Monday, June 23, 2008

Garmin 405 Technology Review 2

Now that I have almost 2 months under my belt with the new Garmin 405, I can give a more thorough review.
This thing ROCKS! It's smaller, lighter, more accurate, and last but not least, it's A LOT easier to use. On the 305, I had issues with the charge contacts on back corroding. They have eliminated this possibility by sinking these holes into the watch and having a clip like charger. It's really cool, but hard to explain. This is a definite improvement.
Before I get into this, if you are new to the Garmin 405 check out the training videos on the Garmin Website. These are very helpful. Most definitely the coolest thing about it is the training setups you can do. This will teach you many of the nuances of the 405, and they're adding things weekly to help us learn how to use this wonderful tool. If you're in to this like I am, it's also very easy to just play around and figure it out. , I use the interval mode a lot. Here's one example. When I go out for Yasso 800's, I click on the Menu, Click Training, Workouts, Interval, then you choose if you want this workout to be gauged by time or distance (for Yasso's I click distance), then choose the distance (.50 miles), then rest type, I choose distance (.25), then choose how many reps (8), then it asks about a warmup and a cooldown (I choose yes). This takes all of about 1 minute to set up.
I have used the Virtual training partner, but I haven't fallen in love with this yet. It's kind of hard for me to tell if I'm ahead or behind, I have to look really close to be able to tell. I can see this being a nice feature, especially in a 5k or 10k race. I have gotten over the sensitivity of the bezel, it takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it's really not an issue.
Now, the complaints, my biggest complaint is that the ANT agent is still not compatible with Mac's. They say this is coming in the Fall, so I'm going to hold them to it. Luckily, I have access to a PC where I can download my information. I do have issue with the watch not giving detailed Heart Rate information. I can only get my Average Heart Rate by downloading my information to the PC, then I have to look at the Heart Rate statistics. I've notice when I'm sweating a lot, if sweat drips on the bezel it gets a little crazy beepy. Hopefully this doesn't cause problems when I really start dripping this summer.
Overall, to me, this watch is a major upgrade. In defense of the 305, I never really used the training features, but I think that's because it was too complicated. This is a very nice tool to help in training no matter what the distance.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Is it really June?

WOW! I went for a track workout tonight at 6pm, and boy did I enjoy it.  The temp was about 70 F and there was a nice cool breeze blowing.  It is almost July, right?
I'm into my 4th week of a 20 week training program for the Chicago Marathon.  I have to say it's going pretty well.  Last year I ran the Marine Corps Marathon and started my training in early July.  My knee started bothering me that first week, and stayed with me up until about February of this year.  
Back to my training. Last week in the heat, I did Yasso 800's, and my goal time was 3:20.  My best time was a 3:26, and I only managed to do 6 of them.  Tonight, I did 8 of them, with my fastest being at 3:18, slowest at 3:28, but most of them right at 3:20.  I felt really good, and it gave me the confidence that I need to reach my Marathon Goal of 3:20 -3:25. 
I also want to throw a shout out to my friend Charlie for all of his encouragement.  Look for my more in depth review of the Garmin 405, I'll give you a hint:  I LOVE IT!
On the Diabetes front: As I increase my mileage, I've noticed that my blood sugars have been much better.  I noticed that Jamie over at DR has stated the same thing.  This just proves what we've always known, EXERCISE IS GOOD!  I also wanted to mention a new "Diabetic Runner Friend" Erika, check out her amazing blog.  
We can all learn a little from each other.  Keep exercising, and keep them sugars steady!