Garmin Forerunner: Beginner or Advanced Runner, Is It For You?

We’ve been getting quite a few questions lately about our Garmin Forerunner 10 watches so we thought we would share a little bit of info with you so you can determine if this watch would fit your needs!

First off, let me say that I knew very little about this watch. I received it as a birthday gift from my generous sister, who also has one. With that being said, I love my Garmin. It is very easy to use even for the least “techy” people. It only has 4 buttons to keep track of ( and one of them is the on/off button, so really only 3)!

The Garmin Forerunner 10 will track the time of your run, will track your distance, calories burned, your running pace, and how long it took you to run each kilometer or mile ( depending on how you have yours set up).  All this begins automatically with just the touch of one button!

So say you are going out for a run. Grab the Garmin and turn it on. This isn’t like an everyday watch, it has an on/off button indicated by a light bulb icon. I’ve forgot to turn mine off several times and as a result my watch has gone dead mid run.   Once your watch is powered up, you will push the runner icon button ( this button is used as the “enter” button each time you want to make a selection).  Your Garmin will then “Get a Location”.  This is how it tracks your distance. Once a location has been loaded, pushing the runner button again will start your run.  Everything I mentioned earlier, time, distance, pace, etc, will be tracked automatically. Pretty simple!

Now if you want to customize your run, you have options for that as well.  You can use the Run/Walk option.  This is great for all those using the Galloway training method.  You simply enter in how many minutes you want to run and how many you want to walk.  When it’s time for you to walk, the watch will beep and at the end of the walk time it will beep again indicating that your run should start.  I don’t use the run/walk method, but I sometimes use the Run/Walk option.  I will set for a 3 minute run and 30 second walk.  Instead of walking when the watch beeps, I use those 30 seconds to pick up my running pace.  When the 30 seconds is over, I slow down to my normal running/jogging pace.

Another option is Virtual Pacer.  If you use this option, you will input the pace you want to run at.  If you fall below the pace, or are exceeding the pace you’ve set, the watch will notify you with beeps.

Other features include the Auto pause, which allows you to pause your run.  Great to have if you run where you have to stop for traffic.

My personal favorite is the Auto Lap feature. You can set your laps in kilometers or miles ( I use kilometers).  Every time I complete a kilometer, that is considered one” lap” and I will hear a beep.   The watch shows what “lap” I am on.  If you set yours to miles, it will beep after every mile.

This watch comes with a USB cord and must be charged through your computer or other device.  You also have the option of uploading your runs to Garminconnect.com.  Here you can even “connect” with other runners using a Garmin.

I know there are many other things you can do with this watch, but these are just the basics.  As of right now the Garmin Forerunner 10 comes in 3 colors, Pink ( which my sister and I both have), Lime Green ( which our mom has), and Black.

Super simple watch that a beginner runner can use, but many cool options that an advanced runner wants.  Just remember to power off when you are done!   The only downside to this watch is that the battery life will only last 5 hours if it is kept in GPS mode the entire time. I have not experienced this yet as I have not been on a run longer than 5 hours.

Do you have a watch that you use during training?