The League of Extraordinary Runners

Banter (Read 1523 times)

AmoresPerros


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    I've been happy with the Garmin 205. Mine reports distances about 1.5% too early, I think, for whatever reason. Sometimes I wish I had a 305 (heart rate monitor), but I'm not sure I'd really want to wear the HRM. The 405 is out, by the way. I read about it -- it seemed more expensive, and I think it lost some functionality, but I forget what. Garmin touts it as being a better general watch because it is smaller, but the docs on the 205 say battery life is about 10 hours -- and I don't think the 405 has a longer battery life, so it seems ridiculous to call that a general purpose watch. I've had mine reboot during a run for no obvious reason, and I think I also had it shut off for no reason one time.

    It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

    Spoon


      Are there any plans to come out with a 505? How much would a 205/305/405 run me? (no pun intended)


      Diesel Power

        Adubb: The best prices I've seen are on Amazon.com. The 305 runs $215 on Amazon, the 205 costs $160. The big thing about the 305 is that it comes with a heart rate monitor. Like Perry, I'm not sure if I'll be crazy about wearing a chest strap. I don't think the 405 is even available until later this year, but I could be wrong. It'll probably run north of $300. 305 vs. 405: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare.do?compareProduct=349&compareProduct=11039&compare=compare As far as I can tell, the biggest difference is the pace and time alerts aren't available on the 405. Would you guys consider those to be essential features? That is, do you ever use the timing or pace alerts? I'm not entirely convinced that I want to wait for the 405. It's cost $300 for just the watch, plus another $75 or so for the HRM. And, like Perry said, it wouldn't make a good all-purpose sportswatch. That's what my Timex Ironman is for. I'll likely go with either the 205 or 305, but I want to do more research into the heart rate monitor training, first.
        AmoresPerros


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          I thought the 405 was already available on amazon, but I might have been looking at preorders and not realized it. I also thought it wasn't much more expensive -- but I may not have actually looked at its price. I don't use pace alerts ever. I'm not sure what time alerts are, but I like that it beeps at every lap -- I set the lap to be a mile, so it records mile splits always and it beeps at each mile. Well, one time at Greenwell running 5k loops with DR I set the lap distance to be 5K, but that is the only time I used anything but a mile for autolap -- and that took me a week to remember to fix, and it was irritating not having mile splits after the runs that week (b/c I kept forgetting to fix it back).

          It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

          AmoresPerros


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            I use autolap because I only use the lap pace -- I never use the instantaneous pace. When I first got it I tried to use instantaneous pace, but it bounced around too much -- I thought I went in and increased the smoothing level to the maximum, and that didn't help -- it would tell me I was running 7:45 then I was running 9:15, when I swore I hadn't changed pace at all. So I figured out how to use lap pace, and I go by it -- which has the disadvantage that it isn't right until 200-300yrd into the lap. But from what DR said in his marathon report, it sounds like he might use instantaneous pace -- do you, DR?

            It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.


            Diesel Power

              The one thing I keep coming back to is whether the 405 is worth the increase in price. One thing that was brought to my attention while reading reviews last night and this morning is that the 205/305 had various bugs and issues in the early months of their release. I think I'd much rather spend a lot less money on something that I'm sure will work correctly. It definitely has yet to be released. I'm tempted to wait and see how actual runners review it upon its release, but that will likely not be for a few more months (I've heard at least June... some are reporting that Amazon is saying August!).
              Durrr


                I didn't realize that there was a lap pace alternative. So what I've been looking at has certainly been instantaneous pace. One of these days I really need to open up its manual and figure out exactly what it's capable of. I haven't even hooked it up to a computer yet!


                Diesel Power

                  I think you're missing out there, DR... apparently one of the big draws of the 205/305 is the software that allows you to upload your workout data, map out what you ran, and get stats such as net elevation.
                  AmoresPerros


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                    I don't use the software either -- I manually type my run durations and distances (& mile splits) into this site here actually.

                    It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                    Durrr


                      Here's something interesting from a msn.com article (the point of which is that the Beijing Olympics are going to be an economic disaster): "On March 10, Haile Gebrselassie, the world record holder in the marathon, ruled out competing in the race at August's Beijing Olympics. The city's notoriously bad air pollution posed a threat to his health over the 26.2-mile course, the Ethiopian runner said. It says a lot about the disaster that's unfolding for the Beijing games that the withdrawal of an Olympic favorite caused hardly a ripple. And why should it when bigger stories are brewing? It's possible that …"


                      Diesel Power

                        I hear that some countries, including the US, are considering boycotting the Olympics altogether due to China's recent actions concerning Tibet. I read in Runner's World a while ago that someone promised a 2:03:00 marathon performance in Beijing, which, of course, is completely unheard of. I'm 95% sure that it was Haile that said that. I don't think he's trying to back out of the promise, though... his lungs are among his best assets, so he probably wants to keep them clean.


                        Diesel Power

                          According to this invoice I just got from Amazon.com, I've recently done my part in hooking the economy: Order #: 104-0230315-5657865 Shipping Method: Two-Day Shipping Shipping Preference: Group my items into as few shipments as possible Subtotal of Items: $xxx.99 Shipping & Handling: $x.99 ------ Total for this Order: $xxx.98 Delivery estimate: March 24, 2008 1 "Garmin Forerunner 305 Wrist-Mounted GPS Fitness Computer with Heart Rate Monitor" Electronics; $xxx.99
                          Durrr


                            XXX leaves a lot to the imagination. 111? Or 999?


                            Diesel Power

                              I paid somewhere between $111 and $999 for said Forerunner. I suppose that if you're truly curious, you could check out Amazon.com.
                              Durrr


                                Here are a vast amount of photos from the Lower Potomac River Marathon 2008 event (thank you Perry for the link). http://www.flickr.com/photos/chesapeake_bay_running_club/sets/72157604091301745/