The Perfect Training Partner - Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS plus HRM (Garmin Forerunner 405 with HRM and USB ANT Stick)

Member Name: Barkat

Product:	Garmin Forerunner 405 with HRM and USB ANT Stick
Date:	19/01/09 (366 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Flawless operation; Simple to use; Real training aid; Accessories for cycling available

Disadvantages: Slightly large, esp. on lady's wrist; Will take up all of your Xmas money!; Desktop software dated

The Garmin Forerunner 405 is easily the best birthday present I've ever received! It tracks your running routes, measures your heart-rate, tells you if you're going faster (or slower) than you wanted, and will even measure your progress against a Virtual Partner to give your competitive side a bit of a shove.

Just a word of warning: this is very long review - I wrote lots of notes for it, so I've appended them below. Once you get to the bit about the price, everything after that is just details.

The Forerunner 405 integrates a GPS unit into a running watch and then connects wirelessly to a chest band to record your heart rate. When you get home, the USB stick (which comes with it) detects your watch and downloads any new exercise sessions; these are displayed on your PC and / or uploaded to the web.

I can't say enough about how clever and functional this system is. The watch is slightly bigger than a normal running watch, but not any heavier. The screen is large and clear, and you can customise which data you'd like to see: choose from heart-rate, speed, distance covered, time elapsed, sunset/sunrise(?), and others.

Running on my normal routes, I found the watch helped me run faster almost straightaway; the reason for this is that I used the heart-rate monitor to keep me in the correct zone, which stops you going off too quickly, running uphill too quickly, and running downhill too slowly. I was amazed at some of the tiny inclines I encountered on routes that I thought I knew inside-out.

I also find it to be a great motivational tool. The included software lets you design workouts and assign them to certain days, which are then stored on the watch. When you go into 'Training' mode on that day, it will tell you which workout you have planned. When you set off, if will give out beeps as audible feedback to keep you inside the heart-rate or running pace zone you've specified.

Having a workout set for a certain day (you can see it in the integrated calendar in the software) spurs me on to actually do that workout on that day. If I have to shift a workout by a day, I can just drag it in the calendar and then update the watch using the wireless link.

I was a bit apprehensive about creating workouts and training schedules, but the Runners World website actually has a tool which creates them for you, based on your heart-rate/pace and your target (10k race, marathon, etc) - you just upload them to the watch and go! There are also lots of articles available on the web; I read quite a few, and after a couple of months I was confident enough to formulate my own training schedule.

The software overlays your running (or cycling, or hiking, or skiing, or ...) route onto a map and presents you with tabulated breakdowns of distance, time, elevation (ground height), heart-rate, speed - all of which can also be seen on colourful graphs.

The best place to buy this currently is probably at http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/garmin_forerunne r_405.html. It costs about £205 (delivered) with the chest strap and ANT USB key (there's not too much point buying the kit without those two bits).

If the price at www.wiggle.co.uk comes down to this level, get in touch with me and I'll "refer" you - we'll both get a little bonus out of it.

NOTES:
> Great system:
. ~ . Worked flawlessly for me
. ~ . Brilliant integration with web-based service
. . > . . Website navigation could actually be better, but ok once setup is done
. ~ . Used on Vista and XP without issues
. ~ . Reliable: watch has never failed to detect HR band; ANT USB key has never failed to detect the watch
. ~ . Charges from the USB port
. . > . . Comes with all cables required, plus an adaptor to plug it into the mains (using the same USB cable)
. . > . . Small USB key acts as a wireless transmitter - when you come back from your run, the key detects the watch and downloads the data; it then uploads it to the web (if you like) as well as loading it into the desktop software (again, optional)
. ~ . GPS is very sensitive
. . > . . I have a route where it followed me into a barn and kept track
. . > . . You can definitely wear it under a long-sleeved top or jacket if you don't need to see the face (I did this on a walk up Helvellyn when it was foggy almost all day)

> Great kit
. ~ . Clever system with only two physical buttons, plus the touch-bezel for accessing and navigating the four menus
. ~ . Watch is bigger than a normal running watch, but can be worn as a sports watch by the larger male
. ~ . Only the watch and the chest band (some of these systems require an extra "pod" for GPS measurements. See Timex, for example)
. . > . . You can buy a cadence sensor for cycling, a foot pod for measuring your running indoors, and a bike mount for placing the watch on your handlebars in place of a cycle computer
. ~ . Backlight is activated via the bezel - touch in two spots at once; very bright
. ~ . Bezel can be put into "locked" mode, leaving just the Start/Stop and Lap buttons active; stops accidental activation
. ~ . Screen can be customized to display the info you're interested in
. . > . . E.g., I train mainly against heart-rate measurement, so I usually have only HR displayed in large digits
. . > . . If I'm running somewhere new, I usually have elapsed time, distance covered and HR all on one screen. You can have it on automatic scroll if you want to see more data
. . > . . You can have four different displays defined (scroll through them using the bezel) with whatever combinations you like. A few examples can be seen in this PDF: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/assets/pdfs/spec s/forerunner405_spec.pdf

> Desktop software is basic, but well-thought out and functional
. ~ . Creating schedule and workouts is easy; sync with watch appears flawless
. ~ . Integration with Google Earth (if installed locally), otherwise only basic maps available

> Web-based software is great (and free!) for sharing runs and keeping track wherever you are
. ~ . Nice graphing capability and clever "playback" functionality
. ~ . Ready-made training journal - you can give each run a title, they can be categorized using drop-down menus, and there is space for free-text notes

> Great kit for obsessive and / or geeky types
. ~ . Loads of stats available
. ~ . Runs can be viewed in total, or you can see each "lap" or section separately
. ~ . You can race against a virtual partner - this can be set by pace or (I think) you can race your own previous performance

> Really good dialogue box for creating individual workouts
. ~ . Can specify warm-up/warm-down segments
. ~ . Can specify segments according to different "targets", e.g.:
. . > . . Maintain HR in certain zone for certain length of time or distance
. . > . . Run for certain distance / time at specified pace
. . > . . Maintain specified pace or HR in certain zone until you press the "lap" button (good for intervals away from the track)
. . > . . "Resting zone" between intervals

> Lots of online resources to help with creating workouts (can be a bit daunting if you don't know what you're doing)
. ~ . Runner's World website is best place to start, probably
. . > . . Online training schedule creation utility, based on training goal (e.g., 10k or marathon)
. . > . . Lots of articles explaining heart-rate based training and the differing approaches to training

> GPS functionality is:
. ~ . Cool!
. ~ . Brilliant to supplement your training regime - you will always know exactly how far you've run, even on routes you haven't had chance to measure
. . > . . For example, this comes in really useful when you travel a lot and just leave your hotel for a run without a definite idea of where you're going
. ~ . Gives you elevation information, so you know when you get back how much uphill vs. downhill you've done; I've found it to be quite accurate
. ~ . Useful as a safety fallback - if you were going off into the hills, you could save the location where your car was parked (or any other known spot) and the watch can always tell you how far away it is and in what direction
. . > . . You can store up to 100 points (good for golf - you'll always know the exact range to the next hole!)

> Disadvantages
. ~ . Although smaller than previous models, it's still just slightly too big for everyday wear on most wrists
. ~ . USB cable only charges - you always need the wireless key to transfer data
. ~ . Desktop software could be a bit fancier; looks slightly dated

Summary: Excellent GPS/HRM training system w/ web-based integration. Easily the best training aid I've had.