A Garmin of my very own!!!

I think that this is the day that will change the trajectory of my training forevermore .... the day that I received my very own Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS!!! Woo HOO!!!

BJ has one that I have used on occasion and it is the coolest thing ever because you turn it on, put it on your wrist and off you go. If tells you distance, speed, heart rate - you can set it to alarm when you're running too fast or slow or your heart rate is too high or low. When you get home you can download your run and see it on a map and it is incredibly accurate, even showing the spot where you went back into the middle of the street to avoid a particularly nasty looking dog for example.

BJ doesn't mind loaning me his, but the problem is that he runs at work at lot so it's typically with him in his gym bag when I'm in the mood to head out. There's also the problem of when we run or race together .... well to clarify, we may start at the same place at the same time, but he's faster than me so we do our own thing. If we're training, we usually set a time - "OK we're running 45 minutes" and then we each turnaround at our respective half way point or perhaps take our own route. He always has the super cool data .... and I don't :(

I was reading one of my triathlete forums and learned that you can even load routes onto the GPS then run it. This would be super cool if I was planning something new or in an unfamiliar location and put in wayside points so that you don't get lost. You can also do an out and back and pay absolutely no attention and zone out (which can happen if I'm listening to some good tunes or a great NPR podcast) and then use the GPS breadcrumb trail to find your way back.

Seriously, I really think it's going to change my life!!

A shout out to Diane of the Hot Legs for tipping me off on the fabulous sale that REI has going on. BJ had apparently been monitoring the internet for prices trying to find a good deal for a while so that he could surprise me with it. Now if only it had a cute purple covering or something so that it looks truly Jenn!!