The Garmin running watch series are a savior to the casual to professional runner. The Garmin Forerunner 205, 305, and 405 will tell you your pace, exact distance, time, best pace, average pace, heart rate (305 and 405), elevation, direction traveled, and even sunrise and sunset. You can use it for cycling as well with features like cadence and rpms (with added equipment). The best part about Garmins is that they come with a computer program that will track your progress with graphs and maps. Out of town on a business trip or on vacation? Then you can log on to the Garmin website that will track your stats and progress when you allow it to. This way keeping a running log is easier than ever, and more high tech. One issue that some people have with these watches is that they are slightly bulky. They do take up a bit of wristroom. For most people, this issue goes away after a few runs when you become used to having it. In my own opinion its worth it for all the information. I love being able to look down at my watch and at anytime be able to tell what pace I'm running at, how far I've run, or anything else. One other issue that is made unclear is that the watches are designed for multi-sport meaning running, biking, and swiming. The issue is that the watches are not water proof, just water resistant. Garmin only recomends that the watches never go deeper than 3 feet in water. This is kinda of an iffy statement for a $200 + watch. I personaly just wouldn't wear it in water to get avoid the issue. As far as running though, I have never had any problems with the Garmin Watches.
I rate this watch as a MUST HAVE for the running guru or anyone who wants to know everything about their own training.
The starting prices of these watches are $215 (205), $300 (305), and $350(405). This is about the price you will have to pay if you want to buy them in a store. I found a few places on Amazon that sold brand new ones for almost half of the price and this is how I bought my own. I would suggest Amazon.com if you want to save a bit of money.
Yeah, these watches are definitely worth it for serious runners.
ReplyDeleteThe new version of these running watches, the 405 and 405CX are much less bulkier than older versions, but are still quite large.
Regarding water resistance, a new Forerunner has just been released, which IS water reistant, the 310XT can withstand immersion in water up to a depth of 50 meters. Unfortunately I don't think it can track a GPS or heart rate monitor signal in water.
Rod