Sunday, May 9, 2021

Weekly Sweats: I Can Have Nice Things

 

In this week's news I ran 27 miles, did my strength workouts, and splurged on a new Garmin.

I'm linking up with the Weekly Run Down, please head over to Kim and Deborah to check it out. 

Monday: I enjoyed 4 easy miles in the rain.  Immediately after the run, my Garmin took a nosedive and went into a loop of shutting off and restarting.  I put up with it for a little while and then got on the Google machine for some troubleshooting which quickly turned into shopping.  More about that in a minute.

Tuesday: Easy 5 miler.  I took a chance on the Garmin holding up and it came through for me.  Strength in the evening.

Wednesday: off

Thursday: first run with the new Garmin!  Easy 5 miler and then strength at night.

Friday: just an easy 4 miler, but it was by far the best run I've had all year.  My body moved effortlessly.

Saturday: stands out as the best long run I've had in quite a while.  9 miles done and dusted.  Don't get me wrong, I was ready to be done BUT I was also able to sprint for the last tenth of a mile.  The other notable is that I recovered pretty quickly.

Sunday: off

What's Next

More running!  Hills are in the forecast, and my long runs will be getting longer.  I'm excited/nervous.

New Garmin Who Dis?

Here is my history of Garmin ownership.  "Big Red" came into my life in 2013.  At the time I was in grad school and on a tight budget, but when I came across a used, quite old F305 for $80, I decided to treat myself.

Pros: I basically paid nothing for it and it still works to this day.  I keep it as a backup and my stepsons occasionally use it.

Cons: It's old.  It can be flaky about charging, and the USB communication is shot (unclear if the fault is Big Red or Windows 10).

My second Garmin was the F35.

 

Pros: It's a lotta watch for just under $100.  It doesn't do everything that higher end Garmins do, but it does a lot.  IMO it's the best looking Garmin I've ever had, and IMO the low contrast display is easier to read than the higher end watches.  This is kind of a random feature to shout out, but the silent alarm on the F35 is much better than the one on my old FitBit and the one on the F235.  It is by far the quietest, almost completely silent so that it only wakes me up and not my husband.

Cons: the only reason that I moved on was that the preset workouts were too limited for the training that I was doing.  I gave it to my husband, and it's still going strong.  I suspect that it will have a life span similar to Big Red.

Garmin #3 was the F235.

Pros: It does a few more things than the F35, most notably programmable workouts.  It has more features than the F35, but none of the annoying features (specifically it doesn't tell you if you're "unproductive".)

Cons: well, apart from the fact that it died this week, not many.  It was a refurb, so I didn't have a lot of cash in it.  The "silent" alarm was kinda loud.

And that brings us to present day.  Garmin #4 is the Fenix 6S Pro. 

When I was Garmin shopping, you won't be surprised that my first move was toward the budget end of things.  I'm very comfortable with refurbished electronics, but I didn't see any steals to be had.  Whatever I got, the price tag was going to be north of $200.  I've been hearing a lot of good things about Coros as well, but the price tags looked similar.

The next phase was analysis paralysis.  

The next phase was a very timely work interruption.  It's raise and bonus season at work and my numbers came in.  I knew the numbers were going to be good and they were very good.  A treat was in order.  I remembered that Hungry Runner Girl had gotten a very fancy Garmin a while ago...um yes Garmins can be expensive but holy yikes!  This thing cost more than my (refurbished) phone.  Not an option.

And after a bit of back and forth, I decided that the fancy Garmin was totally an option.  It has features that I will most likely never use, and it's clearly way more of a watch than I am a runner.  Like I said, whatever watch I chose was going to have a decent price tag and this was just one of those times where I felt like going toward the higher end of the range.  Basically I wanted a nice thing, so I got one.

I can't do a nice pat pro and con list based on a few days of ownership, but at this point I can say that there are things that I like and things that I don't like.

  • What I like: there is something that's "nicer" and "higher end" than my previous Garmins. It feels more responsive and more accurate, and yes that's a very subjective thing to say.  One specific example is that the other Garmins that I've had always showed less elevation than Strava did for my runs.  The three runs that I've done so far with the Fenix match Strava's numbers.
  • Tons of features = more complicated and there's a learning curve.
  • Tons of features = out of the box with everything turned on the battery performance is less than both the F35 and the F235 which was a surprise and now I see that Janae mentioned that in her review.  I can improve the battery life by turning off the extra bells and whistles, which defeats the purpose of having the extra bells and whistles.

Stay tuned on this one. I'm going to try it out for a few weeks and then decide whether to keep it or return it.  I can see this going either way.

Your turn: what's the nicest "thing" that you've gotten for running/fitness?

 


31 comments:

  1. I hope you like your new watch! I've had mine for a few years now and its still going strong. While I would like a fancier one I just cant justify it at this point since mine works just find. Keep us posted with how you like it!

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    1. Exactly! The only reason that I got it was that the old one died. I would never, ever have gotten it otherwise.

