Jake’s Journal: Putting Forerunner 310XT through the paces

One group in particular was focused on their Forerunners – the Garmin pace team. These volunteers dedicate themselves to finishing in a specified time so that runners in their pace groups can run with confidence in going for their goals. And pacing each member of the pace team was the Forerunner 405CX, which helped the fastest two leaders come in a couple seconds ahead of their goal times of 1:30 and 1:40. A couple seconds over 13.1 miles. Amazing.  

If only I'd had that kind of discipline at Kansas City's Trolley Run. As mentioned in an earlier Garmin blog post, I went out a little too fast in this hometown 4-miler. Because even though Forerunner's Virtual Partner runs a steady pace, it's still up to the runner to follow suit. But at least I knew I was torching it. Thanks to 310XT's "lap pace" setting – which displays my average pace over a predetermined distance – I knew that my first half-mile was unrealistic. And I knew that my second half-mile was more like it. That's the main reason I set my "auto lap" – which tells Forerunner to mark and record certain distances – to alert me every half-mile rather than wait for the mile marker. In the end, I was happy with my time and fellow blogger Peg and I each secured a spot on Garmin's KC metro corporate challenge squad.

Vowing to be smarter in the corporate challenge 5K – especially because I was wearing a Garmin jersey that boldly says "Follow the leader" – I found three colleagues, Adam, Bently and Justin. Adam, fresh off running the Boston Marathon, had the fastest start of the four of us. Bently, fresh off passing me at the Trolley finish, had a plan. Coast the first downhill, control the second mile, cruise down the last hill, climb the last half-mile and kick to the finish. Forerunner 310XT's vibration alerts quietly assured us the plan was working to perfection as we steadily caught the people who lost momentum after that first downhill sprint. And as we topped the final hill and had the finish in sight, I was proud to be the second car in a four-man Garmin convoy. Adam finished the rolling 5K in 18:40, I crossed in 18:42, Bently was right behind in 18:48, and Justin followed with 18:58.

Among companies of similar size, Bently and I each won our respective age group, and Adam and Justin, the youngsters of our quartet, also racked up points in a very competitive grouping. Other divisional age-group winners included Chris T., our speed demon at 16:48; Dan B., who has been pushing us since last summer; Karen W., who sets the pace in our track workouts; and Kaye M., who never ceases to amaze as she piles up the miles. And my blogging partner Peg? Despite fighting a nagging injury that's bugged her since the Disney marathon, she was third in her age group. And not just among companies our size, but third out of the 146 women in her age group. Standout performances such as these – in addition to the help from our rock-star volunteers – scored us a team victory in the 5K. But it was just the start of my day, as my wife was ready for me to join her in 18 miles of training for her marathon debut in San Diego at the end of the month. And with up to 20 hours of battery life, Forerunner 310XT was ready, too.

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