The Garmin Forerunner 110 - It Knows If You've Been Bad or Good So...

This morning I took my new Garmin out for it’s inaugural run.

Now, there’s something you ought to know about me before you read this. I’m weird, ok? Or at least I should say that I am something of an anomaly. I am VERY comfortable with technology. I’m one of those people who’s not afraid to figure out how to do stuff. I taught myself Photoshop and HTML. I can hook up complex audio equipment and figure out just about any mobile device you put in front of me. I’ve repaired computers and even survived Windows Vista. Yet, when I go to buy a car, I want everything as manual as possible. If they still made windows that roll with a crank, I’d order ‘em. Two years ago when my husband bought a new car he got one with GPS, a back-up camera – the whole shebang. This car totally freaks me out. I mean it’s like it KNOWS something about you. It even remembers where you’ve been and it responds to verbal commands much like our Lab, Annie. “Go home” you tell it…and it does.

Well, after running with a basic Timex Ironman watch for 20 years, this morning I stepped out the door with my shiny new Forerunner 110 on my wrist, turned it on, and it calibrated my location via satellite in about 30 seconds. I was instantly hit with the strangest feeling – like one of those Hollywood movie techniques where the camera moves rapidly from the ground into outer-space until earth is nothing but a glimmering blue dot in a galaxy full of stars. Somewhere – up there – a machine was in orbit with the planet…and it new EXACTLY where I was at that very moment. I mean, exactly. I hit “start,” and the Garmin did its thing.

I decided to do a favorite 5-miler that keeps me away from traffic as much as possible. Normally I basically ignore my watch. To me, it’s always been a device by which I simply mark my end time. The Garmin Forerunner defies you to ignore it. I felt compelled to check my pace and mileage progress throughout my run and was thrilled to be able to mark my speed through the various inclines and downhills on this course I’ve been running for years. Absolutely marvelous!

Then, somewhere around 3.5 miles I got this really wild feeling that I was connected to something much greater than myself…which I guess I was. I realized that in my short lifetime I have seen some pretty extraordinary technological changes. I thought about my first car phone (the size of the Oxford Dictionary), and marveled at the fact that I was now wearing a device on my wrist that was reaching out to yet another device hundreds of miles above the Earth, recording my every step. Then I wondered why the Garmin doesn’t come with On*Star.

Something about wearing this thing made me run faster. It was like I was being watched by an invisible coach floating in the sky. I told you I am weird. When I arrived home I realized that I had previously miscalculated the distance of this route (underestimated) by about a quarter of a mile. I also saw that I had run my fastest time on this route ever! Yessiree, I like this little Garmin O’Mine. But the fun didn’t stop there.

When I got home I logged into the Garmin website, created my account, plugged in the USB and uploaded my run into the Garmin training UI. Ohhh, I am in analysis paralysis heaven. Elevation charts!  Goal setting! Google maps! What more could a woman in training want?

After two year of eyeing – no lusting -  after a Garmin I am not disappointed. This little baby is going to get me to that 10K PR I’ve been dreaming of.

Now if they could just figure out how to make a transporter room.

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