I've bought a new toy. I was feeling both the need and justification to treat myself after a trip to the Lakes got called off and I had my appraisal last week. Having found myself in London for the weekend, I went shopping, online. My new toy's actually an old toy which has been around for a couple of years (old technology, that is), and which I've been coveting from a distance until I had an excuse to get myself a present and was doing enough activity to warrant the purchase. I have as yet no idea whether a pay-rise will be in the offing following the appraisal, but on the off-chance that one is, I thought I'd spend the extra cash in next month's pay packet on a new heart rate monitor.
I do already have a heart rate monitor which I love very much. It tells me my heart rate. What it doesn't do is store the information so I can check it out at my leisure when I've finished my workout. It also won't give me my time-resolved location via GPS and tell me how far I've rowed/run, and at what speeds, and what my heart was doing at any particular moment. It doesn't make coffee, either.
My new toy does all* of these things.
It's the Garmin Forerunner 305. There's a spec-ed up model, the 405, which has better battery life and looks, but the reviews I've read haven't convinced me that the additional £100 would be money well spent, and I have a watch which I wear all day anyway, and it looks a damned sight better than the 405...
Here's some of the output on SportTracks (a very nice bit of free kit). Click images for the full geeky glory...:
And here's my first attempt at landing on the flood tide:
Perhaps that should have read "first, second, third and fourth attempts at landing".
It's going to be a useful little gadget, but I'm a bit concerned that I may be unable to stave off the need to play with the toy for long enough to recover between sessions. (It even makes running fun... I wonder whether it can work the same magic for circuit training?) I suppose I'll find out soon enough - training kicks off in earnest this weekend, leaving just three more days to enjoy pies, pizza, beer and chocolate.
Is that the time?? Must dash - the chippy will be open...
*I lied. It doesn't actually make coffee
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
New Toy!
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8 comments:
It sounds marvellous. I just hire a chimpanzee to take my pulse.
If it made coffee I might consider it, But Why. In the circumstances, though, it would just be Too Much Information, far as I'm concerned. I can see why it would be perfect for you, though. Enjoy.
That is tres cool!
Gorilla Bananas,
Why, hello! I'm almost sure you're my first gorilla visitor. Congratulations!
I had a run-in with a Chimp once. I was about 2yrs old and on holiday wih my family (as one does, at that age). I believe in the early eighties it was still de rigueur for tourists in Benidorm to get their kids to pose for photographs with chimps. I recall being rather starled by the hairy arm which snaked its way towards me, emanating from the shoulder of the hairy gentleman with the deformed head, and not really knowing what was going on. Consequently, my folks have a wonderful picture of me crying my eyes out in close proximity to a chimp. I think a chimp trying to perfrom some sort of medical intervention on me would probably result in psychological mushiness. I'll stick to the toy to be on the safe side...
Signs,
It is a rather beautiful shade of red - does that help to convince you??
DJ,
Yes! Toy! Much fun!! I've just about managed to not sleep with it under my pillow for the last couple of days, though I'm worried my resolve might be on the verge of cracking.
How fantastic! I want one!
Kathrine,
Hello! Welcome. New visitors - how lovely! I see you've had a long trip to get here. Pull up a chair whilst I get a pot of tea on the go.
I see you're a kayaker. (I am only slightly jealous that not only do kayakers get to see where they're heading, but they also look like they're having fun and rarely seem to be accompanied by psychotic coaches.) It is a wonderful toy. It tells me almost everything I could possibly want to know, except my stroke rate, which is a pity, but I suspect the paddling commumity is too small for adding a stroke rate feature to be a viable prospect for Garmin...
My apologies - I appear to have rambled at you. Oh well - there's no point giving a false impression. (Pity poor Gorilla bananas who swung by for the first time earlier and got my childhood traumas for his troubles...)
Absolutely fabulous.
I love gadgets.
I had a company medical the other week and they used loads of gadgets on me to test this and that. It was cool.
Kahless,
I love my toy, but I'm not sure I'd want to be subject to a medical examination by gadget. Mind you, given the quality of customer care offered by some medics I've had the past misfortune of consulting, you may be onto something there!
I feel the need to evangelise about The Toy some more, but I think I may already have conveyed just how much I love it. But in case that's not clear, I do rather love my new toy.
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