Garmin Forerunner 210 Review

This morning I went running with my new Garmin Forerunner 210 GPS watch, and I just wanted to share my initial thoughts. So far I really like it. First off, it picked up a satellite signal in well less than a minute, which was a recurring problem with my 205. In addition, it appears to be extremely accurate. The 210 measured my 2.5 mile loop around Hoboken (per Gmaps Pedometer) to a couple of hundredths of a mile--which I consider to be virtually spot on. It is also very simple and user friendly. The 205 definitely has more features and is more customizable, but for just running I am more than happy with the 210. Plus it actually looks like a normal watch, unlike the 205, which makes you look like you are wearing a brick on your wrist. Man, posts two days in a row--don't get used to it!

A Terrible--I Mean Pretty Good--Run

This morning I decided to run outside before work, as the temperature was in the low 60s and I just got a new arm band for my iPod Nano. Rather than doing my regular four mile, two loop course I opted to extend the loop a bit further and do five miles (my longest outfoor run this year). I set off at a steady but comfortable pace, and when I finished the first loop was somewhat shocked to see a little over 20 minutes had elapsed--implying I was running at 8:00 per mile pace. I was definitely not pushing terribly hard, but did not think I was running that slowly either! My second loop was a few seconds faster than the first, and I ended up finishing my run in just over 40 minutes.

When I got into the office I used Gmaps Pedometer to measure the length of my run and found the loop was 2.7 miles, NOT the 2.5 miles I mistakenly thought. Thus, my run was really nearly five and a half miles, not five, and my pace was 7:25 per mile, not 8:00. So basically I went from thinking this was a disastrous run to a pretty encouraging one. On a related note, using the same program I calculated another recent four mile run was at 7:05 per mile pace, not 7:15. Note to self: always use Gmaps Pedometer before embarking on new running routes...