3 posts tagged “garmin 305”

Yesterday's run at Discovery Park

Having a coach is great. I decided for my second season of triathlon to give it a try to see how it worked out and I'm completely sold. It nudges me to do things (like speed work) that I probably wouldn't do on my own. I'm not competitive in my age group, but it's still nice to see improvement for the time I put into training. My coach sets out the plan that works within my time constraints and makes sure I'm training smart - no wasted workouts - each has a specific purpose.

She also suggested I do a running race before my Oct. 18 date with the surgeon to give me a mini-goal and also to spend some time on run-focused training. I was thinking 10K, but she suggested I do a 5K and work on speed rather than endurance. So, I've got these great new speed and strength-focused workouts. I spent some time yesterday entering these in my Training Center software and then uploading them to my Garmin 305. I haven't used the "advanced workout" entry function before, but it's really slick. With the GPS, I can enter interval distances, duration segments, and heart rate zone targets and my little wrist-mounted computer will guide me through the whole routine. It's geeky, but fun.

Yesterday, I did a hilly trail run at Discovery Park. I used to run there regularly years ago, when we lived a bit closer to it. Amazingly, very few people were out on the loop trail. Discovery Park is such jewel - an urban forest and also spectacular views of the Puget Sound.

My ride

I love the maps that I get with my Garmin. This is my bike ride today. I drove my bike up north a bit, to Matthews Beach, and then rode from there. It was a pleasant change of scene and being a weekday there was very light traffic on the trail. Afterwards, I hung out at the beach for a bit (in the shade!) with some ice-cold Gaterade. If I had been smart I would have brought my bathing suit and a towel. A quick dip in the lake would have been perfect!

I work right upstairs from a very nice locally-owned running store. Very dangerous, actually. On Friday, I finally bought the ultimate training-nerd tool: a Garmin Forerunner 305 heart rate monitor with GPS. What this means is that satellites will track my every movement, instantly calculating my pace, route, and mileage.

Garmin 305

The device straps on your wrist, but it is still huge - like a Dick Tracy watch. But I'll be able to download my training data directly into my online log and upload workouts to the device. OK - time for me to get out and give this baby a spin.

Update: I am going to love this! Data galore on each workout. But the pacing info while running is probably the most useful for me in the short-term. Both the device and the chest strap are very comfortable. So many features to explore...