Ma Gear
TECH SPECS :
• Monitors heart rate at the wrist , using Garmin Elevate™ wrist heart rate technology .
• Built-in GPS tracks how far , how fast and where you run .
• Connected features : Smart notifications , automatic uploads to Garmin Connect™ , live tracking and music controls .
• All-day activity tracking counts steps , calories and intensity minutes , and reminds you when to move .
• Automatically uploads your data to Garmin Connect , a free online fitness community where you can join challenges , receive insights and share your progress as you meet your goals .
The Watch to Get You Moving
From the time you take the Garmin Forerunner 35 out of its box to the first time you use it , the process is absolutely |
seamless , and this watch really does provide great value for money for most runners or cyclists . – BY ROXANNE MARTIN |
I
’ m not one for complicated set-ups , where you need to read the instruction manual every five seconds just to get a new watch working , so I loved that the Garmin Forerunner 35 is simple and easy to set up . It literally took me five minutes and I was ready to go – and that included linking the watch to my phone , to the Garmin app and to Discovery ( to make sure I got those vital smoothie points ).
|
‘ extras :’ Every hour or so you feel a vibration with a note on the watch , telling you to move .
While some may find this unnecessary , or even irritating , it was a welcome reminder to me to get up and move around . As silly as this sounds , that five-minute break from my desk and my work actually increased my productivity , as I felt more refreshed by getting up and moving , instead of simply logging into Facebook
|
an activity and loads to Garmin Connect automatically , including your daily steps . I reached my fitness goal for Discovery one week on normal steps alone , without having to do anything extra . |
|
– and ending up sitting at my desk for up to |
|
|
three hours at a time . |
|
The watch covers all your basic fields : Time , distance , pace , heart rate beats and zone , and calories , so it has everything an athlete needs to know – and if you ’ re worried about the accuracy of the wrist heart rate monitor , worry no more , because I did a simultaneous comparison test with a Heart rate strap , and the strap and watch were identical , beat for beat .
Moving onto training mode and I was even more impressed by the technology this watch offers . You have the following training modes available to you : Bike , cardio , walk , run outdoor and run indoor , and all of these modes are customisable . For example , if you are doing interval training and you have decided on a prescribed distance per interval with set times in between , you can set the watch up to work for you . Same with your training pages – each is customisable to what you need to see .
A Watch for Everyday
What I really appreciated about this watch was it ’ s sleek and funky design , meaning I felt comfortable wearing it for the rest of the day , but my favourite features come in the nifty
The watch ’ s connectivity is also fantastic . It connects to your phone seamlessly , allowing you to read messages as they come in - while it doesn ’ t allow you to reply , it ’ s handy for those on-the-go moments when you just want to check the importance of a message without taking your phone out . Gone are the days where you need to sync your device to your laptop to load activities , because the watch automatically syncs to your phone following
Who Should Buy It
The watch gives you up to nine days of normal battery life , and 13 hours of tracked running ... enough for a Comrades runner or Epic rider . So , this watch caters for all your needs while providing you with an accessory that you can wear and use everyday . In fact , I was so impressed by the watch that it has been added to my ‘ Things I Must Buy ’ list !
Get It Here : The Garmin Forerunner 35 retails at a recommended retail price of R3499 , and can be bought at www . in2sports . co . za .
Images : Courtesy Garmin
42 ISSUE 90 JANUARY 2017 / www . modernathlete . co . za