Going the Distance (or finding it easier, anyway)...

I got an early birthday present.  It’s called freedom.  Actually, it’s called the Garmin Forerunner 305, but really it’s freedom.  I had been running almost exclusively on the treadmill for months before I made the transition to road running.   There were several things I liked about the treadmill, the biggest being that I could set my pace and I could have real-time information on my distance.  For more on treadmill running, see my post here.  What I didn’t like about treadmill running is that after a few miles, even my “distraction kit” of SportsCenter, iPod and Amazon Kindle couldn’t keep my mind occupied to quell the boredom.  Add to the doldrums of indoor running a few beautiful late winter days in North Florida and a wife who wanted to try running some trails, and you’ve got some motivation to get off the belt and hit the road.  When I first started running on roads and trails, I found it to be a tough transition.  I couldn’t pace myself well, so I would start out too fast and have nothing left to finish with.  Also, I had no idea how far I had gone until I got back and drove the route, or I would plan a route ahead of time on Google Maps.  Beside the minor inconvenience this caused (I know, I know, this is how people have been doing it for years, and 10 years ago there wasn’t even Google Maps , and I’m a spoiled Gen Xer, blah, blah, blah, but this is 2011 and I’m still a little miffed we don’t have flying cars), I found more often than not, one of two things would happen:  not knowing how far I had gone, I would measure my route after getting home and be disappointed that I had not run farther, knowing I had more in me or I would pre plan an ambitious long route and leave (again starting too fast) only to find that I didn’t have the stuff to finish after all.  Enter the Forerunner.  It was my wife who first brought up the idea of wanting a good training watch, because her watch didn’t have a stopwatch.  At the time, she said “I don’t want anything fancy, just a stop watch so I can time my runs.”  We looked around and decided on a women’s Timex Ironman series.  It was a good watch for a good price, with lap memory and a stopwatch.  But while we were looking, I stumbled upon the existence of GPS watches.  I was mesmerized.  In a previous post about shoes (you can read it here) I mentioned I had really wanted Nike + shoes so that I could sync them with my iPod, which would in turn give me an idea of my pacing and my mileage.  Unfortunately, the Nike + sneakers weren’t in the cards, since the running store I go to, Shaw’s Athletics in Tallahassee, doesn’t carry a Nike + shoe with the stability I need.  Since  I trust Shaw’s with my life, and won’t wear another running shoe unless they tell me it’s okay, the Nike + aint gonna happen for me.  So I was intrigued with the idea of a GPS watch, which could give me all the information I had wanted, plus MORE!  My wife started experiencing the same issues I was having with outdoor running, as she was making the transition to the road as well, and I mentioned the GPS watches to her.  Surprisingly, she suggested that maybe she’d get me one for my birthday (don’t ask when my birthday is – no one but my family knows, and I’d rather they’d not have found out).  Even more surprising, she said she’d get it for me EARLY, so I could start using it ASAP.  So I diligently began to research GPS watches.  After scouring review after review, store after store and blog after blog, I had my heart set on the Forerunner 305, which you can find on Amazon.com as well as some of the big boc retailers online like Target and Walmart, though it's no longer available in stores, at least not stores around me.  The reason I settled on the Forerunner 305 is that it has all of the features I might think I need, including a heart rate monitor, and you find it new at a reasonable price (around $130 on Amazon).  It’s been out for a couple of years, and Garmin has released several other options since the 305, but from all of the reviews I’ve read, it still appears to be the best device they’ve come up with yet.  It has outstanding GPS reception, maintaining good signal in some pretty thick trails in woodsy North Florida.  I can record my route, I get real-time feedback as far as pace and distance are concerned, and I can make sure I don’t overdo it with the included heart rate monitor.  What this  means for me, more than anything else, is that I can put it on, get out and go.  I don’t have to pre plan routes or drive them afterward anymore.  I literally just go outside, turn it on and run, and as long as I remember how to get home, I’ve got no worries.  And even then, it has a rudimentary map and remembers your start location, so you can find your way back if need be.  I can quickly glance down and see if I need to slow it down or speed it up before it’s too late and my body gives up.  And I can watch my distance and get that extra boost of encouragement by seeing that it I push just a little more, I’ll go just a little bit farther.  It really helps me when I feel like stopping to be able to tell myself “just one more half mile, bud.  You’ve got a half mile in you!” and the next thing I know, I’ve gone another 2 miles.  The only minor issue (and this is minor for me) is that it takes about 45 seconds to a minute to find the satellite when you first turn it on.  But once it gets the signal, it keeps it.  All in all, it has completely changed my whole running experience for the better.  It even motivates me to get up and go to begin with some days because it’s such a neat toy I want to get out and play with it.  After my run, it syncs with my computer and I can look at my pacing and my mile splits (my pace for each individual mile), my heart rate over time, which I can compare to my distance and my pace, and even my elevation throughout my runs.  It’s what I use to update the “My Recent Runs” box on the right side of this page.  My wife loved mine so much, I got her one for an early Mother’s Day gift.  Now, if you are completely new to running, I’m not saying go out and buy one.  But if you’ve been at it for any time, and are going to make a hobby  of it, I absolutely recommend getting a GPS watch to help you along your way.  And if you’re going to get a GPS watch, you can’t go wrong with the Forerunner 305.

*Garmin has not contacted me or offered me anything at all for this post; I purchased the Forerunner on my own, and another for my wife, and it has changed my running experience so much that I wanted to share it with you.