I received a Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ from the nice folks at Timex. I tried it out, and the following is my review. All opinions are my own. It came right before Ironman Lake Placid with a very sweet and appreciated note.

The Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ isn’t a multisport watch; though water resistant up to 50 feet this watch won’t calculate your stats in the swim, and there are no accessories available (yet) to synch with your bike. Good thing we are entering running season in Miami, and my next big race is the Miami Marathon in January. The watch came at the right time.

I’ve used it for a couple of weeks now. I’ve been on a running streak with the boys and we’ve run everyday. To motivate them to run, they each were able to wear a GPS watch. One used my Garmin 910 and the other the Timex Ironman ONE GPS+, this to say I feel I have enough experience with the watch to tell you about it.

The first thing you will notice is the screen. Now, understand that I am used to the black and white Garmin so the full color, touch screen of the Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ is a wowzer. The home menu is clearly displayed and even sweaty, scrolling through the screens isn’t an issue. The clarity of the display is impeccable.

The next thing I found is that so far, the watch seems to find a signal quite easily. One thing that drives me nuts is standing around jogging in place waiting for the satellite to connect to the watch (how’s THAT for a first world problem?). This watch has connected instantly and I’ve used it all along the Eastern Seaboard. It tends to find a signal faster than my Garmin.

I’m not a super techy, stat crazy, athlete. When it comes to running I want to know certain things: my distance, pace, and average pace. That’s about it. I don’t download data, I don’t wear a heart rate monitor, I don’t plot and graph. I just run. But of course, the ONE GPS+ provides all the usual running data, including alerts for Pace and Heart Rate, and you can select four stats to view on the screen at any point.

What the ONE GPS+ does NOT have is a run/walk alert and for people like me who use the Jeff Galloway method of running that is a little bummer. To runaround it, (get the pun?) you can select to do an interval workout, and set it up to repeat until you reach a certain distance.

Also, while you are on interval mode, the watch displays how much time you have left in an interval. If you want to go back to your usual stats you just scroll (á la IPhone) back to your main run data page, but it was kind of nice to look down and see I only had 10 seconds left of speed work before I could take a break.

However, what I liked the most about the Timex Ironman ONE GPS+ is the connectivity. The watch includes a one-year data plan from AT&T, once it expires, you can purchase a retail data plan from them. With it comes an email address that connects you (and anyone you share it with) allowing the watch to do all sorts of cool stuff, including live tracking and messaging.

It’s not that I think I’m so important I must be connected to the Twitter at all times, (though I am sure some days it seems like it), but I have children and I do need to be able to be reached. This is not meant to have a browser, it’s just to be able to connect. So I shared the email address with my husband Joe, who then sent me a sweet message as I was heading out the door. I also designated him as a Live Tracking and SOS contact. That means that if I activate the Live Tracking feature on my watch, Joe can see where I am and where I am going. And if I have an emergency, I can send him an SOS message that tells him where I am located.

You can wirelessly upload data to your social sites including Strava, Map My Run, and Runkeeper. You can even connect with facebook.

And then there is music, 4 GB memory for it which would hold about 1,000 songs. You can  use wireless Bluetooth headphones and you’ve got yourself a party. I don’t listen to music when I run, so though neat for many, not very useful to me.

The coolest surprise though, was an email message from Timex warning my watch (which was off) was running low on battery!