Sports watch battery overheating

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My sports watch (Coros Apex) died suddenly in July, and it took several weeks before I had a new watch, so I did not upload anything to Strava for about a month! It was the battery that gave out. I was sitting calmly reading and I felt something on my left arm. After a while, I realized it was the watch heating up. I took it off and it got hotter and hotter in my hand, so I had to throw the watch into the sink to not get burned. It was quite scary how fast it got so hot. I now see how small batteries can cause a fire. I have read on-line that this has happened to other people, with various common brands.

As my watches newer last more than a few years, I do not want to spend a ton of money. I have been happy with my Coros, so I got the updated version of the same one: Coros Apex 2 (pictured here). Hopefully the battery does not misbehave on the new watch. The old watch lasted about four years.

I have a theory that the 220V in Europe is harsh on the American charging systems that normally work on 110V. My daughters watch also gave out during the trip, and I have had a Garmin stop charging a previous year while in Europe. In the future I will make sure to use a proper converter to 220V, even though most US bought watches should handle both 110V and 220V. My suspicion is that the 220V is aging the watch quickly, it works for a while, but after a few weeks it is too much.

During August, I had a longer family vacation and training was at a minimum for about three weeks. My right knee is continuing to be painful, so I felt it was ok to take it easy for a while. But I managed to get top woman my age group all time on Strava, running up Arthurs Seat (a hill) in Edinburgh! It's a popular place so I am quite happy with that.

This year is a bit of an intermediate year; I declined going to worlds in Australia, although I was qualified. Just too expensive and I wanted to spend more time with the family. I would not have placed very high anyway, although Worlds is always a fun competition. 

My focus now is winter triathlon, so I have time to get back in shape. It is several months away, but I have to catch up a lot. Because of the skiing, I have to focus more on upper arm strength, its never enough!


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