The Garmin Forerunner 301 is the next exciting addition to the Forerunner lineup. Take your workouts to the next level with all the great GPS features found in the Forerunner 201, plus the added capability of a continuous heart rate monitor. Knowing your heart rate while exercising lets you measure your exercise intensity and performance, giving you a powerful training tool. The Forerunner 301 training profiles can be customized for running, cycling, and other sports. For those interested in losing weight, improving fitness, reaching peak athletic performance, or just improving health to reduce heart-related problems, the Forerunner 301 delivers. The Forerunner 301 offers a wide variety of training features that can hel [Read More...]
Buy Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS Personal Training Device at Amazon
I have recently purchased a Forerunner 301 after having used a Sports Instruments heart rate monitor for about a year. The heart rate monitor was excellent, and certainly usefull in the gym - rather than wait a certain length of time between sets, wait until your HR is below 120bpm. It allows you to pace yourself much more.
When it comes to running, it is difficult to measure your performance (time, heart rate, and distance) over the days and weeks. A heart rate monitor is good, but when training you need to push yourself and will always have a high heart rate.
The forerunner is a completely different animal. So different, that there really isn’t any fair comparison at all.
With this puppy on your arm you can build a workout (they are quite simple but effective) on your pc, slap it on the forerunner, and off you go. Great running feedback, and excellent info when transferred to the pc. Everything is easy to do - not quite WinXP wizard easy, but simple none the less.
If you live in a large city, forrested areas, or anywhere with sky obstructions, then it may give your trouble with reception. I have had a gps for years, and with my wifi experience I knew that reliable reception was going to be an issue. However, for me I found the reception excellent. Great in fact! In my lounge I can still get a lock with 4 good strength sattelites! If I stop it reacts within 1 second, and another second it knows I have stopped (due to the 1 second display update speed). Much better gps calculations than my garmin gps12.
If you are gagety inclined, and ARE taking (not just wanting or planning to) your running or biking seriously then without a doubt, this is the machine for you.
It isn’t too big, but big enough to read. Locks on in less than 1 minute in my small back yard, and has stellar reaction time. Perhaps even just keeping track of your exercise history is worth it for you? Or the in running feedback? Or the calorie (much more realistic than anythng else I have seen) info?
I am very happy with my buy. I paid $230 for it. Worth every last buck. From my experience I have no trouble recommending the Forerunner 301 to any one who is taking their running seriously!!
I have had my Garmin Forerunner 301 for about nine months. During that time I have seen it has some good points but it fails significantly in several ways.
I’ll start with the Garmin 301’s best point(s): It is an excellent GPS device for a runner. I have done several organized races on certified courses which proved the Garmin GPS is an excellent distance gauge. Your stride length can vary greatly with no affect. I have not seen anyone run with a Polar foot pod and get nearly as precise measurements as I get from the Garmin. I just ran the California International Marathon with the Garmin. At the finish, it said 26.2 miles. Compare that to the Polar with foot pod my brother was wearing that said almost 28 miles. The only time I have found Garmin’s GPS questionable has been on winding trail runs under trees.
Coupled with its ability to measure distance is the Garmin’s setting for automatically tagging and storing mile splits. I love this function. Often times after a really long run, it’s difficult to remember how you felt over certain areas of the course. This function means you don’t have to remember anything. It’s there.
I also like that it will tell me elevation, and even the steepness of the grade I am running up. This is especially nice if you are a trail runner. However, I don’t like that it won’t tally the total elevation change like a Polar will.
The speed and pace measurements displayed while in motion are a valuable gauge. I know of no device that does it better for a runner. But the accuracy can vary widely depending upon your overhead view. Clear sky generates an accurate reading. Throw a tree or a building in the mix and forget it. I have accepted this for what it is, a relative gauge that requires me to factor in my own judgment.
If you are a really serious athlete, you might want something that will run a little longer from a single charge. It isn’t waterproof and it crashes periodically with no way to reset until the battery actually dies completely.
The heart rate feature, the one thing that supposedly makes this device worth $100 more than the Garmin 201, is actually its least reliable feature!! They owe me a hundred bucks! The unreliability of the heart rate monitor on this device should be so embarrassing to Garmin, it warrants a recall. Search the web. It’s horrible. I routinely see readings over 220BPM. There is less than a 50/50 chance it will even READ my heart rate through an entire workout. Between the CONSTANT spikes and signal drops, there is no such thing as really knowing your average heart rate. I have given up on the heart rate function. It’s a negative distraction from my training. As a result, I would not buy another Garmin 301. I would not recommend one to my friend. I would even go out of my way to dissuade a casual acquaintance from buying one if I found out they were considering it!
Customer service: I sent an eight-year old monitor back to Polar with a dead battery. For the cost of shipping they sent me a whole new monitor. I sent an email to Garmin telling them I thought their product had some strong points but could benefit from a few improvements. I offered specific suggestions about the software and offered to provide any additional necessary feedback. Garmin didn’t even send an automated reply.
With all these factors in mind, I bought my wife a Polar heart rate monitor and a Garmin 101 for Christmas. Together, they cost less than I spent on my Garmin 301, and the combination will provide the same information far more reliably.