?? for Garmin users

[TEK224]

For those that have the Garmin 301, how important to you is the HR monitor? Do you use it every time?

For those that have the 201, is that good enough to meet your needs? Do you feel you're missing something by not having the HR monitor?

You guys are a bad influence. All this talk about the Garmin and now I want one.

But the 301 is double the price of the 201. I don't know if I really need the HR monitor. I'll never be an "elite" runner I'm beginning to do races just for the fun of it and to challenge myself and have fun at the events.

And for my age and lack of running experience, I doubt that speed will improving any time in the future!

So what do you think?
Terri

 

[TiffJ]

I just got my 201 and love it. I knew I would never use the HR monitor on the 301 and I think they are the same besides that. I will never be a top athlete either but I think it is going to help me in training with consistency of pace. It is also very user friendly.

I got mine at amazon.com it was on sale & they did free shipping.

The Garmin is a really neat gadget but it is definately a very helpful tool. It wil be something you will get alot of use out of. Also, when you walk, it tells you how far you have gone. No more guessing your distance or going back & driving it to see what you did. Very cool!

 

[TEK224]

Thanks Tiff!

Terri

 

[keenercam]

Terri -- I agree with Tiff! I am never going to be a top athlete and I really don't need to know what my heart rate (I spent 10 years monitoring it about 20x/day). The fact is I can tell if I am working hard enough when I work out. I was more interested in it measuring my distances, tracking my pace, etc. I feel like I haven't even begun to utilize it to its capability.

I also got mine on amazon on sale with free shipping -- next to my ipod and my shuffle it is the most incredible training aid you could imagine!

Have fun!

 

[solotraveler]

Terri-

I love my 201. I don't think I miss out on anything by not having the heart rate monitor at all. Since the intervals I use for training are based on time and not HR recovery, I just don't think I would use it all that much.

In an effort at full disclosure, it is said that HR monitors can be great for folks who are just beginning to work out because you can see where to pace yourself properly. But for at double the cost, it's just not worth it for me.

Solotraveler

 

[plutosmyfav]

I knew you'd be hooked soon!!!!

I have a 201 and love it. I love uploading my runs to the pc and seeing the altitude profile, pace charts, etc.

The only time I ever check my HR is on the TM (built in monitor). I don't worry about it. I wouldn't spend the extra $$$ just for the HR.

Have fun!

Sunny

 

[xterratri]

I love my 201- mom got each of us our own in April and mine has close to 1300 miles on the cumulative 'odometer.' I use it for both road riding and running. I don't miss the HR monitor fxns because if I wanted to train by HR I would go back to using a Polar unit such as the 710 that I have. Frankly, the Garmin 201 is a better fit to my training right now. It's easy to program for intervals, etc and to switch back and forth between running and riding. When racing triathlons, I just leave it in riding mode for the whole time as the only real difference is it gives you miles per hour rather than minutes per mile for pace.

When I'm ramping up the training for Ironman Wisconsin and the Florida Half next year, will I go back to HR training? I thinking probably not at this point. If I had a computer that the HR would talk to I would probably return to using it but having a Windows OS machine just so the HR works with it is kind of silly. On that note, I don't download the Garmin info either. I miss altimeter readings- just how big was that hill we climbed and more detailed info on pacing that I could get out of my HR but only with download capability. I kind of had a tendency to ignore the HR info even when I had it and went more off how hard it felt I was working. Training by HR rate zone is only meaningful if you know your true max to calculate the zones from and most of us don't know that.

 

[wfloyd]

I have the 301 and use the HR monitor for my runs. I don't use it exclusively to train but it is a nice indication of how I am doing. There was one time I didn't feel too good and found out the HR was way too high, probably because I was sick. It is also nice to see how it changes from run to run.

 

[chimera]

I have the 301, but rarely use the HR monitor. Last time, I had some chafing under the strap, so I've retired it until the weather cools off.

