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RUNNING WITH THE FORERUNNER
Published May 20, 2008 by GUILLERMO BARRON
I've been a "reluctant runner" for a quarter century. That is, I ran only once or so a week, and then only to stay in shape. I really couldn't understand why people loved to run or how they could spend so much time running each week. But things changed last fall. That's when I had to make a decision about buying a new GPS, since I couldn't find my trusty Garmin Geko which had guided me on many mountain jaunts, winter and summer. After a bit of investigation, I opted for the Garmin Forerunner 205. The Forerunner can be configured in many different ways to suit your training needs, so it pays to take an hour or so to make sure you have it set to suit your tastes. You can run a fixed distance, fixed time, against Garmin's virtual partner, or use Garmin's free software Training Centre to set up a daily training program, even specifying speeds for each lap. There's also an auto-pause feature that shuts down the timer when you drop below a given speed (say, while waiting for a traffic light to change). And you can further customise the Forerunner for specific sports: running. cycling, and "other". The Forerunner makes it easy to cycle between three data screens for each sport. You can then display one to four pieces of data on each screen. I found it easiest to program the first screen to overall run data (speed, time elapsed, and distance), lap data (average lap speed, lap time elapsed, and lap distance elapsed) and general info screen (time of day, elevation, and GPS accuracy). I then programmed the unit alert me with lap times every one kilometer. Some reviewers have found the 205 and its cousin, the 305 too be a tad on the clunky side, but I barely notice its presence once I have the strap adjusted. To me, the slightly larger size (compared to the svelte 405, for example) is more than compensated for by the large screen. In winter, I attach the longer strap (included) and wear the receiver over my jacket while cross country skiing or running. Garmin also makes a bicycle handlebar adaptor, but I find it can easily and securely be strapped over my gear shifter. It's also water resistant, so it's suitable for tracking my river kayaking trips. I usually start up the Forerunner before lacing up my shoes outdoors. While the Forerunner's SIRF chip is very sensitive and has never (so far as I've noticed) lost a signal while outdoors, it does take a minute or two to acquire a signal on startup. And this is best done while the unit is stationary. Once you have a lock, you can position yourself at the beginning of your intend route and press the start button to start. The Garmin does a very good job at keeping me at my desired pace. My mind tends to wander while running and then my pace slows. The Forerunner detects this and emits an audible and visual cue to speed up. Its navigation features are minimal, but sufficient to allow you to find your way home after a run in unfamiliar territory. Once at home, I simply place the Forerunner on the cradle to charge it and upload data to my computer. Garmin's Training Centre software does a good job of presenting run data in visual and tabular format. But if TC isn't enough for you, there are other proprietary programs that will add more sophisticated analysis to your training regimen. For me as a novice runner, the Forerunner was a great motivator, gave me instant feedback on my performance and allowed me to track my improvement on each run. Many experienced marathoners will tell you that an even pace is essential for good performance on longer runs and the Forerunner accurately tracks your speed throughout runs. Tracking my data after each run allowed me to set targets for improvement each week and to tell if I was reaching those targets. No more guesswork about distances and times. Every run become an opportunity to measurably improve performance (in speed or distance) over the last run. Not only it do this, but keeping an accurate tally of weekly distances allows you to accurately weekly distance increases, which is important in avoiding overuse injries. Once I started using the Forerunner, I quickly dropped my 10 k time from a sluggish 1:10 to 50 minutes and I ran my first half marathon last weekend. The Forerunner's distance accuracy during the race was stunning: the Forerunner lined up within 10 meters of each kilometer marker that I noticed on the entire 21 km route. I decided on a race pace ahead of time and the Forerunner helped me to maintain it steadily throughout the race. And I noticed that many other runners sported Forerunners. After a god pair of running shoes, the Forerunner is perhaps the most important part of the serious runner's toolkit.If you're thinking about starting a fitness program or are already running, cycling, or skiing regularly, I strongly recommend looking at the Forerunner as a training tool. It's had a phenomenal and positive effect on my running performance and attitude.
Category: FITNESS Views: 2219
Place: Red Deer
Tags: running

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