Review on 🏃 Black Garmin Forerunner 35, 010-01689-00: User-Friendly GPS Running Watch by Nelson Calafell

Are you a runner who wants to take your training to the next level but can't afford a very expensive piece of equipment? Wondering why on earth you even need it? I was in your place! As an activity tracker, the Forerunner 35 is very good. I'm giving 3 stars because many of the features that a runner can use don't work and I find it misleading to sell a machine with those features if they aren't really useful for training. Basically, it's a good activity tracker masquerading as an (inefficient) training tool. Many reviewers note that the Forerunner 35 isn't for "serious runners," and I understand that they think "serious runners" need all the complexity. very expensive watch. I need to know pace, heart rate, distance, time. Fancy analytics won't really do much for my running. So this watch really has everything a serious runner needs. The reason I think the reviewers are saying the device isn't for serious runners is because none of these features actually work in a way that's useful for those trying to get serious about training. The watch has pace, heart rate and distance information, interval programming, virtual pace (it notifies you if you deviate from the set pace), etc. In reality, however, most of these features don't work well enough to make a difference during training time. work out. You can get a good baseball pace on slow runs, but this is utterly useless for speed work and can be very frustrating. Here is a summary: Pros: The heart rate monitor works very well. For general speed information on easy runs, the price is good and the device is sufficient. After the first update with the Garmin Express app, satellite data acquisition is fast. Tempo is a feature that is really driving me nuts. It can take up to 3 minutes to catch up on your tempo change - for example, with interval work, the machine takes a long time to determine how fast you're moving after the "bottom" section, resulting in huge spikes in tempo as you overcompensate , because the device has not caught up with you and you think you are running too slowly. I rode it and as long as I didn't make any really drastic changes in pace it was fine. But it's pretty much useless for interval work.2. Virtual Pacer doesn't work - you have to be very, very far off pace before it notifies you that your pace is off, which is useless for interval/tempo work. They seem to have given it almost a full minute/mile buffer for pace notifications. Also, you can't change your desired pace mid-run, so your warm-up and cool-down and any intended pace changes will trigger persistent notifications3. AutoPause doesn't work - you need to pause manually. The clock starts and stops in 3-4 seconds, which means you have big bursts of data4. Intervals - You can set just one time interval and then run it over and over again, which runners don't actually do. So no stairs, no shortcuts, etc. I still have to carry my phone on my interval/speed days so I have a useful interval timer. On the other hand, you can program it to leave you alone during your warm-up and cool-down, and to start intervals at any time during your run. without spending a bit more to get a better piece of exercise equipment but I'm already over my budget so after a bit of learning and some REALLY frustrating workouts I decided to write this review. No, I still don't think you need fancy analysis from a really expensive watch to run better. However, I strongly recommend that you find out how well the device's features actually work before you buy it.