A New Watch

I am not a minimalist. When I do an activity, I get lots of stuff. This makes it more fun.

As a runner, I carry my iPod and wear a GPS watch. Their purposes are pretty self explanitory.

On my iPod, I've got a selection of music, podcasts, and audio books. I find running pretty boring and this all helps me to enjoy the time.

I use my GPS to keep track of how far I've run, and how fast I'm going. It does a thousand other things, but for me it's all about distance, speed, and just maybe the current time. I've had it for three of four years, and it's done sterling service.

My GPS has died, which is a minor disaster.

I have another portable unit, which is about the size of a cell phone, and used that for my last couple of runs. This is my bike GPS. The only problem is that having it in my hand while running interferes with my comfort more than you'd think.

I want a new running watch. How do I know which one I want? There are certainly a lot of models out there these days.

Using the internet, I've read and watched many reviews. If one sounds good, I find their manual online and look up all the piddling little things that are important to nobody but me. I eliminated the just-introduced TomTom Runner when I discovered it will display pace, but cannot be set to show speed.

When I bought my current, broken one, it was priced at about $300. The new one that best suits me is $129. It is Garmin's Forerunner 10 in sexy day-glow orange. Checking the online manual reassured me that it will display time of day, distance, and speed. It will also use either miles or kilometers. I like kilometers.

I'll probably get one, but will dither about it for a while. I shouldn't, but I will.