RunningAHEAD - Topic: Garmin Products -

jamesie04

posted: 3/7/2008 at 9:20 AM

Hi All, As I have said I am doing the Dublin marathon in October. I am gradually building up my base mileage and all is going well. I have been looking into training with a Garmin Forerunner and would like to know your personal experiences with this? Would you recommend a Garmin and if so what make should I be looking at considering I have never used one before! Cheers, James

Trent

Good Bad & The Monkey

posted: 3/7/2008 at 9:21 AM

Click

Good luck at the marathon.

I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.

Poor baby

dnice

posted: 3/7/2008 at 11:21 AM

I have a Forerunner 205. I love it. The 305 is the same device with a heart-rate monitor. I purposely choose not to get the 305 because I think the heart-rate monitor would be sort of restrictive. I know like to run faster than I probably should and don't need empirical evidence of this fact. You'll likely find a lot of threads talking about the limitations of a GPS. Between a certified course and a gramin, trust the distance the course is certified at. That said, my 205 is, to my thinking, remarkably accurate. Not perfect, but pretty damn good. The one feature on the device that is substandard is the current pace. I would guess the computer in the device is not strong enough to make the on-the-fly calculations needed to be accurate on this level. That said, I typically base my pace on the half mile. At this variable, the device seems good. I've recently starting using the interval function for stride runs. I run my warm up, hit the lap button and the harder part of the workout starts. The garmin will count down the reps, and give warning beeps for each pace change. It can do this based on distance or time. It's awesome. Good luck with your training.

ruthiepj

posted: 3/7/2008 at 12:25 PM

I have the Garmin 205. I opted not to get the 305 because the heart rate monitor is a strap that goes around your chest. Being a girl it just doesn't fit well for me. That is the only diff between the two. If you really must know what your heart rate is spend the extra $$ and get the 305. Otherwise I would get the 205. It is smaller than the earlier models. I use mine to track per minute miles. I set a lap for every mile. It gives me the details of explaining why at mile 5 I was 1 minute slower than mile 4. You can upload it on the computer to show elevation and speed graphs. Plus since it tracks pace as you run you can adjust your speed when you are falling behind or need to slow down.

Ringmaster

posted: 3/7/2008 at 12:28 PM

I have the 205. I also did not need the HRM. I was glad to get my 205 after a horrible race in which I went out too fast, then had to walk a lot of a distance that was well under my capabilities, according to my daily mileage, simply because I did not pace myself. The Garmin keeps me from doing that my holding me to the pace I want to keep--even if it's not dead-on accurate, at least I'm not running an 8-minute mile when I'm supposed to be doing a 10-minute. As for tracking distances, I used to do that before I got it my using MapMyRun, and you could do it by mapping your runs on RA if you were so inclined, without using a wrist GPS, so that's a primary purpose for the Forerunner for me. I'm sure I could use my Garmin for lots more, if I were so inclined, but for now, this is its function for me--helping me keep my pace, and record and analyze my performance from one run to the next--especially my splits on long runs. HTH. K

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Heb. 12:1b)
Mile by Mile

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 3/7/2008 at 12:41 PM

I have a 301 ...I initially bought it for the HRM, but rarely use the HRM. Really if you are looking between the 205/305 it all comes down to if you want to use the HRM or not. The other function of the 305 that might be nice if you train or race a lot in heavily wooded areas is you can buy an optional footpod (for $$) that will also sync with the watch so you can still get results when GPS doesnt work. I dont think that option is available for the 205?

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

Run To Win

#2867

posted: 3/7/2008 at 1:46 PM

I've been happy with the 305.

Run to Win
25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

Viich

posted: 3/7/2008 at 2:32 PM

I've got the 201. It's great. I sometimes need to turn off the pace on the display and just look at the distance though, when I start getting two wrapped up in my current pace, whether I think I'm going too fast or too slow. For me, it is mostly a track for where I've been, and occasionally a navigation device when I'm in a strange city. (Almost got lost in Edinburgh last summer) It is also useful for intervals when a track isn't available. Many people get them and claim they aren't any good because they read 80m different for a 16km run that they do two different times, and something they pay $100 better be perfect. 0.5% That's pretty good in my books, and that's my old 201, which IS less accurate than the 205/305. It is IMPOSSIBLE to measure the EXACT distance of anything real, there is always an error. I am rarely off by more than 2-3% unless I'm in deep tree cover, at which point I don't expect it to work. I recommend it if you have realistic expectations.

jEfFgObLuE

I've got a fever...

posted: 3/7/2008 at 2:39 PM
modified: 3/7/2008 at 2:41 PM

Quote from Ennay on 3/7/2008 at 12:41 PM:

The other function of the 305 that might be nice if you train or race a lot in heavily wooded areas is you can buy an optional footpod (for $$) that will also sync with the watch so you can still get results when GPS doesnt work. I dont think that option is available for the 205?

