Team Geared Up

A review of the recently released Forerunner 305 courteousy of IRULE. Seems to be a good choice for all those you want to keep a record and improve on your fitness. The one i ordered is being shipped today and i’ll will bring you my own review of it as soon as i get it. Hopefully early next week sometime!

While the size of the monitor may prove a little overwhelming at first, a short play will put your mind at ease. Having the ability to view up to eight measurements at once was fantastic in making sure I stayed within my sessions parameters. What was even better was the ability to choose these eight measurements from a whopping list of 34 real time measurements of heart rate, speed, lap, cadence, grade, altitude, mapping, course, programmed workouts, distance and calorie variations.

The course feature was something I particularly enjoyed using and feel that it is ideal for key sessions and time trials to keep you at your optimal condition and to monitor progress, both short and long term. Using the course feature you have the ability to mark key points along your course, whether they be a hill climb, sprint, water station – the list goes on.

Basic navigation functions such as marking locations and routes are another feature of the edge 305 which makes it all that more appealing to the urban off-road athlete for when a training mission is on the agenda. I was unable to use the mapping software the edge is compatible with, but feel this would be an excellent tool not only for adventuring but also for scouting out race routes.

From a coaching perspective, all I can say is that I wish more of my athletes (and me) were using the Edge 305 or in the multisporters case, the Forerunner 305. When combined with the cadence and heart rate options, Gamin’s ‘Training Centre’ is superb in analyzing workouts. It allows athletes and coaches to truthfully say whether the session has been carried out as prescribed or suggest where improvement needs to be made. Using the Edge 305 over the last month has been fantastic in helping me increase my general cadence and help me find my ideal gear ratios and heart rates for time trialing and climbing on different gradients. The Training Centre is also a fantastic way to store workouts for future review.