Garmin Forerunner 305

Well yes, GPS devices are useful for runners too and this Garmin Forerunner 305 I believe is one of the best on the market.

What is it useful for? Very much so. First of all to understand the pace we are keeping at any moment without having any kilometer reference point. The only valid technology for this purpose is the use of the GPS system which provides us with very precise data on speed and elevation. There are devices on the market like the Nike+ for iPod, but being equipped only with an accelerometer they need to be calibrated and will never be so precise.

After doing it for several months almost every Saturday I was getting a bit tired of doing the same route. One of the greatest pleasures I experience in running is being in direct contact with nature and the garmin allows me to forget where I’m going. Another motivation? Now I have no more excuses for not running, I have to protect my investment :-)

I bought this little thing on eBay after following several auctions and I got it for 193 euros including shipping from a German seller. In the package which so much reminds me of those old iPods I found the GPS, chest strap, USB cable, charging and synchronization dock, USB charger with Italian and UK plug. Manuals in German and English. The GPS is set from the factory with units in miles, but a clear note from the seller written in German ;-) indicates how to change the units to metric.

The Forerunner is not in Italian, but I believe I read somewhere that there is the possibility to update it with our language. But honestly and personally I don’t see the problem, I’m tired of poorly translated interfaces (or difficult to translate) and after operating systems I also keep consumer electronics in English and don’t think about it anymore.

I did my tests running Saturday and Sunday first 8km and then 10km and I found myself really well. My physical fitness was poor since my respiratory system is still “occupied” by the illness from last weekend, but I couldn’t leave it at home another day considering the weather was really pleasant! I didn’t try the workouts or all the other features, just the basic one: start and stop. In the default screen the heart rate is a bit invisible, but I know you can customize the screens to display the values we prefer better. For me it was already a luxury to watch my pace and meters scrolling, surely in the next outings I will start trying the exercises, also because I would need them.

Other interesting notes for me are the fact that there is a decent management software for Mac, I believe it is very similar to the Windows version as functionality and honestly apart from not being able to better configure the scale of the graphs I am very happy. I know there are other interesting software, but I will investigate that next time.

Some photos I put on flickr also to get an idea of the dimensions. I thank Zero for the excellent review that convinced me to make the purchase!

Update: 400km later (and with everything still in memory…) I’m very happy with the purchase!