With the holidays coming up my new couple posts plan to be product reviews. Hopefully it will give you some ideas on what to add to your own Christmas lists.
About six months ago I made the investment and purchased a running watch. REI was having sale and Garmin had a rebate going on. I was able to purchase the Garmin Forerunner 405cx for just over half the normal retail price. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
The Forerunner 405 has since been replaced by the 410. The 410 has enhancements helping to increase the length of time you can go between battery charges. It also has increase effectiveness of the touch bezel, especially in poor weather conditions. I know on mine it is almost possible to change screens when it is raining.
What I like about the 405 is it holds me accountable. I can see how far I am running, pace, and heart rate. I LOVE the Garmin Connect web site. It really helps to see how far I have improved. I can also see I have run 326 miles with my Garmin so far this year and burned 41 thousand calories! That is just since May when I bought it. Having the GPS capability is the main reason I chose the 405 over the 100 series. Garmin just gave the 110 a face lift this year. It has GPS now. It is cute, pink and it is made for women! (There is a guys model too that is blue.) If it had GPS back in may I probably would have looked into buying that model instead. One of the biggest complaints I have about the GPS watches is their bulkiness. The 405 fits on smaller wrists and isn't as bulky as the older models, another reason I picked it over other GPS watches.
The 405 is still bulky though. The heart rate monitor strap that came with it was also too big for me, so I had to spend more money to order a smaller one online (Amazon.com has them, if you have the same problem). The battery life also isn't very good. I can get through two to three work outs with out having to charge it. Sometimes one long run drains it. This would be really irritating if I was trying to train for a marathon. I have noticed turning off the GPS helps lengthen the time between charges, but it isn't much.
I named my watch My Precious. It really does remind me of Lord of the Rings. It is easy to get obsessed over it. It knows so much! It is hard for me to leave home or do a workout with out it. If I do break myself from its hold, it is very freeing. Every once in a while it is nice to run for the sake of running and not having to beat myself up over going a slow pace.
So buy or don't buy? I think it really depends on what you are looking for and what your goals are. I am happy I bought, but mostly because I bought it on such a great deal. I would say if you are starting to train for half marathons you should at least get a stop watch with a heart rate monitor. If you don't have time to map out some runs ahead of time, the GPS might be worth it. The Garmin Connect site tracking is also a huge advantage over the Polar devices. It is definitely a great little tool if you want to spend the money.
I also LOVE my Garmin 405! My husband has appropriated it recently though, as he's in training for an Ironman. I let him use mine rather than spending the money again to get him his own. Running without it recently is freeing, but my pace has definitely suffered. It's great for achieving goals, but can take the fun out of running just to run.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
Thanks for directing me to your blog to read the review (I asked about Garmin on the nest). It looks like I have a tough decision to make!
ReplyDelete