A Regular Runner Reviews the Garmin Forerunner 305
Last December, I finally bought the Garmin Forerunner 305 because it was heavily discounted on Amazon.com and the price was low enough I decided to finally take the plunge and get a GPS watch for running.
In high school, I drove around in the family Camry to gauge distances for my various running loops and then I timed my run with a basic wrist watch with some stop watch functions.
In college, um, same deal, only around the college town where I lived.
Then in 2006 Nike announced their Nike+ kit — basically a foot pod you put into your Nike running shoe and a receiver you plugged into your iPod Nano. You did a couple of calibration laps at the local high school track so the system could learn the length of your stride, etc.
I LOVED the Nike+ system. The website was awesome — so many stats! and you could set goals! and compete against other runners in races even if you lived in different parts of the world! You could even use training programs for building up to certain types of races. I was blown away by all of the information I was able to gather and evaluate. How much did I run last month? The month before? This year?
But by the fall of 2010, I had hit two problems, one bigger than the other:
The smaller problem was simple: I had to get a new sensor because my old one had died and I didn’t have a lot of free time to get down to the track to calibrate it. This was my fourth sensor in four years, so I was used to the process, but I just didn’t have time right then to hit the track… and before I knew it, weeks had gone by. (They say most people can run with the default calibration, but I found it was off by about .15 per mile for me. So on a 10 mile run, it would ring up 1.5 miles short!)
The larger problem was something I couldn’t avoid just by getting up early on a Sunday and making some time: the website for the Nike+ had been redesigned and it was INSANELY slow for me. It would take MINUTES to load a single page. I tried different browsers and even different computers. The Flash interface was just excruciatingly slow. Nike had actually found a way to make running NOT fun because the idea of having to deal with that website was torture.
This problem was getting worse and worse and I had been looking at the Garmin Forerunner line for nearly a year, but I didn’t want to spend $399 on something I still wasn’t sure about, but I knew I had to do something. So when the Garmin Forerunner 305 dropped to $130 at Amazon, I jumped.
So do I like the Garmin Forerunner 305?
Yes, I do. A lot. It’s accurate and it’s easy to operate. I would highly recommend it for any runner of any experience level.
PROS:
It’s very accurate.
I’ve never lost my satellite signal.
I don’t need a lot of data — just time and distance — so the Garmin Forerunner 305 has MORE than enough data features for me. I would think it’s perfect for the beginning runner and even experienced runners.
The battery seems to stay charged for a good, long time when in use. Maybe 6 hours?
CONS:
There are some downsides to Garmin Forerunner 305 and the Garmin Connect website software, but nothing that stops me from enjoying my run.
The watch is kind of heavy. No one will ever mistake it for a common sports watch, but I knew that when I ordered it.
The software doesn’t do nearly as many things as the old Nike+ website did before it got as slow as molasses.
Sometimes the Garmin Forerunner 305 takes 2 minutes to find the satellite. I’ve learned to turn the watch on and sit it in a window while I stretch and prepare for my run. By the time I’m ready to go, the watch has found the satellite and there’s no delay when I step outside!
I do wish the website was more like the original Nike+ site. There are so many features I seriously miss.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Even with the small downsides, I’m grateful I never have to drive to the track to calibrate this watch and I know eventually there will be a thinner/lighter version in my price range.
Hopefully they’ll improve the website sooner than later, stealing some features from the Nike+ website — but not the slowness. That they can leave for Nike.
iTunes Doesn’t Recognize Your Nike Plus Account After You Restore Your iPod Nano
Since it took me a little while to figure this out again tonight, I thought I’d post the information for anyone else and for my future self when this happens again in six months:
I had to “restore” my iPod Nano tonight, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the “Nike + iPod” tab in my iTunes to recognize my account information, which means it wouldn’t upload my next run to my account. (I learned this the hard way last year when I had a similar problem and had to restore.) So every time I clicked on “visit nikeplus.com”, it just went to the generic front page for the Nike+ site where you can log into your account instead of actually logging me right in automatically.
Here’s what I did:
* I manually logged into my Nike+ account from the website’s main page and then I went back to my iTunes.
* I clicked on the “visit nikeplus.com” link again and this time it logged right into my account.
* I returned to iTunes and my account login ID now shows up “Nike + iPod” tab.
Hope that helps someone else!
By the way, in case you’re curious, the reason I had to “restore” my iPod is the infamous Paula Radcliffe glitch. After every run, she congratulated me on running “another 500 kilometers”, which I have to admit, I had not actually run that day.
I ignored the problem for a while, but then my iPod started giving ALL of my run data in kilometers, no matter how many times I double-checked the measurement setting. And when I’d select a 4 mile run for my program, the iPod would convert that to a 3 km run for some reason.
To save my sanity, I simply restored the iPod to the factory settings (losing all of my settings and data) and started with a clean slate. This will last about six months, based on past experience. It’s an annoying bug, but I still love the software anyway. Hopefully they can fix it eventually.
