I just switch to a leather band or link bracelet.

Yes. Garmin would be the alternative but it’s a worse as a smart watch. I’d strongly recommend the Ultra for those sports, though. The dedicated lap button is a must for workouts. The extra battery life helps too.

You can but the data will be off. If you’re running on a treadmill, it’ll be completely noise. If you’re running on an indoor track, you might get something more reasonable but it’ll still be really noisy and error-prone.