When I first started running, it was with a watch that I probably picked up someplace that simply kept total time, basically a stop watch on my wrist. When I felt that I had graduated to “runner” status, I decided to invest in a GPS watch and the runner-recommended watch was a Garmin. It was the Garmin Forerunner 305, the red-brick looking one, and all my friends had one. Oh how excited I was. It told me distance, current pace, could do intervals, I was floored with all the bells and whistles and that feeling of “I’m part if the cool runner kid’s club.”

After running with the Forerunner 305 for several years, I decided to move over to a couple other styles that were a little more “sexy.” I danced around between a couple watches over the next few years, compromising features for a what I thought looked good on my wrist. I convinced myself that “nah, I guess I don’t really need that feature.”

Tell the world that I’m coming home

The time had come. It’s time to go back to the watch that started it all. No more compromises. I need a watch that I’m confident in and can deliver exactly what I need, accurately, and in a timely manner — pun totally intended. My path in trying to get faster and becoming more efficient in my training has always been leading me back to Garmin, it just took me a little while to get there.

The Garmin fēnix 3

See the Garmin fēnix 3 here

The first time I saw it was on Scott Jurek’s wrist in Boston. “What watch is that?” Scott shared some insight on the watch, what it did, how he was using it in his training. The thing was, he was rocking it in jeans and jacket. I had no idea that it was a running watch, it just looked so fly on his wrist. The next day I was looking at it online, drooling, wanting it bad.

I then saw it on the wrists of fellow friends @maxfitgirl29 and then @nycsweat was wearing it when I ran part of the SFM Ultra. He was raving about the battery life, and all the information it delivered. With the Golden Ultra coming up and needing something that I could rely on in the Canadian mountains sealed the deal, the watch was mine.

Multisport:
running, swimming, ski-board mode, hike, indoor running, climbing

Color:
1.2-inch,  sunlight readable color Chroma™ display with LED backlight

Battery Life:
50 hours in UltraTrac mode, 16 hours in GPS mode, 3 months in watch mode

Features:
3-axis compass, altimeter and barometer, steps, sleep tracking, cadence (and other running dynamics), tracks personal records, create advanced workouts with goals, pace alerts, intervals, calorie burn, move bar for inactivity.

Bonus:
When used with a HRM: fitness training features like VO2 Max and Recovery Advisor, race predictor, BPM

Community:
Connect IQ™ compatibility for customized apps, widgets, watch faces and data fields

Smart Notifications:
When paired with your smart phone (via bluetooth): emails, texts and alerts. It also has music controls.

What I’m Loving

Over the past couple years I had become used to making sacrifices, whether it was the current pace being slightly off, or not being able to view past workouts without using your phone, but having the reliability of the Garmin brand on my wrist has removed any concerns and allowed me to focus simply on running. Let the watch do it’s thing and just run the miles.

The accuracy. It’s tough to see the details in the far left photo above, but it reads 10 hours, 17 minutes, 34.84 miles. That was the 55K ultra I ran at Golden in the Canadian mountains. Never lost a signal, never had an issue, absolutely perfect. Also, 55K is equal to 34.18 miles, that means it tracked almost perfectly to the estimated distance… ACROSS trails and up and down with an almost 8000 ft gain, then loss.
That’s freakin’ accurate, game over.

No touch screen. I really like going back to actually using buttons. It’s easier when running and I don’t have to worry about taking off my gloves to swipe a screen.

Have you ever accidentally ended a run? It’s the worst. I love that the fēnix 3 has the ability to resume a run from where you left off. It also has the ability to “discard” a run if you need to start over. Both things that just make sense and are available so easily.

The battery life is what made this a for sure thing for me. I tend to run an ultra once or twice a year and having a watch that can stay running and recording the entire time makes perfect sense. I’m also terrible at charging it between runs, so knowing that I don’t have to place it on the charger after 2-3 runs is huge for me.

It’s in the name

Yes, Garmin, but more so fēnix. When we launched #WeRunSocial, it was a large part because of the magic that happened at the Phoenix Marathon in 2015. The #WeRunSocial logo even features a phoenix and the whole mythology of being regenerated or reborn, rising from the ashes, just lines up so perfectly with what running can sometimes feel like.

See the Garmin fēnix 3 specs and overview

What is currently on your wrist?

“I’m coming home, I’m coming home, tell the world that I’m coming home.”
Skylar Grey