Day 3,248: Brave new toy! (Garmin Forerunner 630)

Putting the brand-new Garmin Forerunner 630 to work.

I mentioned previously the foibles of my previous running watch, the Garmin Forerunner 610. It basically wouldn't download my workouts to Garmin Connect and even lost satellite signal in the Atlanta 10-Miler last month.

The watch finally downloaded a month's worth of runs a few days ago but it was too late ... my new Garmin Forerunner 630 had already shipped from REI.

This watch is a pretty nifty piece of technology. Paired with a heart-rate monitor (which I'm using for the very first time), it can determine your VO2 max and your lactate threshold, the running pace and heart rate at which you will start to tire. And from this it can offer predictions on how you will do in a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon. These are offered to help you determine the best training possible based on how your run.

It also determines your running cadence and estimates how high your feet are off the ground with each bound.

The things I love the most about this watch, however, are the simple things. For one, it quickly acquires satellite signal and it also automatically downloads your workouts to Garmin Connect via Bluetooth with your smartphone. (No more having to deal with an ANT+ stick and the peculiarities of Garmin Express on your computer to wirelessly download).

I also like the fact the watch is light. It displays its battery power right on the watch face -- in the old 610 I would have to power up the watch and flip a few screens just to see if I needed to charge it up.

As you can see in the picture above, it has a red color lining when the watch is stopped and a green one when it starts, so no more confusion over whether your watch is recording or not.

I'm sure I'll have more thoughts on this watch in the days ahead but I'm happy that I made the purchase!