I Love/Hate My Garmin 405

I used to be a low tech runner.  Past tense.  My takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’ Timex Ironman was good enough for me.  Was.  And then my husband bought me a devilishly addictive little gadget called a Garmin 405.  And now?  I can’t run without it.

I love the data, so much glorious data.  I especially love compiling the data into geeky distance/pace/elevation/heartrate overlay graphs.

I hate that I so quickly became obsessed with the aforementioned data.  A signal failure or low-battery warning causes a near panic. What if I don’t know my speed and heart rate exactly 3.25K into my run?  I need this information.  NEED.

I love that the on-the-go feedback pushes my training limits.

I hate the on-the-go feedback during a bad run.  I’m slow, I know, shut up about it.

I love that my heart rate monitor can predict the future.  An “easy” run with a confusing average heart rate of 172 and 12 hours later I’m stricken with the flu.

I hate when my Garmin thinks it is smarter than me.  Like when it spontaneously tries to direct me back to ‘begin’ even when I don’t want to go back to ‘begin’.  Right would be wrong Garmin, I need to go left.

I love when my Garmin syncs with the wrong starting location and suddenly tells me I’m running at the speed of light.  Why yes, I can run 872 Km in 64 seconds.

I hate that it short-circuits in the rain.  Electroshock therapy on the run.

I love that the 405 is positively miniature next to the older models; you know, the ones reminiscent of 1984 cell phones.

I hate that small things come in much more expensive packages.  I thought running was supposed to be cheap?

I love beating my virtual training partner “Miles”.  Yes, I named him Miles.

I hate holding my arm in the air (It helps. It does!) for five minutes trying to lock on to a signal.

I love the wireless data transfer to my computer.  Who has time to plug-in and download?  I’m a gal on the go.  Now I just walk by and my watch tells my computer what it needs to know.

I hate that I may never again be a Zen runner.  I love the numbers way too much.