Training with the Forerunner 735

Have you ever wondered what your watch is fully capable of? Garmin engineer Justin took his training for the Boston Marathon to the next level with the Forerunner 735. 

For the past 5 months, the Forerunner 735 has been my indispensable training partner and permanent fixture on my wrist. I’ve used virtually every feature on the device to help me train smarter.

A typical day would start with the vibrating alarm to wake me up at 4 am. After waking, I would review my resting heart rate to see if there were any indications of overtraining or sickness, then the weather widget to see what the temperature and forecast was for the morning to see how to dress. Next, I’d check the training calendar to see what workout was scheduled for the day.

My training plan was based on Matt Fitzgerald’s 80/20 plan in which each workout has a unique purpose with specific goals for intensity and duration – long easy runs, interval workouts, tempo workouts, recovery runs, etc.  It required spending certain durations in various HR zones for each workout. The workouts feature was perfect for keeping me in the right zone throughout the run without having to think. The 735 would buzz or beep to let me know if I was in the correct zone or when I was transitioning to the next interval.

After the workout, I would review my stats such as training effect, recovery advisor, and VO2 max. For a more in depth analysis, I would review my data in Garmin Connect to ensure I was in the appropriate zones and compare against other workouts to see if my fitness was improving from the previous week.

I was able to keep my weight and body fat within my targeted “racing weight” using Garmin Connect, MyFitnessPal, and the Index Smart Scale to track calories and body composition.

The course creator in Connect helped me plan runs when I was traveling or find new routes for my long runs to keep things interesting. The courses feature on the device helped me navigate these new courses and saved me a few times from getting lost on a long 25 mile run. When I was in a new area, I would use LiveTrack to let friends and family know my whereabouts for extra piece of mind.

When I had a bad run, dealing with an injury, or just needed a little motivation I could count on my friends and connections in Garmin Connect to provide a few comments of encouragement on my activity.

I even had a Connect IQ countdown timer as a watch face with a countdown to Boston.  The Forerunner 735, the Index scale, and Garmin Connect were a central part of my daily routine in my journey to Boston.

How do you use your Garmin to train? Email us at stories@garmin.com and you may be featured in our next blog post. 

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