USB port <jfs id="B01H59ZZO4" noreferb="true"/>.
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (2).jpg|center|thumb|300px|Aftermarket charging adapter.]]
Rather annoyingly, the micro-USB port is on the underside of the adapter; life would've been a lot easier had it been on the top.
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (4).jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
I found the best option was a short (1'/30cm) right angle micro-USB cable that allowed me to tuck the smaller battery pack into the wrist strap (<jfs id="B00W6URQPE" noreferb="true"/>). This is a less-than-perfect, but it works.
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (3).jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
As you can see from this side view, even with the right-angle USB cable the plug tends to press on my wrist. The sweat band is needed to create enough of a gap for the plug.
[[File:Charge On The Run Epix (5).jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
=Suunto Ambit2 and Ambit3=
Both the [[Suunto Ambit2]] and the [[Suunto Ambit3]] support charging on the run. I couldn't find an aftermarket charging adapter, so you end up with a lot of excess cable to wrap around your wrist. You need to wear the watch on your left wrist, so the charging clip goes up your arm and doesn't get hit when you bend your wrist.
[[File:Charge On The Run Ambit overview.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
The charging clip is not too intrusive, and seems to stay in place reasonably well. Wearing a sweatband might make things a little more comfortable, but I didn't have an issue with it next to my skin. You can see from the photo that the clip is angled slightly upwards, which makes things easier.
[[File:Charge On The Run Ambit.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
=Garmin Vivoactive=
The [[Garmin Vivoactive]] is not an obvious choice for ultrarunning has its battery life is only 10 hours. I've included it here because it's a very small watch with a lot of functionality for a very low price, and it charges on the run fairly well. The charging cradle sits nicely under the watch body, and is attached magnetically, though this is immaterial as it's held in place when you're wearing it.
[[File:Charge On The Run 22.jpg|center|thumb|300px|The Vivoactive, it's factory standard charger with the built-in cable, and an aftermarket adapter.]]
If you use the factory cable that comes with the watch you'll have to wrap the cable around your arm a little, but this works reasonably well. You should wear the watch on your right wrist, so the cable goes up your arm rather than against your hand, though the cable is flexible enough that wearing it on the left is not much of a problem.
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You can get a fairly cheap aftermarket charging adapter, that provides some rather more convenient options <jfs id="B012SRKW0A" noreferb="true"/>. As you can see from the close-up below, it has a micro-USB port on the right side of the charging plate.
[[File:Charge On The Run 16.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
The aftermarket charging plate allows you to plug the small USB battery directly into it, which makes for a nice, compact solution. You have to wear the watch on your right risked so the battery pack goes up your arm, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue. The biggest problem is that the alignment of the charging port and the micro-USB plug on the battery means that the battery sits a little too low. Wearing a sweatband creates a little extra room, but it's not perfect.
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[[File:Charge On The Run 17.jpg|none|thumb|300px|]]
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Another approach is to use the aftermarket charging adapter with a short USB extension cable and hold the small battery pack in your hand. This works okay, but I'm not a fan of holding anything if I can avoid it. (Note that you have to have a micro-USB extension cable, not a standard male to male cable. I got this three pack of extension cables and used the shortest <jfs id="B016Q5FK8E" noreferb="true"/>.)
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The small USB battery pack will actually talk under the wristband reasonably well, and this became my preferred option. If you have larger wrists, you may have an issue with the watch strap reaching around. What I've done with other watches is to get a spare watch strap and turn it into an extension piece, and there are a vast array of aftermarket watch straps Vivoactive.
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