For my birthday this year, Puneet bought me a cool new Garmin Forerunner 101. For a number of reasons, though mainly because I have tended to workout indoors rather than out lately, today was the first time I had a chance to try it out.

I have to be honest…I’ve been a little skeptical of GPS technology for a while. Last summer I got a chance to try it out when Puneet and I went Geocaching while I was in SD. That was fun…but not all that useful when it really comes down to it. When Puneet, Paul, and I drove to San Luis Obispo last summer, P’s GPS unit didn’t work in my car. It seems the windshield was too thick for the signal to get through.

When I’ve played with the new Forerunner, I’ve run into a little trouble because it needs a clear line of sight to the sky for the first 30 mins or so of use (the first time you use it), and Hyde Park has trees everywhere, making this difficult. (Who wants to stand in the same spot for 30 minutes!?) Ok, enough about the prejudices…how did it perform during regular use?

I have to say, I am quite impressed. This thing is able to tell me a lot while I’m running. And, it even managed to pretty accurately track the distance of my run. It told me I went 3.24 miles, whereas the GmapsPedometer told me the run was 3.29 miles. When I’ve measured this run in my car (it’s to Karen’s school and back) it’s around 3.2 miles roundtrip. All in all I’d say the Forerunner was great! It also tells me things like how many calories I’m burning (like I care), the time of day (this feature cannot be underestimated), my current pace, and can show a map of my run.

Now, I’m not saying the unit is perfect. It could definitely be helped with an in-depth usability analysis…and I think feature creep definitely set in on the design team that made this, but still. For what it does, it works for me. Ok, time to shower, then grab a bite to eat. Thanks again for the gift, Puneet!