If you’ve ever run a marathon, thought about running one or are currently training for one, you’ll know that it’s a serious commitment. Not too long ago, I took on my first marathon – London Marathon – and I genuinely think the main reason I completed it was because of the data I got from my Garmin.
I’ve not written much about my experience but having just gotten a Garmin Forerunner 165 to add to my collection, I figured now was as good a time as any to share the key features that got me marathon ready, kept me injury free and helped me to avoid overtraining.
If you’re looking to get yourself a Garmin watch to support your training, check out Very.co.uk for the Garmin Forerunner 165 and a selection of other models.
Setting Up Your Garmin Forerunner 165 For Race Day
Right out of the box, the Garmin Forerunner is super simple to set-up, even more so if you’re upgrading from another Garmin device and / or have used the interface before.
Power on the watch by holding the LIGHT button, then follow the on-screen prompts to choose your language, units, and pair it with the Garmin Connect® app.
The setup flow is quick and once you’re connected, the watch pulls in all your personal data (age, weight, activity level) to give you accurate stats from the get-go.
If you’re running a big goal event like I was, you can add the event date into the Garmin Connect App via Calendar so you have a countdown during training. I also added any races that I used as training i.e half marathons etc to keep track.
If you use any of the Garmin adaptive training plans, it’ll adjust your training plan around the fixed deadline.
Essential Features You’ll Actually Use on Every Run
During the 4 months that I specifically trained for London Marathon, I used my Garmin watch for every single one of those runs whether it was a tempo run, easy run or long run. So I’m sharing the features that I used most for both training and to help me with recovery.
Custom Workouts & Training Calendar
I decided I wanted to go old school with my training and follow a paper plan from London Marathon themselves. I used the beginner plan and adjusted it my decision of using a run / walk strategy.
At the beginning of each week, I would create my sessions in the Garmin app using custom workouts including a warm up, my main set and cool down along with any instructions I would need for specific intervals.
It’s super quick and easy to build your workouts, then sync them to your Garmin Forerunner 165. You can also add the workouts to specific days so on that day you simply go to ‘run’, start the session and the watch asks you if you want to do the workout scheduled.
When I needed to juggle things around, it was simply a case of moving them around in the calendar which would just re-sync with the watch.
Race Predictor
Having never run a marathon before, I had no idea what time to expect to complete the event in, but Garmin had my back.
On the app, under Performance Stats, you can find the Race Predictor where you can see the times your watch based on data from your previous weeks of running, thinks you should be able to run the 5km, 10km, Half Marathon an Marathon distance.
I used this to help me figure out training paces, especially for speed sessions.
I loved tracking these predictions as the father I got into training, and the fitter I got, the more my predicted times reduced. Of course there are so many factors that go into a race time other than fitness, but I think it’s a pretty good way to see what you’re capable of.
You do of course need to consistently track your runs and other data to allow the watch to get as accurate a prediction as possible.
Built-in GPS & Heart Rate Monitoring
This probably goes without saying but tracking my runs using the built-in GPS allowed me to keep track of my distances each week, elevation and also training load from the wrist based heart rate measurement.
Having this data meant that when it uploaded to Strava, I was able to keep an eye on my overall training load each week to ensure I didn’t overtrain.
With the Forerunner 165 you can also sync routes from Strava and other platforms to your watch. Find then under Run > Navigation > Courses, load it up and the watch navigates you along the route. It’s actually mad that you get this feature at the price point of the Forerunner.
Morning Report & Sleep Monitoring: Recovery in One Glance
Whilst I do like to take data like Body Battery, HRV etc with a pinch of salt, they can be a valuable start point for recovery.
For example, when my HRV goes outside of the optimal zone, or my Body Battery is super low, that’s usually a sign that more rest is needed. In situations like those, I’d juggle my sessions around and switch out anything high intensity- like a speed session – for something less so.
The Garmin Forerunner even provides you with a morning report which gives you an overview of your sleep complete with sleep score and a breakdown of your sleep stages. And thanks to nap detection, even power naps count toward recovery, which increases your Body Battery.
I feel like I’ve barely even scratched the surface of everything this smart watch can do, but it’s fun exploring your device and finding what features you personally like, will use, and will be of benefit to you.
If you’ve got a favourite feature that I haven’t mentioned, leave a comment below to share it!
Elle
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