My new toy...

So after a year plus of contemplating it, I finally did it... I bought a Garmin.  Why did it take me so long to take the plunge?  Well, real talk Garmins are not cheap and I'm a teacher without a ton of disposable income.  I spent the past several months stalking the prices of Garmins hoping to catch a sale somewhere.  Christmas time came and the Forerunner 10 and 15 went on sale,  but my beloved Forerunner 220, that I had my heart set on, on did not.  I wondered to myself if I would be okay with purchasing the 10 or the 15, but honestly, even though it was half the price I felt like if I was already spending that much money shouldn't it be something I really wanted as opposed to something I settled for?  Also the 220 has a much better battery life and can be set for intervals.  Even though I have no intention on running a marathon any time soon, this was important to consider.  If I ever decide to take the plunge to run the full 26.2 I didn't want to also have to upgrade my watch.

One day, just a few weeks ago, I was shopping at my favorite local running store, Charm City Run.  Low and behold that day's purchase pushed me over the limit to earn a $25 loyalty reward.  As I looked longingly over at the Garmins I took this as a sign.  Even if it didn't go on sale, I was getting $25 off.  Thankfully I shared this train of thought with my roomie and the employee at the store shared with me eight glorious words "there's a $25 rebate on that model."  Between my reward and the rebate I'd be saving $50 in total.  That's a saving of 20%!  Better than any price I've seen yet.  I was sold, I didn't have the money at that moment but I'd be back very soon to pick up my Shamrock 5k packet and I'd make my move then.

The day for packet pick up came and I could not wait to walk out with my Garmin.  And then... sadness... that location had sold out of the model I coveted. Heartbreak.  Luckily, Charm City Run has several locations and they'd be able to transfer in my watch.  It would just take a few days.

Finally the day came to pick up my watch, I swear guys, it was like Christmas.  Unfortunately the weather and my schedule would not let me use it right away and I had to wait a whole week to take it out for a spin.

I couldn't resist taking this beauty out for a quick spin any longer

Let me just tell you, I've only run once with this toy and I LOVE it.  It responds much faster than my RunKeeper app and it's easier for me to turn it on/off which gives me more accurate data (I'm a science teacher, I love data).  I also love the real time pace.  I'm going to need to train myself to not check it as often because it's so easy I want to do it all the time.  The only thing I wish it could do would be to set a run for a certain time instead of distance.  I'm use to running by time (for example, I'll run for 30 minutes and see how far I get that day) so this will take some adjustments.  If anyone knows how to set the 220 to alert me when I've hit a certain amount of time running, I'd greatly appreciate it :)

I can't wait to play more with my Garmin and to learn more about all the cool things it can do!