How do we know how much we love someone or something? By how much/how little we rejoice when being reunited. Back in August 21', my Garmin Forerunner 230--my second watch of that model--broke when I slipped on a pothole during a long distance run in Jerusalem. Because I wear the face of the watch on the under wrist, it broke while I was breaking my fall. I loved this watch, even though it was an older model that had been phased out of production, and I purchased both it and the previous unit as "refurbished" watches on Amazon. I wore this watch in tandem with a Garmin chest strap to get the most accurate heart rate reading I could during these long runs. When the watch broke, I didn't bother ordering a new one, as I was overseas and preferred to wait until I would be back home in the USA in couple of months. While I missed not having a watch to measure the distances and paces of my runs, I felt a certain "release" and freedom to run without the compulsion to always look down at my watch to see how many miles were behind me, or what my running pace was. I felt free to simply "be in the moment" and enjoy the scenery without defining the moment by my live stats... ...Until four months later, when I started to miss my Garmin. I was going to look for another outdated, refurbished Forerunner 230, but when I looked for it on the Amazon site, I kept being directed to a new Forerunner 45 instead. The display was very different from the 230, and as I read about its features, I thought it has too many "bells and whistles" that I don't need....like the "body battery" feature, concerning which I was quite cynical as to how accurate such a feature could really be (similar to my cynicism about my previous watch's claim to be able to measure my VO2 max). Notwithstanding, at only $139, I considered the watch a great value and purchased it. Just one week into wearing it, I can't take it off...I'm addicted to it! The most pleasant surprise has been the accuracy and convenience of the built in heart rate monitor, which over the past three long distance runs has proven itself to be every bit as good and accurate as the Garmin chest strap I formally wore with the 230. Now I have around-the-clock, 24 hour heart readings, including my resting heart beat, which again is very accurate (mind you, I wear the watch with the face on the under wrist, which probably provides for a more accurate pulse reading). And the feature I was most cynical about, the "body battery," has also proven itself a delightful and accurate edition to the repertoire of my watch's features. How do I know it is accurate? Simply because it accurately expresses exactly how I feel! It is really amazing. Even the clock display, which I thought I would never grow to like--it displays the minutes beneath the hours--has grown on me in just a week, and no longer bothers me. Whereas I used to take off my other Garmins when I went to bed, as they didn't have any features I felt I need during the night, the 45 model begs to be worn around-the-clock, as it provides vital information--heart rate, sleep, and body clock summaries--the next morning. With these features, especially the "body battery," the watch is tutoring me as to what my realistic fitness aims should be, on a particular day. If the body battery displays a 25/100 charge, I probably shouldn't attempt a 12 mile run, like I did nonetheless yesterday, I failed to complete it before hitting "the wall." I highly recommend this watch an model, which is becoming a dear, dear friend.
