By David Freeze
Watches and more!
I have had numerous running watches over the years. I began running way back when we had to go drive a course for a fairly accurate measurement. Since my back injury last May, every mile run or walked has become more precious. I have owned a Garmin 265, a mid-range quality watch, for a little more than two years and I love it! It is used only for running and treated well, and it is the most accurate measure of distance, pace and speed that I have ever had. The heart rate is also very accurate, and I love following it along the way. For about 10 years, I wore out a couple of Garmin 410XT’s for my purposeful walking, mowing, spraying, and especially for five months of the walks during the early recovery from the broken back. The last one died last week, so I bought an Ezon something from Amazon for $47. I found out right away that my choice was a bad one.
I remember one day years ago running a proposed course at Dan Nicholas Park to be used for a new 5K. I ran it with one of SRR’s best female runners ever, Trudy Gale. We both wore the same watch and ran side by side. Our times were 4 hundredths different on the 5K course. We all have favorite routes that almost never measure exactly the same. Online measuring tools like Strava and Map-My-Run are close but not exact. As I remind others often, the only accurate measure of any course is a wheel. That is why only the wheel or a calibrated bicycle can be used for course certification. Yet a good running watch is very close.
Back to the Ezon, it appears to be a Chinese made watch and is a challenge to set up. Here are a few things I didn’t like. The watch function is chosen by matching time zones to a large city. I chose NYC, the only one on Eastern time but that one was an hour off, and I had to choose a Canadian city to get the time right. The longest distance the watch could measure was a 5K. And the kicker—after accessing GPS for measuring distance, I sat down in my chair inside. I hear a ding shortly after and was surprised that I had just covered one kilometer, then soon another. This was not the watch for me, so it is on the way back to Amazon.
I longed for an affordable Garmin and searched Amazon for the right one that could take a beating from farm work. I didn’t need all the extra data. Just time, pace and distance. I searched E-Bay and found plenty of Garmin 305 watches, similar to the 410XT. I found one that looked new and had free delivery for $25. I ordered it on Sunday from Seattle, Washington, and daily tracking kept me posted where it was. The watch that does look new arrived on Saturday and I couldn’t be happier.
New high-end watches are approaching $1,000 quickly. When I bought my Garmin 265, it was about $265. The best one is about $450 now with training metrics and recovery insight, other versions are just under $400. My just arrived basic Garmin 305 Forerunner is now 15 years old and was $25 plus tax delivered. It is all about time, pace and distance. It won’t make calls, answer texts or propose a training plan, but most of us really don’t need it to? Lots of other affordable E-bay options are available.
Almost two weeks ago on a Friday evening, I was mowing along the road frontage on my farm. It was wet and my walk-behind pro mower slipped into the ditch. I couldn’t wrestle it out and the sun was setting. I started walking back to get a tractor to pull it out when I noticed a van had stopped and was backing out of my driveway. The van came back down the road slowly and the driver, one of three teen girls in the van, asked, “Can we help you get your mower out of the ditch?” I thanked them and told them that a tractor was available. I just hope they read this and know they made my day just for offering!
The next race locally is the Hugh Bost Memorial 5K and Fun Run in Rockwell on September 6th. Look for this event, the fall beginning runners class and a lot of others at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
