Yesterday I went on my first run for many months. Concluded that it is time to start getting ready for the London Marathon in 2024. My trusty Apple Watch Series 4 is no longer up to scratch, it works but the battery just doesn’t last long enough and 4km in to the run yesterday it decided to die.
I’ve been in a bit of a love/hate relationship with it recently anyway, especially after buying a traditional watch. I just don’t wear it every day and I don’t really find myself needing the features it has (most used function is pinging my iPhone when I’ve lost it!). When I do use it for running, it always seems to feel ‘good enough’ but not great and the heart rate data on it is pretty sketchy. Linking AirPods and playing music is fantastic though.
So to help get back into the groove I decided to get a proper running watch. Turns out they’re pretty expensive, of course… Love the look for the latest Forerunner and the Fenix 7s Pro looks really good too. Drawing back on what features I actually need, decided to settle on a relatively entry-level watch: Garmin Forerunner 245 Music. It was only £164 which is much cheaper than the flagships and it seems to be able to do everything I need - music, pairing headphones, heart-rate, GPS, bluetooth connectivity, etc. Love the fact the battery should actually last a lot longer too, so will hopefully not have to charge it constantly.
If it works out well then I might consider buying a better model in the future. This shouldn’t be wasted though, just becomes the backup watch for the marathon… 🏃♂️😊