HEALTHY LIVING RESULTS

More than just a simple GPS unit, the Garmin Forerunner 205 may just be one of the best training tools on the market for those who enjoy outdoor sports. Sporting a convenient wrist-mounted design, the Forerunner 205 allows runners, cyclers, cross-country skiers, and even windsurfers an easy way to access not only GPS location data but also a number of other statistics such as speed, pace, and distance travelled. These features can not only be useful in the moment, but by analyzing the data later you can actually improve your training techniques to get the most out of your training time.

Unlike some other wrist-mounted units, the Forerunner 205 is comfortable to wear and isn’t going to get in the way halfway through your training routine. It’s convenient, and it is obvious that the unit was designed with functionality in mind. The screen of the unit is large enough that it can be read with a glance, while the data is divided up into several screens so that it won’t be too cluttered to read. You can easily cycle through the various screens using the navigation buttons on the front of the unit, which are large enough that they can be pressed easily even when running or cycling.

Unlike a number of other wrist-mounted GPS units, the Garmin Forerunner 205 doesn’t suffer from signal outages or inaccurate GPS data once you get off of the beaten path. An extended antenna is contained within the wrist strap of the unit, making sure that you’ll be able to receive a signal even when you’re getting away from it all. This GPS data is saved just like the rest of your training data, meaning that you’ll be able to review your course later and map out courses that you particularly enjoyed in order to revisit them later.

Where the Forerunner 205 really makes its mark, though, is its ability to interface with your PC or websites such as MotionBased.com so that you can review and track your performance. Using the training software included with the unit you’ll be able to map out courses that you’ve taken, chart your progress over several training routines, and even identify specific points of your route where you had difficulty so that you’ll know what you need to work on in future training routines.

There are many outdoor sports and activities where a GPS unit could be very useful, helping you to stay on course when cycling or aiding you in locating your destination when cross-country skiing. Unfortunately, many GPS devices just seem to get in the way when you try to use them in conjunction with outdoor sports… you usually have to stop what you’re doing in order to get a reading, ruining your pace.

This is where the Garmin Forerunner comes in… these useful GPS devices are wrist-mounted so that they aren’t going to get in your way, and feature a number of other features to help you get the most out of your outdoor sporting experience. By making use of a Garmin Forerunner you’ll find that your workouts and sporting activities become a lot more rewarding.

Though it is designed as a training tool, don’t let this cause you to think that your Garmin Forerunner isn’t going to be able to provide you with accurate location data. With an extended antenna concealed in the wrist strap, the Forerunner is able to get a GPS signal in places where other wrist-mounted devices might fail and will provide the accuracy that you would expect from a Garmin product. In addition to being able to give you current location data, the Garmin Forerunner can also help you to plot a course, specify specific destinations, and even find your way back to your starting point at a moment’s notice.

Location isn’t the only data that a Garmin Forerunner can give you, however. Each of these devices can provide you with accurate data in regards to your speed, the distance that you’ve travelled, and even the pace that you’ve been travelling at. Some Forerunner models are even able to monitor your heart rate so that you can see which parts of your training are the most intense.

Best of all, the data that’s collected by your Garmin Forerunner can be downloaded onto your PC for use with the training software supplied with the unit or uploaded to websites such as MotionBased.com so that you can save preferred routes and see exactly how well you’ve been doing while training. This will help you to not only determine those portions of your training workouts that could use some work, but will also give you an idea of which portions of your training you are gaining the most benefit from so that you can try to expand that benefit even further. As weeks go by you can even compare different results to monitor your progress and get the most out of future workouts.