Well I broke down and got the Garmin yesterday and I have to say it rocks! And the numbers are all large enough to read! Only one issue, I had it set to miles not km without knowing it and thankfully the chimes still came in per km though the overall distance was showing miles. Have since sorted all that out so its all showing metric now. Was a longer run today and it was the last long run before my 10k race on Sunday. It was a nice sunrise run through both sides of the cemetery, and I loved the ability to glance down and see my pace so I could adjust at any time. No fiddling with my phone apart from starting the 150 bpm playlist and just going. Have a feeling that me and Ms. Garmin are going to get along really well! Love the app interface too.
First run with Ms Garmin!: Well I broke down... - Bridge to 10K
First run with Ms Garmin!
Very nice Vivoactive HR there, Roger 
Congratulations! And congratulations with a very nice 11 km run as warm-up to a 10 km race, that's the spirit!
There's no turning back now. You've got the technology 😏
Good luck for Sunday Decker and don't forget to turn Ms Garmn off when you finish. It's easy to forget in all the excitement 🤗
Yep you know it Irishprincess :). And yes turning the buttons on and off is something I'm known to forget - especially with all the commotion - I will try to concentrate next Saturday
Ha - I’m a button forgetterer too. Neither my best 10k nor my best 5k were recorded on Endomondo thanks to me getting all excited on the day! 😂 I’ve just invested in a new Garmin too and I love it already even though I have no idea what it does yet!
Oh wow that really hurts Gabby! On the plus side the Garmin is quite easy to turn on and off and buzzes each time, so hopefully it will be obvious for us! If you go to youtube and type in your garmin model, chances are there are review vids and instructional vids posted. Saved me from crawling through their manual!
Oooh, Ms Garmin is very pretty 😍. I'm sure you guys will get along great 😘. Good luck on your race this weekend. Looking forward to reading all about it!
Thanks Sask - yep we are definitely fast friends now! Thanks, I am a bit nervous, but whatever - just go have fun, right?
Exactly! You are ready, you've trained well. Enjoy the atmosphere that these larger races bring. Remember to run your own race and not get caught up starting too fast; you're only racing against yourself (easier said than done). And don't forget we want to see a picture of the bling so we can be green with envy 🤣
Thanks Sask. I will try!
Sounds good..just a tip..sit and have a play with the new Garmin..I did not..and have only just sorted out the mess I had on Strava when I synced...apparently I ran 110 miles in under 30 minutes😉
Thanks for the heads-up Floss. I spent most of last night fooling with it and watching some youtube instructional vids on it. The shop manager was really helpful and a former elite runner, so he had some good advice too. At the moment I am only using the Garmin connect site, and I did have a problem this morn when I accidentally deleted my "miles" measured activity off the site and could not re-sync it back, but then discovered (after a Google search) that the watch cleverly saves the run as a separate file so I was able to manually upload it again after I changed the units to metric on the site. Thought I had lost the whole run for a few minutes and my cat learned a few creative new words. Still getting used to it. The pace alerts were not kicking in for instance, though I had set them up...I'm just happy it saved the run!
Oh my goodness - you’re way ahead of me! So far I’ve managed ‘on’, ‘run’ and ‘sync’! I’ve got so much to learn and I’m hopeless with technology...😱😱😱
Any recommendations about who/what to watch on YouTube? Sooner or later, my dad (who kindly bought it as an early birthday present) is going to ask me about its features and I’m going to need to be able to say more than, “Well, it has this very pretty mint green strap which goes perfectly with my trainers...” 😬😬😬
Good luck with your race. You’ve worked so hard for this, I’m sure you’ll be fab. Enjoy every moment! 😀😀😀
Thank you so much Gabby. What Garmin model did you get?
It’s a 235, I think. I’m pretty sure that if I can work out how to use it, it’ll be capable of anything. I’m hoping to find out how to get it to wash the dishes and put the vacuum round...😂
OK here are a couple of tutorials I found (there look to be quite a few for the 235):
This first one is from Garmin themselves and is a setup/first use vid which might be helpful:
youtube.com/watch?v=gLtazbr...
Setting adjustments:
youtube.com/watch?v=oVu2I0U...
Customizing data screens:
youtube.com/watch?v=ibxpeKq...
This is for the Garmin Connect app that you use on your phone with the watch:
youtube.com/watch?v=G5lfagi...
Hope these help a bit!
Thank you so much! You’re a superstar! Right, that’s my Friday evening sorted. I might even open a bottle of wine to ‘help’! I’m really interested in the one about customising data screens as I knew it was possible but had so far been unable to work out how to do it!
