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Running Partners

This past week I had a bummer of a conversation with my long time running partner. The gist was that he had burnt out on long distance running and wanted to take a break from marathon training for this Fall. He is actually training for boxing and might even want to fight on the amateur circuit. Jeff and I have been running together often three times a week for about three years. I get that he needs a break and don’t feel any abandonment, we put in a lot of mileage together. It is weird heading out for a long run without Jeff. The good news is he is still up for the TransRockies next year.

Garmin 405

Garmin 405

In the mean time I have picked up a new partner… the Garmin 405. While it doesn’t offer the same companionship of a human it does do a lot of cool things. I used to rely on the Nike+ to get an estimate on distance and pace. The Nike+ was grossly inaccurate. It had me logging in extra miles and super fast pacing. I just had to guess at what my training was actually totaling up to.  The Garmin is AWESOME!  Not only is it giving me accurate pace and distances it even maps my run out afterwards.

Last Saturday's 16 miler

Last Saturday’s 16 miler

You can set up a pacer on the watch and see how your current pace is compared to the virtual partner. (two little stick figures running)  The Garmin even syncs wirelessly with you computer (Mac and PC) and sends the data to a site to view all your workouts.  I am hoping  Garmin and dailymile.com will be able to sync soon.  I believe dailymile.com is working on it.  This could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

2
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  1. Jeff P says:

    I’m a big fan of the Garmin 405 as well. I have had mine for about 30 runs and can’t imagine going backwards or without it. I love the dashboard reports you get at the end, but most of all – I love the accuracy. The Nike+ would just go blank on me. Whazzup wit dat?
    I have not used the Virtual Partner feature much, but look to in the near future. Another cool feature I have not used is the ability to train intervals with it.
    The only thing missing, which I have asked Garmin for, is a place to text edit your log. Just a place to add notes is all that I see missing (OK, and a longer battery life).
    Great post!

  2. Tacey says:

    I am hoping to find someone getting rid of a 305 to upgrade to the 405. That will be my first Garmin and after your article I really want one.

    🙂

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