ga ga for gadgets

ahh....the joy of gift certificates and gadgets.

Once upon a time I had another blog with lots of posts about my runs and how far and fast I traveled through swampy, humid Floridian mornings. And then I decided to take some time off. Or, more accurately, I think my hip decided I needed to take some time off. I did other things like yoga but mostly I lounged around. And at some point that I can't recall, without searching through my old blog, my Garmin Forerunner 201 died. I enjoyed my Forerunner 201 and except when I wore it on my wrist while biking, I was never really bothered by its size. Some people say it is like wearing a deck of cards on your wrist - I'm not sure if it is quite that bad, but it is about the size of a Kit Kat bar - though less tasty and much harder plastic. So now that I am training again I'd like a GPS-enabled training device to run along with me. I spent way too much time this weekend reading reviews online and on amazon about the newer Forerunners. Specifically the 305 and 405/405CX though I did briefly glance at the 310XT. The last one is not within my proposed budget and I don't do enough swimming to justify the purchase. (and even though it is waterproof, apparently it doesn't provide accurate readouts underwater, so what is the point anyway?)

After careful study, I think I am going to buy the 305. Except for a brief period in my life when I wanted the newest stuff - I don't even remember when this was, truthfully, but I think it did actually happen, having the newest, coolest gadget has never been that important for me. I initially wanted to buy the 405 because it is smaller and therefore must be better, but after reading the reviews I'm not convinced. The watch functions using a touch bezel rather than buttons and apparently any water on the display causes it to freeze. I sweat when I run so this might present a problem. Many reviews expressed this concern, but the one that convinced me the 305 is a better option is the one that stated the 405 freezes in humid conditions. South Florida is nothing if not humid during the summer and if the watch froze in humid conditions this would probably cause me to sit down on a run and bang my head on the concrete with frustration. And I do enough banging my head against the wall in my work life to satisfy any human being, I don't want to duplicate this behavior while running.

So, unless something drastic happens between now and the arrival of my gift certificates (I'm not sure why gift certificates being used online are arriving via postal mail courtesy of my credit card rewards program) I'll buy a Garmin Forerunner 305 and hopefully run happily off into the distance knowing my pace, heart rate, distance and total time plus probably 30 other useless data sets. What fun for a data dork like me.

Have a good Monday.