This is a fantastic help! Thank you, thank you, thank you! 😊😊😊
No worries! It seems to be a really flexible system where you can move data screens to exactly how you want them. Wine and technology are a fabulous combination too! I think I will try it too Best of luck tonight!
The watch does save.. but gosh..i had a time with it...and I am pretty good with tech stuff! But.. am sorted now.. Stupidly, it was ages before I set the automatic pause when not running section!!! Some of my runs were very long as were my times... before I discovered that!
I know I've not setup auto pause yet, so I'd be doing manual starts and stops - These devices are probably more advanced than the Hubble telescope!
Oh, now that’s something I really do need to set up! I stopped to take some pretty photos of the sunset today and consequently look even slower than I really was!
Not sure if the move bar alert is what would work for this but its the closest I could see for your model:
Fab looking garmin, welcome to the world of running technology! Much easier than carrying my phone. Looks like you are more than ready for that 10k on Sunday, good luck.
Thank you - Yes, trying to sync the phone GPS app and the music app and my watch was a bit too much. I even dropped my phone once with a car coming up behind me in the early dawn trying to organize it all. This is waaay easier! Thanks I hope all goes ok over the weekend. I'll have to run with no tunes for the next couple of runs to get used to no headphones again before the race.
Dropped phones is my worry as I am a clumsy runner! Running without music is different but I find myself immersed in thoughts instead. Give it a go, it is not too bad.
me too I did run without tunes for awhile when training for a 5k race - it wasn't too bad. Like you say, helps to just get lost in your thoughts.
I have a Garmin 235 and it does everything I want (nearly). It stops when I stop, but not if I walk, I've changed the screen so it shows what I want and it generally does it's all-singing, all-dancing routine every time I run. Watch out for your recovery heart rate which shows up 2 minutes after you've stopped running (but not if you've already saved the run) and the recovery times which pop up when you've finished and saved (although you can call those up on your watch later if you're interested). It took me a while to spot those. The race predictions are ludicrous, but make you feel you have potential and it's nice when it tells you your VO2max is excellent for your age!
Haha, so far mine tells me my VO2 max is ‘fair’ for my age - I fear I’m some way off ‘excellent’. I’ve also been told off for ‘overreaching’, despite feeling perfectly comfortable on tonight’s run. Feel like I’ve opened a can of worms there - I’m actually having arguments with a watch! My husband thinks I’ve lost my mind.
I’d noticed the recovery heart rate popping up, mainly because I usually forget to save my runs for ages after I’ve done them; that will take some getting used to! I’d not noticed the recovery times though so will investigate further, thanks.
I’ve had a bit of a faff about with it tonight and watched the videos @Decker recommended. I’m pleased to have the screen set up how I want it now.
Think I’ll ignore the ludicrous race predictions for the time being as my aim is usually just to finish! Maybe once I’ve had a bit more practice...😬
Mine tells me off for overreaching - although I have got better. It made me slow down which probably enabled me to increase my mileage without burning out or getting any terrible aches and pains. But it would be nice if it told me I was getting faster!
Is there anything these things cant do? Im going to ask mine to make me breakfast tomorrow and see what happens
It will probably suggest you go for a run!
Mine will be telling me off for overeating as well as overreaching!
Haha probably, yes! 😁
Just want to wish you Good Luck for your 10k race on Sunday Decker.
Enjoy...and run at your happy pace😊xx
Thank you Jan. This I will try to do. I still have a couple of short sessions to prep since the race is next Sat not this week 😀
Great reading! I'm still in contemplation mode over buying a watch. Bought a really cheap one from Asda the other day, but it wouldn't hold any charge, so I returned it. Not sure if it would have synced with Strava anyway. I run by time and not by Km at the moment (it's those pesky hills keep slowing me right down) so I just want to know how long I've run for. Just a standard digital watch would probably do it...but it would be nice to have the stats without phone juggling. Sounds like you're getting on great with yours though. It sounds like it's going to prove it's worth for the race. Good luck!
Excellent! I'm glad that you not only got the Garmin but also have investigated all it can do for you. I'm one of those terrible people who buys the technology but only uses the on and off buttons, and then is charmed when someone else tells me it can do extra magic and shows me how
Good luck on Sunday - I'll be waiting for a photo of the bling and for your race report
Thank you kindly Annie. I should have noted the race was next week, so I do have a couple of short runs before next Saturday. More time to play around with the Garmin😀
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