Garmin Forerunner 220 GPS Watch

For Valentine’s Day, I received one of the best gifts (for a runner); a new GPS running watch.

My new, fancy gear

My Nike+ GPS watch has been acting temperamental and so my husband decided to be lovely and show his appreciation for my dedication to the sport with a new piece of gear instead of chocolates and flowers.

It is nice to have a partner that supports and encourages you to run and I am thankful he knows me well enough to be unconventional when it comes to gift giving.

The Garmin Forerunner 220 GPS Watch is a much fancier version of what I have been using.

It was ready to go right out of the box, with no need to charge it, which was nice. It took about 5 minutes to set it up and calibrate it to my preferences.

I downloaded the Garmin Connect App on my iPhone so my efforts would sync up to the Garmin server right away. This also means I can be tracked by loved ones during my runs or races, which is very cool.

Safety is definitely a concern when running alone and this makes me feel safer than the other methods I employ, such as wearing my Nathan Vitaband  and using the Road ID  lock screen image on my iPhone.  With my Garmin, I can now be tracked in real time.  My Nike+ GPS watch does not have this feature.

I decided to take for it for a 5 mile test run to feel it out.

It connected to the satellite almost instantly and I was off. At every mile, the watch vibrates to alert you. I like this feature, as my Nike watch has an audible alert that is easy to miss.

Pausing and restarting was easy.

Had to pause for this photo-op

At the end of my run, my stats were readily available via the app on my iPhone and on the website.

Look at those times!

Easy to read and understand

The graphs are easy to read and there is plenty of information to keep you informed of your stats.

As much as I hate to disappoint Nike, I am looking forward to becoming more acquainted with this awesome new piece of gear.

I felt like a super hero after that run!

Another pic of my cool, new shoes, just because….