Enough is enough! Time to get fit!

Published on 10 October 2011

Once upon a time, I used to actually be quite a fit and healthy guy. I did a lot of running, competed in a 10K, and went on a trek along the Great Wall of China. However, recently, all of that seems to have been forgotten and replaced with little or no exercise, and bad eating habits!

Well, all of that has got to change! I am now officially on a diet, and back at the gym.

This new endeavour wouldn’t be the same unless there was a least some amount of technology involved, so let me present to you the Garmin Forerunner 305. This little beauty, which is both a Heart Rate Monitor (via a chest strap) and GPS Recorder, is going to help me track how well/badly I am improving.

Quite simply this device “just works”. I have used it twice now, once to go for a hike up Bennachie and the other a simple walk around the village. And both times it has tracked me perfectly, with one exception when it claimed that my heart rate was 135% of my maximum heart rate, but I think that this was due to the chest strap not being tight enough.

Following these “tests” I will then be using the device to track the workouts that I do at the gym. Mostly this will be on the treadmill doing a Cardio Workout, but I will also be doing some interval training on the bike (not looking forward to that!).

One thing that I think I will add is the Garmin Foot Pod which I can use when I am running indoors, where the GPS is essentially useless.

All in all, I am looking forward to getting back to the same level of fitness that I once had, and as an incentive, I am looking into competing in the Aberdeen Santa Run, I just need to convince some work colleagues/friends that this is a good idea.

Before deciding on the ForeRunner 305, I looked at a number of other devices, including the ForeRunner 110 and the ForeRunner 405CX, but I decided that although a little bit “clunkier”, the 305 offered more options in terms of display, so for me, it was the better choice.

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