MY review of the Garmin FR-60
This is a handy training tool. For years I was using the Nike + system but it just was not enough for me and I found that it was making my i pod battery deplete more quickly. I have an old Garmin 205 but it would loose its signal frequently and was large and bulky. I have very small wrists so I needed something small. I also wanted more out of my watch. Just what I wanted I was not sure. I like to stay minimal if not it distracts from running. But the right watch could help with training immensely. So what watch was I to buy. Spend over $400 and get the latest and greatest or spend time and less money and get something different. Do I go with a Garmin? a Polar? a Timex? Luckily the Runners World Magazine had an article close to the time I was buying a watch. So I considered what the article said and did my own research. After some time debating I went with the Garmin FR-60.
This has a heart rate monitor and optional foot pod to but as well as I can buy a cadence monitor for my bike. Huge bonus. I ordered the watch through amazon and struggled with receiving my order. DO not order the watch through amazon. Or really watch what you are buying. I received half my order and it was the wrong color and it took me over 2 months to get it all straighted out with customer service.
Once I had the watch I needed to figure out how to use it. It is very user friendly. Large display but not too large for my wrist. It does not have a touch screen and the keys are a little stiff. I am sure with more use the buttons will be easier to press. I also like that it has a back light. I bought the women’s model which fits my smaller wrist. But if you are a women with a big wrist you might want to but the men’s model. I ordered black but received purple- Thanks amazon. The purple is not a bad color though, Just girlie.
The heart rate monitor came with it and I feel is very comfortable. The strap was a little to big for me so I had to sew it some to make it tighter. Very easy to do. I got the foot pod to go with it. Note if you do not get the foot pod then this watch is just a very nice heart rate monitor. It does not have GPS so it needs the foot pod to track your runs. I decided on a foot pod/watch combo instead of a GPS because I can use this watch indoors as well. If you buy a GPS watch you still need a foot pod to use the watch indoors for example on a treadmill. Since Nebraska has such great weather, I train indoors more than I would like too. You can calibrate the foot pod and it will be 99% accurate. The foot pod is actually the exact same size as the Nike foot pod. So if you have Nike shoes it will fit. If not it does have a clip that locks it in place on your shoe. This lock is easy to use and does not slip but is easy to move from shoe to shoe.
Features of the watch. Like I said you can buy a cadence monitor for your bike. I do not have that yet so I can’t comment on this. Like the other Garmin running devices it has the Virtual Running Partner in it. You can program time and or distance and a little running buddy appears on the screen and lets you know if you are holding pace. Nice feature that I loved on my old Garmin. You can program heart rate zones for all activities and target zones. The watch will beep and notify when you are in and out of zones. As well as if you hit a max heart rate. I have never trained using a heart rate monitor and now that I have this device I love it. It has helped me a ton improve my training as well as knowing when to back off or pick it up. It also has an interval feature you can set up to do speed work.
The watch stores workouts and also has the ANT device which with wireless downloads to the Garmin site when it is in range. I looked at the Garmin site and found it very hard to navigate and read data. I use Buckeye Outdoors for my training log. I love it, but I hit a snag. I have an Apple computer and this device and site do not work together yet. So for now I manually enter my data. Buckeye Outdoors hopes to have a way to support Mac soon. I guess I could give the Garmin site another shot.
This is not just a running watch. I use it mostly for running but I do cardio/strength workout up to three days a week and I can use the watch for these too. It will store my time, heart rate and calories burned. Big plus!!
So far I love this watch and all of the raw data it gives me. It is such a great training tool. I hope it will improve my training. I will let you know after my next marathon!!