My New Garmin 620 - Marathon Motivation

I was so so happy to get my Christmas gift early this year. I had bought my first Garmin 305 when I started running 5 years ago. It started to give me a low battery indicator during my runs this summer when I was only 5 minutes into my run. It almost gave out on me during my San Francisco Marathon. I had hoped that it would last a bit longer, but sadly it didn't. I had to borrow my hubby's for most of my Athens Marathon training and the race itself. Deep down inside I was kind of  happy as I knew I could shop around for a new one.

I bought my first Garmin after asking around some of my fellow runners in my run club as I was brand new to running and not sure what I was looking for. I was very please with my 305 and slowly learned to use most of the features on the watch. This time around I had an idea of what I was looking for and went back online to do some more research.

I ended up with the the Garmin 620 after much research. I had contemplated switching to another company but after reading this review, I was convinced. I had read up on the 305 model on his website before and found it very useful. I highly recommend checking out his website.

I love my gadgets and this one is pretty awesome. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. It is super light compared to my 305 and has some great new functions. The watch also came right as I am starting my Paris Marathon training. I was super pumped and took it out for a run as soon as I could.

On my first run with my new toy

I just finished up week 2 of my training plan and excited to get out for another run just so I can use the watch. There is a new heart rate strap with a transmitter pod with an accelerometer that measures torso movement to measure 3 running metrics:

1. Cadence - the number of steps per minute

2. Vertical Oscillation - the bounce in your running motion

3. Ground contact time - the amount of time in each step that your food spends on the ground while running. 

Yes, I'm a bit of a run nerd as this information is pretty interesting to me, I just need to know how I can take all the information to help me become a better runner.

My week 2 totals - 44 km and 2 strength training workouts.

Rest day today and right back at it tomorrow. This will be a tough week with Christmas in a few days, I'm not sure how much running I'll be able to squeeze in. I think I'll be doing a lot my eating than running. Tis the season.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

What are your plans for the holidays? 

What motivates you to run?