So, I used it just twice so far and I noticed a few things.
First, it's a GPS, not a watch. It looks like a watch and tells time, but's it's really a GPS receiver. What that means is the battery doesn't last for months or years, it lasts for hours. It means you have to fuss with your watch the way you do with your cell phone or GPS or mp3 player. It takes it out of the "watch" category and puts it in the "electronics" category.
It's easy to charge, there's a wallwart with a pleasing little clip and it's got detailed charging status right their on the watch face, so you know when it's done. Still, now I need another wallwart plugged in and I need to plug in the watch every night, to be sure it'll be ready tomorrow.
I know, the battery lasts a long time. Maybe I could just charge it once a week - like Friday night, so the battery's ready for long rides on the weekend. But I'm afraid if you don't charge it every night, one day you'll wish you had charged it last night. Then you'll have no data, and everyone knows that a workout doesn't make you stronger unless you collect data.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
New gadget - Garmin Forerunner 405
I bought a new gadget yesterday - a GPS watch with HRM. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time. Last weekend, I planned to ride with the local mountain biking group (find the link at bikeloft.com) on trails that I've never understood in all the years I've been riding here. My plan was to ride with the group (usually 2 hours or so), log the data and pour over the maps at home. In the end, it didn't pan idea. But it got me fired up to find a tool for that job.
I've been using a gps utility for the cell phone since last summer (http://www.bimactive.com/) which has the fatal drawback that my phone battery only lasts about 90 minutes when the GPS is enabled. So, I lose the data for my longer runs and rides. Other than that, I really liked the service, it was easy to use and I liked the website, the limited analysis tools were just what I wanted and the ability to export to google maps format was great. I also like the cell phone because I usually carry it with me, so it's not another thing.
But I wanted to be able to go longer and still track the data, so I bought the newest GPS watch from Garmin. I picked Garmin becuase of the name. My impression is that they are a popular producer of consumer GPS receivers. I also had a bias that I wanted to buy it from my local running store (http://www.fleetfeetsyracuse.com/) and they carry Garmin.
I've used Polar HRM's forever, and if Fleet Feet carried them, I might have gone with Polar's offering. I've had my Polar 625i for about 2 years now. It's been very reliable and they have an awesome training diary for the PC. It gives you lots of ways to look at the HR data. I'm a little sorry to have a disconnect from that data.
So, as soon as the store opened yesterday, I got there and bought the Garmin forerunner 405 with HRM. I raced home and plugged it in, the called Greg and said I could leave the house in 3 hours (that's how long it takes to charge the watch).
I've been using a gps utility for the cell phone since last summer (http://www.bimactive.com/) which has the fatal drawback that my phone battery only lasts about 90 minutes when the GPS is enabled. So, I lose the data for my longer runs and rides. Other than that, I really liked the service, it was easy to use and I liked the website, the limited analysis tools were just what I wanted and the ability to export to google maps format was great. I also like the cell phone because I usually carry it with me, so it's not another thing.
But I wanted to be able to go longer and still track the data, so I bought the newest GPS watch from Garmin. I picked Garmin becuase of the name. My impression is that they are a popular producer of consumer GPS receivers. I also had a bias that I wanted to buy it from my local running store (http://www.fleetfeetsyracuse.com/) and they carry Garmin.
I've used Polar HRM's forever, and if Fleet Feet carried them, I might have gone with Polar's offering. I've had my Polar 625i for about 2 years now. It's been very reliable and they have an awesome training diary for the PC. It gives you lots of ways to look at the HR data. I'm a little sorry to have a disconnect from that data.
So, as soon as the store opened yesterday, I got there and bought the Garmin forerunner 405 with HRM. I raced home and plugged it in, the called Greg and said I could leave the house in 3 hours (that's how long it takes to charge the watch).
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
Late season xc ski
We all drove up to Osceola March 21 to do a late season ski and shop. I've been wanting new boots for a while and decided I'd buy them up there.
There was very little snow, until right when we got to the ski center. He's still got 2 feet of cover everywhere. We thought it'd be warm. It was sunny, but still in the 30's. Cold enough to ski.
The kids were iffy. Ben complained that he only wanted to downhill ski. Deb is awesome with them and got them suited up, into their rental gear and on the snow while I was still finding my gloves.
Ben got the hang of skiing right away, He kind of skates on them. He "gets" ice skating, so this was a natural extension. I think skating is much more fun that diagonal and the balance is easier - it makes you commit to one leg. Allison has always been hampered by her figure skates into walking on ice skates and she didn't do much better on skis.
When we went back in, they said they didn't like it. But when they returned their skis and went out to play in the snow, Ben cried when he realized he wasn't going to be able to ski any more.
There was very little snow, until right when we got to the ski center. He's still got 2 feet of cover everywhere. We thought it'd be warm. It was sunny, but still in the 30's. Cold enough to ski.
The kids were iffy. Ben complained that he only wanted to downhill ski. Deb is awesome with them and got them suited up, into their rental gear and on the snow while I was still finding my gloves.
Ben got the hang of skiing right away, He kind of skates on them. He "gets" ice skating, so this was a natural extension. I think skating is much more fun that diagonal and the balance is easier - it makes you commit to one leg. Allison has always been hampered by her figure skates into walking on ice skates and she didn't do much better on skis.
When we went back in, they said they didn't like it. But when they returned their skis and went out to play in the snow, Ben cried when he realized he wasn't going to be able to ski any more.
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