The perfect running gadget

Let me begin this article by saying this. If you are interested in running and if you are considering buying a device that helps you track your performance, then stop thinking right now. Save your thinking time and go right forward with the Garmin Forerunner 305. Once you have it, you will never run again without it! This watch does everything you will ever need it to.

For those who train regularly, you can compare your current performance with your earlier run. You can compare the pace and your heart rate and thus keep track of your improvement. You can see the average and max temperatures and wind speed to see if climate may have affected your performance.

Bharani Shivakumar, an ardent cyclist and runner has this to say, “Before I started using Garmin Forerunner, it was just a digital watch where I note the time and keep running. Running got more interesting and easy with the Garmin Forerunner. I have a total track of the entire distance, time, heart rate and lot more stats. The key advantage is the ‘virtual partner’ feature that helps me run against my own previous record and try to do better every time. The ‘beep’ at every km is like a pat for doing more miles. “

It can record and share your workouts with fellow runners and your coach. It can export routes to GoogleEarth or GoogleMaps and use the data to practice, rehearse mentally and visualise your upcoming events and races.

The heart rate monitor is a strap that gets wrapped around your breast bone. Some were worried it would be uncomfortable, but surprisingly you can’t feel it at all. It’s adjustable and very easy to put on.

Karthik Padmanabhan, an ardent runner with the Chennai Runners group has this about his Garmin, “There are plenty of positives and ticks off all the right boxes: It has big screen, big buttons and good screen readability the helps you to see when you are running. It’s robust enough to handle a few falls and is its accuracy is an amazing 99%.”

You also can use Forerunner 305 to train for your next duathlon or triathlon with multi-sport workouts, a feature that lets you seamlessly transition between sports without resetting the unit, so you can use it for running, biking and more.

The only downside about the watch is the hard buttons. The buttons are slightly difficult to push and it can get irritating when setting up the watch and trying to navigate through each setting.

Shahid Kandrikar, a very passionate runner, who uses the more advanced 405 feels a bit disappointed by it. Sometimes, when there is too much sweat, it is unresponsive to touches. He strongly recommends to go for the older, but more reliable, Forerunner 305 model.

A very good benefit of the Garmin 305 is its battery life. It can last up to 20 hours and saves you the hassle of charging it every day. I have heard runners say that they like the feel of the Forerunner 305 on their wrist a lot better as it can vibrate to alert you and the displays are very customisable.

It is waterproof, of course, considering runners can sweat buckets. This means that it is also suitable for triathlon sports which include swimming.

The runners I know swear by it.

They feel it’s the one device they can’t run without.

Source- – http://www.financialexpress.com/news/the-perfect-running-gadget/659109/0