Ok so I've heard a lot of you mention garmins, I usually just track my route using mapmyrun which seems sufficient at the moment. I know they are pretty expensive but which one would be the best to buy and do you rate them. I guess what i am trying to say is are they worth it? so they go on your wrist like a watch or your arm? sorry for all the questions just interested to know
Cheers guys and gals
I love my Garmin Forerunner 10. It's the basic running watch but the only thing I think it lacks is a heart monitor but I'm not bothered about that
Loads here have got one. Just do a search at the box over on the right for Forerunner 10 and see all the posts. There'll be loads, mostly positive I think. You won't need one til you Graduate. You're better off without one for C25k as you don't need to be bothering with speed or distance
I check my routes out on goodrunguide as it goes off-road and shows footpaths (in satellite mode) and marks them with a grey line. You can switch between footpath mode and satellite mode and it's really useful for checking out a footpath or trail before heading out. You're a little runner and you can move yourself about by clicking the mouse. Really good at knowing where on the route you are. Hours of fun!
Coooool! I'm gonna check that out. thank you. I'd like to very my routes a bit was running on a hard stone surface with occassional stones and gravel as it was in a woody area but recently been running on paths near a busy main road. would like to know where all the runners run! think theres a quite a few trails near me but its quite hilly in places and a fear of collapsing half way up what looks like a mountain has put me off so far without proper equipment. I'm definitly up for the challenge theres so much to see out there in close proximity, im going to finish c25k then do the plus version if i can download it from my computer onto my phone as i cant seem to find an app anywhere like the c25k. nhs website says its downloadable from there but when i click on the page theres nothing to download :/
garmin 15 is the newer version - has a heart rate monitor (which you can get with the watch) and a foot pod possibility, but thats an extra £30-40 (for treadmill running).
I'll post the url to a great review of the watch - details what it will do etc. Battery life might be a problem for full marathon! Looks like it came out of the 80s.
It incorporates a vivofit, so you get steps and sleep etc. Sadly I now wear my 'proper' watch on one arm and sometimes the garmin on the other. I'm not taking my lovely mechanical watch off for an electronic one.
Depends on what you want from it and what your needs are. The best Garmin is the Fenix 3 but at £480 it is probably a bit overkill for the averahe runner. The Forerunner 10 at sub£100 is the other end of the extreme and seems quite adequae for many casual runners.
It all depends what you want out of a sports watch how much data you require, how rugged you need t to be and so on.
Its not mandatory to have one. If you are happy with mapmyrun then a Garmin will not improve your pace or stamina or sex appeal. If you want to get more specific about your training, monitor your heart rate, km splits or whatever, then it can be a useful tool.
I have a Garmin and when I am fit I doing a lot of quite specific training, but if I am honest, probably 75% of my runs I know the distance and am only interested with overall time so any watch would do. That said, my Garmin is my everyday watch now.
Haha. Confused? you will be.
Got a 610 from handtech.co.uk for around £90 and its the muts nuts 
ooooooh! what does yours do?
ha ha yeah mapmyrun also shows your split pace but you have to upgrade to it to be able to monitor your heart rate. I'd like to know what my heart rate is hmmmm! £480 is overkill and your right looking like a beetroot bouncing down the road is what people will see anyway having a garmin attached to me wont make me look stunning
I have a Garmin 110 - and there are days I'd like to ditch it and not use anything - and other days I am here thinking - maybe I should get a new one, with more functions!
Sometimes technology gets too much in the way of my enjoyment... !
I bought a Garmin 410 second hand on e-bay. Always a bit of a risk but it turns out this had only been used a few times in five years before I had it (according to the log). It was mostly used in January for some reason...
The 410 came with a HRM and can take per-programmed courses (it tells you which way to go) and workouts (it tells you when to run, walk, jog, etc). It will also allow you to set which data appear on the screen when you are running, which can be handy.
I like having the HRM because it helps me to gauge how hard I am working & how sustainable my pace is even if I'm going up-hill (or down). I also use the HRM at the gym without the GPS to monitor the effect of intervals etc on my HR.
I did think that I would find the chest-strap HRM to be annoying but in fact I don't notice it at all.
Garmin connect is the online site that syncs to your data when you get back from a run - the site is OK but not terribly well designed or executed and I think the support for the 410 is not terribly good. It's probably better for other models but the web site does not like uploading courses or workouts to my 410, which can be annoying. The old stand-alone SW for the 410 was better at syncing but that's not supported any more.
Overall, I like the 410 and it has all the features I would want but I would recommend a more modern version because I can't easily use some of those features.
Ugi
I got a second hand one from Ebay, its a 205. I don't think its produced anymore , the 305 has taken its place .
Mine is good, it is a bit clumpy on my little skinny wrist and it looks like I have got a small TV on there , but it does the job . Well it does when I remember to turn it on and off - Pah ! xxx
thanks folks! lots of info to contend with i'll have a good think
Only paid £49 also from flebay, for my Garmin 210, plug it into Garmin connect and and it shows the route I took, time, distance, pace, on my pc screen, and records it all saved into history, I wanted one for the stopwatch & distance recorder, yes, if you remember to switch it on & off! lol, they are amazing kit, but I wouldn't pay hundreds of pounds out for one
As long as you don't want any heart rate ino the Forerunner10 is brilliant. Simple to use but does have a fair few functions (still finding things out about mine after 2 yrs - but then I'm not that techie). I've just upgraded to a 220 for the heart rate function and bigger read out as I don't take my glasses with me. Haven't used it yet due to being sidelined by a virus - 2 weeks of no running and getting very itchy to do some now. Just have a good look round as there are deals to be had on most watches (as I've said several times before I got mine on Tesco voucher on one of their boost promotions, so it felt like it was practically free). All the info can be plugged into Garmin Connect which gives you lots of info to look at/dissect.
I have considered buying a Garmin FR15 ( the one with HR monitoring) - they seem to be coming down in price here. BUT - to be perfectly honest, I don't think it will do much for me that I don't currently get from my Runkeeper ( on my cheapie Android phone) and my cheapie HR monitor from ALDI!!
I know many hobbyists that get a bit carried away with their hobby - golfers who just have to have the latest gold clubs, computer games enthusiasts who just have to have the latest games and computer to run them
Bazza1234- Unfortunately for the gamers, when new console models come out, companies stop selling games compatible with the older models and so many people are forced to keep up to date with the consoles. A complete rip off!
Jogon83- I have a garmin 610 which I love. She (named Gabby, as she gabs away to me) tells me when to run and walk with rather discrete if piercing beeps that I can hear despite my music! She came with a hrm and wirelessly connects to my pc. I got her on deal, and though I love her (and well-made, expensive toys in general) I wouldn't have paid full price. Though like others have said, there are plenty of bargains that come up frequently. Personally, I chose this model so I would never grow out of it or want for info, so it really does depend what you want both short term and what you might like long term.
Just in case it's relevant, SportPursuit have a Garmin 610 on offer at the moment:
sportpursuit.com/sales/garm...
£130 down from £260 and you get a HRM, USB stick and charger.
Looks a nice device but It appears that it does _not_ have the "courses" function that lets you plan a route and the upload it to the watch, which is a shame.
Ugi
I blathered on and and on about whether to get one, I eventually got a Garmin 10, and wished I'd got it ages ago! I was using Runkeeper which is pretty good WHEN it feels like it! It kept just switching off, and I spent too much of my run fiddling with it. What no one tells you is the community that goes with it, I am "connected" with lots of runners from here, I love to see where people run, and the support is tremendous.
Alternative to a Garmin?
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