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  2. I had a Timex Ironman back in the day to track my miles, lol. When I finally bought a Garmin, it was a basic Forerunner. After that I got the 235. When that died, I decided I didn't need all the data and got the 35. I like it just fine! Glad you love the Fenix--I admit to having a little, ok a lot, of FOMO seeing how beautiful it is!!! Enjoy it!

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    1. The 35 is a great watch! If it just had more workout options I'd be using it right now.

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  3. I had three Garmin 205s. I loved it. I still have one. It was great to see everything big on ONE screen.

    Now I have the 235. I don't use it much but it's fine.

    I also have the Apple watch which I wear everyday for everything. Occasionally for running.

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    1. How does the Apple watch compare to the Garmin for running? I've never really talked to anyone who has both.

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  4. Well, I'll be interested to hear your final decision on this Garmin! I have a feeling mine won't last much longer and I'll be looking for a new one, probably fancier than what I have now. Not sure if I'll go that fancy though, but you never know.
    Glad you had a great long run! Were you using your hydration pack?

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    1. Yes I had my hydration pack. I seriously would never do a long run without it now. I'm planning to use it for my longer weekday runs this summer as well.

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  5. I have the Fenix 3 for the last 4 years it is a great watch but my battery is starting to go. After 4 years I would expect that though. I think you are going to love it It has a lot of great features and it's pretty

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    1. It is a looker. I just need to figure out all of the different settings since everything is quite a bit different than the F235.

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  6. I hope that you enjoy your new watch! It seems like Garmin watches last for a long time. I still have mine from 2016 and it still works great!

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  7. I love my Fenix, and I think mine is the 5, so a previous version. It doesn't have the music option, but to be honest, I have an apple watch as well that I never have put on the entire pandemic. I admit its so wasteful, but I just wear my Fenix all the time now. Maybe when I go back to the office, I'll wear the apple watch again.

    Anyways, I hope you love it. treat yourself :) You're worth it!

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    1. Agree. I've never had an Apple watch, but it would have to do something amazing to make up for not having my Garmin on all the time. It's just so convenient to use the same device for everything.

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  8. Hah! You went all in with that Fenix! I like to say my Fenix can do more than I can. I never figured out — or needed — all it’s features, but love it’s long battery life!

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    1. I need to figure out how to make the battery life longer. I mean it's OK and it will work but it really should be better.

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  9. My Garmin is really old, in terms of technology...I think it's the 15 (?). I bought it from a friend who was upgrading. For me, it has all I need (and then some), but I know I'm going to have to eventually upgrade when this one dies. I don't think mine has the option to access elevation, but I have never done anything with Garmin Connect LOL

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    1. Garmin's hardware is rock solid. You may not need to upgrade for quite a long time.

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  10. All the best with your new Garmin! I've had my Fenix5S for 5ish years now and I still love it as much as when it was new. It was fantastic when through my triathlon years. What a fun stroll down Garmin memory lane. Like Wendy, I too started with some sort of Timex GPS watch where I had to wear a strap on my upper arm to get the signal. Haha!

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    1. Oh my! It always amazes me how long the F305 takes to get a signal. Those were the days!

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  11. Hey I had a Big Red! I hope you enjoy your new watch! My 235 has been all kinds of quirky lately and has me thinking the time has come to do some shopping.

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    1. Gotta love Big Red! The 235 was great up until the point where it wasn't...

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  12. I also had 305. I think it was my first Garmin watch. Now I have the 235 and love it. However, I don't get "announcements" of any new PRs or anything like that. Maybe something in the settings? Your new watch is lovely! Enjoy it!!

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  13. I really enjoyed this post! I freakishly love hearing about people's Garmin histories, LOL. I'm so glad that you got an upscale Garmin and you definitely deserve it- especially since you know you will use it all the time. I tend to get overwhelmed with too many features I don't use so anything above the 200 series is too much for me to handle! LOL.

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    1. Samesies! If it's wrong to be obsessed with other people's Garmins then I don't want to be right!

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  14. Interesting on the battery life on the new Garmin. Aren't those a top pick for ultra runners? If I got a different Garmin the only feature I am lacking now is Multisport mode. Not a deal breaker, because having music on my watch is now my new favorite watch feature! I am not a big fan of my watch giving me Unproductive status updates either. Ugh. Love that old Big Red reliable Garmin. I'm always surprised that those seem to be very dependable still! Built to last for sure.

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    1. I think the battery can last a long time in run mode, but for those of us who run an hour a day and use it as a smartwatch the rest of the time, the battery life is shorter than the other Garmin's that I've had.

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  15. LOVE that you had some really good runs last week! and congrats on your new watch! I'm a garmin girl myself and I got a new vivoactive 4S last year and I love it. I had the 235 as well and another one in between but my husband said it looked too clunky and I deserved a nicer watch. Ok then! How could I have refused him? And I love it - it's way different than the original vivos and has more than enough options for me.

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    1. I've heard great things about the vivo! So many Garmins, so little time...

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  16. Oh, the Fenix is such a pretty thing... definitely one I would consider if my FR235 dies (which I hope won't happen for a long time, because I love that thing. It's been going strong for almost 5 years!)

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