Outstanding Training Aid

Wow, this thing is awesome. It’s great to determine exact distances of your runs and average pace. The GPS signal takes a minute or two to capture after I go outside, so I just start it up and begin my stretches while I wait. I run early in the morning so the continuous backlight option is very helpful to keep an eye on your ‘current pace’ before sunrise. I have had no instances of losing the satellites signal during a run. The GPS mapping function is novel but not a feature that I find has much use. What I really like though is the ‘Auto Lap’ feature that automatically records your time and pace upon reaching your preset distance.

Go to the Garmin website (http://www.garmin.com/support/collection.jsp?product=010-00328-00) and download for free the watch firmware update that adds a few new functions. Also free for download is the ‘Forerunner Logbook’ software that allows you to store two years of your run history on your PC.

Downloading history from the watch to your PC is simple despite having only a serial cable (included) connection option. The Logbook software, while storing run data history and GPS created maps of your routes, is somewhat limited and has no trending nor printed reporting capabilities. If you’re into graphing or analyzing your history, the only export option is XML; basically useless when it comes to trying to save downloaded data into Excel or Access.

All in all, I highly recommend this device. In fact, I’m so happy with it that bought another one for a serious marathon-running friend of mine.