Targets. Goals. Personal records.
If you have ever taken sport seriously (or even slightly seriously) you will be more then aware of these training terms. Self improvement no matter what sport you "play" is a vital component that requires a great deal of focus. These days even the Internet Gurus use these terms to aid you to the illusive million dollar pay out. Again this is all focusing on self improvement.
Hell, who is able to just turn up on the day and run a marathon, let alone do it in under 5 hours?
Certainly not me!
What about you?
Didn't think so. We are not super humans, we need to train and work out. Be it a "easy" 5km or the "Iron man", we have to endure hour upon hour running, cycling, swimming or whatever it is we need to be training for. We spend a large portion of our life working hard each and every day trying to reduce a second here, a minute there, with the goal of simple being able to beat what we did previous. To give us that amazing feeling of self improvement, which obliterates all those negative feeling had during those dark, cold days where the rain is falling horizontally and no matter what you go out wearing you still get soaked to the bone.
What would happen if I suggested you were wasting training sessions, your energy and the most limited resource on the planet...TIME?
Without the proper training aid you could easily be failing to be in the correct "training zone". Not training hard enough to reach these zones is a common issue. When you are slugging up that steep hill are you able to count your heart rate while timing it? All that I have on my mind is making it to the top of that darn hill!
So what is the answer?
Simple. A watch! You have a stop watch to begin with, then you progress to a heart rate monitor and then to be the envy of your running pals you upgrade to the brick which tells you where you are (watch with GPS). Please don't say I'm the only one who's ever gone running with 3 watches on my wrist!
Well with the rapid advance in technology we are all aware equipment is getting smaller while being able to increase the array of features in them.
The result?
The Garmin Forerunner 305! The Forerunner 305 is one of the most advanced "personal trainers" available on the market. It comes with all the standard timers while including a heart rate monitor (chest monitor also included) and a highly accurate GPS so you can track your route.
The Forerunner 305 will monitor your heart rate and ensure with it's incessant bleeping you are keeping the pace up. This really is your own personal trainer, no set hours (When have you ever had your personal trainer around at 11pm when you feel like a late night run?) no monthly payments and no limits on where you train. The Garmin Forerunner 305 actually sets you free from all those restraints and allows you to train when it suits you.
When your happy with training that's when you make the biggest steps to achieving your targets and goals.
Another fantastic feature of the Garmin Forerunner 305 is it's not a "running" device. With a simple press of a button you can let your own personal trainer know you are cycling or doing another type of activity. It will log the lot. Looking to become the next "Iron" man? No problem, the Garmin Forerunner 305 will monitor your progress between each discipline and can even record the transition times. All of this is available with just a touch of a button.
Now with it's GPS the guys at Garmin have been busy redesigning the Forerunner 305. It now allows better tracking then previous models. It delivers a clearer signal while you are on the move which are received by all those satellites in space (yeah SPACE! How cool!). So much so it is claimed that the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS can be used in wooded areas and even in the city centers among the skyscrapers and high rise buildings. Reports are all promising with only the densest of city center (London) causing any issues. The benefit of tracking your journey is a real bonus. You can see if your pace dropped because of the increasing altitude or if you managed to pick up time on that long decent. You really can dissect your run and training to the "Nth" degree. This empowers you to tailor your training and highlight where you are showing deficiencies so you can improve!
OK we know that training below your capabilities won't get you to those targets. However become a training "junkie" and you could be doing a lot more damage. Over training is an athletes (Newbie, semi-pro, pro, EVERY ONES) biggest enemy! Over do it too soon and not only could you put yourself on the injury table but you can also obliterate any chance of finishing that race with a new personal record.
Do not fear as with the Garmin Forerunner 305 gps it has the ability to see how you are over training or had a bad nights sleep or even under a lot of stress at work (It's all done by your heart rate not some magic trick!) and will compensate on how hard it pushes you.
A watch which pushes you? Yes! The guys at Garmin have been busy adding great features to the Forerunner 305, it has what is termed a "virtual trainer" to give anyone training some much needed encouragement in the form of competition. Who doesn't enjoy healthy competition? We ALL need some additional motivation to go train. Within the nifty screen you will be able to visibly see if you are keeping up with your virtual pace setter or if you need to speed up or slow down. You can not get training like this any other way. It is truly outstanding.
As you can imagine all the "basic" features are included and are fully customisable so you can decide what data you want where. You can have up to 12 different types of data displayed over 3 screens which are fully accessible while out using the Forerunner 305. Again they are all available at the touch of a button.
But lets look at the negatives a second. Yes the Garmin Forerunner 305 is an amazing, innovative and stylish product that can replace those expensive personal trainers. It can aid you to reach your goals and targets quicker and easier then you could imagine but it does have one draw back. YOU still have to do the training!
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