Bill makes a good point, though. My target HR is 120s to 140s. I took Sudafed once before a run and ended up with a HR of 170, so walked the rest of the way home. I just thought I was having trouble breathing because of my cold.

When I do use it, I use it to bump up my effort. If I'm in the low 120s or below, I may increase pace a tad.

 

[Minnie]

Does anyone have the Garmin 101? I know it is the oldest model but it is also the cheapest. As I'm really a newbie less cost the better.

What I really want it for though is the pacing. I like the idea of having the trainer which shows the guy running so I know if my pace is okay or if I need to hoof it a little faster. I think this will be especially helpful in the 1/2 marathon so I don't kept caught by the sweeper.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[wfloyd]

Does anyone have the Garmin 101? I know it is the oldest model but it is also the cheapest. As I'm really a newbie less cost the better.

What I really want it for though is the pacing. I like the idea of having the trainer which shows the guy running so I know if my pace is okay or if I need to hoof it a little faster. I think this will be especially helpful in the 1/2 marathon so I don't kept caught by the sweeper.

Thanks for any advice!

When I was researching the different models, it seemed that with each model up, the performance and reliability went up. Meaning with some of the 101 models, people were having problems keeping the GPS signal, then with the 201 it got better and so far the 301 has the fewest complaints I have seen. So the engineers probably saw what wasn't working too great and fixed it with the later versions.

 

[wtpclc]

I love my 201. Cloudy days and tree covers I sometimes lose signal for a bit, but not usually too long. I live in a pretty remote area too.

 

[AprilN]

Does anyone have the Garmin 101? I know it is the oldest model but it is also the cheapest. As I'm really a newbie less cost the better.

I've been using the 101 for over 6 months, and I love it! I've used it daily M-F with few problems, once I figured out that it finds the GPS signal A LOT faster if I put the unit on a stationary surface while it's searching - i.e. not on my wrist! I've used it in NorCal, Ohio, NYC, small-town Germany, and Paris, France, and it has found the GPS signal and worked perfectly in each place!

I haven't used the pacing/training feature yet, so I can't give you comments on that, but I really like the auto-pause feature, and the auto-lap - I have it set to record each mile time.

I might enjoy downloading the info to my PC to track my progress, etc. that the 201 model provides, but for now, just having the information recorded automatically is just great, and I can always transcribe the info to Excel or something if I really want to graph my progress. Maybe I'll upgrade someday, but for now, I can definitely recommend the 101 as a great option!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

April, I considered the 101 but chose the 201 b/c I didn't think I wanted to worry about "feeding" the batteries as the 201 is rechargable. How often do you need to change batteries?

 

[AprilN]

April, I considered the 101 but chose the 201 b/c I didn't think I wanted to worry about "feeding" the batteries as the 201 is rechargable. How often do you need to change batteries?

I typically need to change the batteries after about 3 weeks, which for me includes using the 101 for 5x/week, ~40 minutes/run (total of about 10 hours, 63 miles, and 75 "laps"). However, I have taken to changing the batteries a little earlier than absolutely required, because I've been caught by the 101 running out of juice and quitting in the middle of a run - and as you can imagine, it can be quite upsetting to finish a great run, just to discover that you have no record! I'm guessing the same thing could happen with the 201, unless Garmin has improved the low battery warning.

BTW, I use Energizer NiMH rechargable batteries (revolving between 2 sets), so while I do have to change the batteries, at least I have a renewable source of "food" for the 101.

 

[MelanieC]

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. I have the Garmin 201 and I LOVE it. Its pretty accurate on the battery life. Although I forgot to turn it off on my Thursday run and it ran out at the beginning of my run on Saturday.

I did try to use it at WDW to see how many miles I went but it didn't work well. You go inside too much and it showed I went way TOO many miles. I gave up after trying it for 1 day. It did come in handy since I forgot my watch when I went to WDW. I broke down the second day and bought a new watch. The kicker is I found my watch I thought I had brought near the end of my vacation. Figures, lol!

 

[wtpclc]

Hmmmm..... me thinks Melanie wanted a new watch.