Footpod should work with the 205. I got mine for $29 on amazon I think the footpod is more geared for running indoors / on treadmills. I don't know that it will take over when the GPS doesn''t have a good signal (like I think you're suggesting). 205/305 GPS radio seems to have excellent performance, though.

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

progman2000

posted: 3/7/2008 at 2:50 PM

The footpod and cadence sensor will only work with the 305.

Running In Tennis Sneakers

jEfFgObLuE

I've got a fever...

posted: 3/7/2008 at 2:55 PM

Quote from progman2000 on 3/7/2008 at 2:50 PM:

The footpod and cadence sensor will only work with the 305.

Wow, did not know that. But I guess it makes sense -- footpod/cadence sensor/HRM must all use similar protocols to talk to the device, and since the 205 doesn't do HRM, it wouldn't make sense to support the other two.

On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

NateFromRI

posted: 3/7/2008 at 3:25 PM

I have the Forerunner 305. I got it because I like having detailed stats and feedback on my running. It has been a good product thus far. Once it acquires a signal, it has never lost it on me. It is also amazingly accurate. From personal experience, I'd say that the accuracy limitations are absolute, not relative. By that, I mean that it may place me a few feet from where I really am, but if I move a foot to the left it will register a one foot move to the left of that wrong spot. The heart rate monitor is nice to have. I never thought I'd want one, but I was able to get a 305 for about $10 more than a 205and figured "why not?" It has to be positioned well to work correctly, but once it is in place it works well and is comfortable. If I don't want its feedback during a run, I'll remove it from the display and just enjoy the stats it keeps when I log later.

-------------------------------------
5K - 18:25 - 3/19/11
10K - 39:38 - 12/13/09
1/2 - 1:29:38 - 5/30/10
Full - 3:45:40 - 5/27/07

milkbaby

posted: 3/7/2008 at 7:12 PM

I don't have a Garmin but I do want to make the recommendation you get the x01 series (201 or 301), not the x05 series (205 or 305) because the x01 is this huge rectangular thing you strap to your wrist, versus the slightly more svelte x05 versions. Nothing like that huge rectangular tan line/white spot on your wrist to show other people you are a serious runner. It's also great as a sexual display during running geek mating season. Smile

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi "I have need to be all on fire, for I have mountains of ice about me to melt." -- William Lloyd Garrison "The marathon is an art; the marathoner is an artist." -- Kiyoshi Nakamura

Carole

posted: 3/9/2008 at 9:15 AM

I am also training for a marathon in November and building my base mileage, except for this week - bad chest cold and lots of coughing ... Dead

I purchased the Forerunner 305 at the beginning of February and I LOVE IT!!! I do like having the heart rate. I didn't know much about heart rate training, but with lots of Googling and the posts here it is easy to learn about training using heart rate. If the heart rate training becomes distracting, just don't wear the heart rate strap. BUT, you have this data IF you want it. I have also found the distance to be fairly accurate. My boyfriend and I have a road racing business where we manage and time 5K and 10K road races in the Athens,GA area. We measure EVERY course with a surveyor's wheel, so we KNOW the course is accurate. My 305 generally measures a 3.1 (5K course) to somewhere between 3.11 and 3.15 miles. I would say that is not too bad ... given this is using satellite triangulation to determine the distance. Another comment I agree with is the current pace calculation. I find this to be about 30 seconds behind. this comment is just based on how I "feel" I am running at that moment and what the 305 is recording. I thing the device does not have a fast enough processor to do real time pace calculations. So, I use the pace just as a guideline ... knowing it is a little behind my pace at that moment. Make sure you download SportTracks logbook software (http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/). This software combined with the 305 is absolutely GEAT!!! Big grin

Lots of great data to analyze, good graphs and I LOVE my running routes integrated with the satellite maps. Lots of fun... Bottom line, I love my 305 and would not run without it ... especially for my marathon training. Combined with the SportTracks software ... gives you about all the running analysis information you need! Carole

2010 Goals: (1) Run Hog Pen Hill Climb (a 17K up one of the north Georgia mountains) (January) (2) Run Callaway Half Marathon faster than last year (January) (3) Run 5 Points of Life Half Marathon (February)

mikeymike

posted: 3/9/2008 at 10:18 AM

If you're in the market for a running GPS watch then Garmin is the way to go. I have a 205 and I'm happy with it. The question to ask yourself is why you want a GPS watch and if it's worth the investment for you. It does make it easier to collect and analyze data about your running, if you're into that sort of thing. It's also helpful if you travel a lot and/or run unmeasured routes. I use mine mostly for doing interval workouts on the roads--I wind up using it once or twice a week. Most of the time I just use my timex ironman watch and run familar routes, however.

Runners run

Garmin Products - (Read 1014 times)