Rooted in gratitude, fueled by nature, motivated by challenges, inspired by kindness and steered by positivity. Always moving, being present and enjoying nature
I know I talk more about fashion than fitness here on the blog, but like I have mentioned in the past, I’m trying to incorporate more of it here as staying healthy and active is in big part what I’m about, plus, if there’s any chance I can motivate you to either start or continue a healthy lifestyle, then it’s totally worth it 😉
I regularly post on my insta stories snaps of my running stats, a picture of my running views, and sometimes even a quick video of the workouts I do after my runs, and I keep getting questions about my watch and if I would recommend it at all. I’ve been running for almost 20 years and when I started I used to wear a Polar watch. At that time there was no such thing as a GPS feature so I would train based on my heart rate and I loved it. It would give me time and distance and it would beep every time I went out of my zones. All in all, a great watch considering that there were no GPS watches on the market yet. Fast forward a few years and a friend of mine introduces me to the Garmin Forerunner 210. Ohhhh it has a GPS? I can see my pace? Those were my thoughts as I would stare at it in awe (that’s the running nerd now speaking). I was hooked and pulled the trigger as you could imagine. I used the watch for about 5 years and loved that I could track my pace. I could use it outdoors and indoors (with the foot pod) and it was pretty straight forward to use: press a button, wait for the satellite connection and go.
This year the new models caught my attention, between the cool design, display and new features, I was drooling over the improved options I tell ya. Since my forerunner 210 was due for an upgrade, and since I run almost every day (of all things, I knew I would use it every day), I pulled the trigger and bought it from Amazon. Today, I can’t picture my life without it and while I would only wear my 210 for running exclusively, I don’t take this watch off at all. I’ve only taken it off twice: for my friend Victoria’s wedding and to take these photos. I’m not kidding. So, what is it that I love about it, and why is it attached to my wrist 24/7? Let me get into details 🙂
When I’m not running, this watch counts my steps, keeps track of my heart rate, gives me a little reminder to move (literally vibrates and says MOVE!) and sends me smart notifications like incoming calls, texts, and alerts.
For someone who considers herself an active and self-motivated person (I ALWAYS take the stairs over escalators) I never thought that the step count would be something to influence me to walk more, but guess what? it does!! I read that 10,000 steps a day is a healthy goal and something we should all aim to achieve so I feel good if I hit anything beyond that. Given that it only takes me to press a button on the left to see my count, I constantly check to see where I’m at and there have been times when I have taken the longer way back home to reach those numbers. So yes, it does motivate you!
Then there’s the heart rate, something I like to check in the morning as soon as I wake up because the fitter you are the lower your resting heart rate is. I’m a bit of a heart rate nerd and before I used to check my own pulse every now and then, so this is something fun for me 🙂
The Move function is something you can choose to disable or not. Since I work from home and sometimes I’m sitting for long periods of time, I like the little reminder to stand up and stretch a bit. No harm in that!
Lastly, the smart notifications is something that has changed my life and something I honestly didn’t even think I would enjoy. I actually couldn’t care less about that feature when I bought the watch, but decided to sync my phone and wow, life is a bit easier. Why is that? Well, I receive text messages on my watch, and while I can’t answer them through my watch, sometimes you are just waiting for an answer or that message that will change the course of the day and if you don’t have your phone around (because you left it charging or you left the room where it was), it becomes pretty practical I have to say. Sometimes I don’t even hear my phone when I’m out and about and if it wasn’t for the call notification I wouldn’t answer it. You can also sync your calendar and the weather just so you know 😉
Ok, so now that you’ve read how I use it when I’m not running or performing any kind of fitness activity, let’s get into the fitness aspect of it!
For starters, you can see your time, distance and pace while running. You can change the display and see just your pace or the time zones, it’s totally up to you. The satellite reception is 1000 times better than the Forerunner 210. I remember when I had to wait for easily 3-5 minutes (sometimes even more) for the GPS to kick in, and with this watch it takes less than a minute, I’m going to dare and say less than 30 seconds, yes, it is super fast. It’s also super thin and light and you can easily change the straps if you like different colors. Above are the main functions, and the app goes even more in depth tracking your sleep patterns, records, and active calories.
I know that it’s not cheap and everyone’s needs are different, but hopefully this will give you a better understanding of its capabilities (If you’re runner I highly recommend it!) I found the best prices on Amazon (here), and they even have certified refurbished options that are a bit less expensive (here). There are many different options for various needs, fitness levels and lifestyles so next week I’ll share some of those including personal thoughts from friends who use different devices. Hopefully it will come in handy and hopefully it will inspire you to enjoy the health benefits!
