An early Merry Christmas Gift

Yesterday, a package came in the mail.

Inside the package was:

Oh my!!!!!  I've been looking at the older version Garmin for five months now.  This is the latest one, the Forerunner 405CX!  There are so many bells and whistles on this.  It's amazing.  Now, I can analyze every part of my run.  I am not an elite runner by no means.  I may be not even a 'runner'; perhaps more of a jogger who is trying to run.

This morning, I had a four mile run scheduled.  I have been consistently running my easy four mile at a 11:15 pace.  One of the features is a virtual partner.  So, I set my VP for 11:15 and my goal this morning was to stay ahead of it.  So much fun!!  During the run, my VP kept me updated on whether I was ahead of him or behind.  This will be a great tool to use during races.

During my run, I had the garmin set up to scroll through various data.  I had it set on medium speed, but I found that I need to have it scroll faster.  I was able to see my pace, distance, time, % heart rate, heart rate in bpm, lap distance, and lap time.  Talk about information; plus that wasn't even all of what it could show me while running!

During my four mile run, I need to cross the main highway twice.  If there's traffic, I had to remember to stop my timer when I waited ... not any more!  The garmin as an auto pause feature.  It stops when I do.  How cool is that!

This was my first day using this wonderful device.  I'm looking forward to learning more and more about how to use it.  The workout feature looks very interesting.

After I finished my run, I set the Garmin down near the computer and then booted the computer up.  A few minutes later, I heard some beeps.  I look at the Garmin and it says, "Transferring Data".  No more manually entering my stats into my Runner's Log.  Ok, maybe I still will since that way you can check up on me through the blog.  =)

I'm testing out which log interface I like best, the Garmin Connect (online), the Garmin Training Center (pc), or SportTracks.  Would appreciate any feedback on which log you prefer and why.

Some pictures of my data (these were from SportTracks):

My route (as seen from space; I can see my house!)

A picture of the hills I climb and descend:

My heart rate during the run:

My pace:

You can definitely tell from my pace and heart rate when I was going up a hill or going down.  And the answer to the question that you've been waiting for ... Did I beat my Virtual Partner this morning???  Yes, I did!  My pace for this run was 11:05

A huge thank you to my "running sponsor" for this early Christmas gift.