How the Garmin Forerunner 245 Made Me a Better Runner — An Annual Review

A Handful Run

My running journey began two years ago during the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although I started on a treadmill, I soon discovered the joy of running outdoors. An average run back then was around 5 km with 10 km being a “long” run. For nearly a year, I held my phone in my left hand and used the Google Fit app to track my activities. Google Fit’s GPS tracking was often imprecise making it overestimate my pace by at least 30 seconds to 1 min/km!

A typical evening run tracked on Google Fit. The spatial resolution is so poor that it looks like I zigzagged several times across a busy road!

After a quick Google search (ironic, isn’t it?), I stumbled across Strava! Not only was Strava more accurate in using the GPS data but also came with a social media-like UX which got me hooked to it and I started running longer and more often to “post” regularly.

For the same segment, Strava’s spatial resolution is much more precise. There are minor deviations from the path that I actually took but these did not inflate the pace of the run by a lot.

Strava was definitely a step forward. I even bought an armband to avoid holding the phone in my hand. However, I quickly realized that these straps were not too robust and would tear easily from all the shearing caused while running. That’s when I saw a couple of friends using different smart watches for tracking their activities on Strava. Doing a quick market research revealed a wide assortment of these smart watches — ranging from basic fitness trackers to multi-sport watches with solar charging. I just wanted a watch that had in-built GPS so that I needn’t carry my phone around. On the other hand, I really didn’t need the smart features of an Apple Watch. Recommendations from a few friends and reviews from YouTubers like DesFit helped me figure out a perfect match in the Garmin Forerunner 245.

My Forerunner 245

Being fresh out of grad school, I gifted myself a Forerunner 245 with my first paycheck— which coincidentally set me back $245. I didn’t mind the price tag— I was investing in myself and my hobby.

Running handsfree was liberating. The Forerunner 245’s GPS tracking is accurate enough to track precisely on roads and trails too. This made pacing my runs stress-free and I enjoyed running more than ever!

For the same segments as above, the Garmin Forerunner 245 tracks my path extremely accurately due to multi-satellite GPS tracking.

The most profound change that the Forerunner brought about was access to a vast array of physiological parameters that helped in training and recovery. Prior to my 245, I never even had the idea to check my heart rate (HR) while running/biking. With this watch, I now had access to a detailed HR profile during any activity. This turned out extremely critical in my training for a faster 5k/10k. I could implement the 80/20 training technique where I spent nearly 80% of my miles in Z2 and lower Z3 heart zones (easy/aerobic zones) and went all out for in my interval/tempo training for the rest 20% of the time. Apart from this, I had access to tools like sleep tracking, recovery status, training load, VO2 max readings, among a plethora of others which helped me train holistically.

Impact

Paired with Strava’s social media-like element, my Forerunner 245 encouraged me to increase my training volume gradually while changing the types of run ever so often to see aerobic and anaerobic improvements. I was motivated to “impress” my watch by running longer and faster. In time trials and races, I was pacing much more comfortably without the mental stress of constantly thinking if I was going too fast or too slow. Putting the miles and speed aside, this Garmin watch made me consistent and advanced my aptitude for running.

The Garmin Forerunner 245 has helped me improve tremendously — in both running and biking!

Not Always Sunny

I wear this watch pretty much all the time and it has become an integral part of my lifestyle. Despite making a huge positive impact, there are a few aspects that are mildly bothering about the Forerunner 245.

1. Garmin’s suggested runs suck — Garmin suggests a particular workout each time you go for a run which is based on your recent mileage, pace, and training load. Ideally, these runs are tailor-made to make you a better runner by strengthening your aerobic base, focus on speed work or tempo runs. The ground reality is divergent — the slow/easy runs that Garmin suggests are not easy enough and when I end up doing them my training status goes into “Unproductive”, which discourages me from doing a similar run the next time. The suggestions for tempo runs or speed work pop up very rarely, and sometimes, when I’m not feeling my best! I try to do difficult intervals once or twice a week, and I expect Garmin’s suggestions to reflect my training habits better. This is a bit annoying because the AI on the watch could easily be upgraded to become an even better coach!
2. Sleep tracking is inconsistent. The sleep time is often overestimated by more than an hour! This plays into the recovery score and training load. If the watch thinks you’re rested and are not doing a harder session, it bumps down the training status to “Unproductive”. This used to bug me a lot in the early days when I was trying to seek my watch’s “approval” in some ways. Nowadays, I prefer to listen to my body to check readiness for harder runs.
3. Runs on hilly terrains are treated similar to those on flats for calculating performance condition. During a run, the watch actively monitors your pace and HR, compares it with data from previous runs, to assign a number called the performance condition. This number is a reflection of how well you are pacing and managing your HR. Pace and HR vary hugely even for an easy run when on hills/climbs as compared to a run on flattish trail. Despite knowing the elevation changes in post-processing, Garmin doesn’t correct the performance condition or the training load to account for the undulating terrain. This is a minor gripe I have with the Forerunner but I believe it shouldn’t be too hard to fix with a software update.

Verdict

Without a shadow of doubt, I can attribute the massive improvements in my 5k/10k times to the Forerunner 245. Not having to worry about accurate distance and pace measurement has made running more enjoyable. Precise pacing has also helped me with interval training and setting personal bests in time trials and races.

Progress through the last two years. I’ve had the Garmin Forerunner 245 since July 2021.

In this past one year, the Forerunner 245 has been a wonderful aid in strengthening my running habit. However, I wouldn’t recommend a hasty purchase. The Forerunner 245 costs a lot, and in my opinion, can only help you improve your running habit, and not necessarily to get you into running in the first place. For those looking to level-up in their running, Garmin has a wide range of new releases as well including the Forerunner 255 which has several significant upgrades from the 245. Choose wisely!