Garmin 220 Product Review

            I won two fantasy football leagues this past season. One is an eight-team league I’ve been playing in for 15 years that costs nothing to play. The other league is far and away the one I care about most, and it costs $20 to play. The cost doesn’t matter—I spend 20 bucks on a lot of things that are worse than this. I won that league and scored $140 for winning the championship (thanks to Marshawn Lynch), the semifinal, plus my division.

            So I had some winnings burning a hole in my pocket. I used the skrilla to buy a new Garmin 220, taking advantage of some discounts available through work. It replaced my old G 405, which I used for almost five years, roughly 3500 miles, two marathons, and three halfs.

            I love this watch. It’s much easier to use and navigate. There is no bezel so there’s no wondering whether I’ll get to the screen I want. Everything is so accessible when I’m out there on the road. Currently I seem to like having the auto lap set to 0.62 miles because it lets me know what my 1K splits are, but I think I’ll soon go back to my old favorite of 0.5 mile splits.

            I’ve also got my heart rate data back, since my old monitor syncs with the watch. It took a few weeks for me to realize, however, that the watch won’t search for it unless it’s activated in settings.

            The time, pace, average pace, and distance are carryovers—things I still use midrun.

            A new feature is that the 220 keeps track of my cadence, or the number of footstrikes per minute. Previously I would’ve had to buy a foot pod to measure this data. Now it’s readily available. Right around 180 total strikes per minute is what’s recommended, and I’ve usually been around 178, which is a remnant of keeping track of it while bored on the treadmill. So it’s not a big thing for me, but it’s good to check occasionally.

            The old 405 had a wireless connection for uploading runs, and things weren’t always readily uploaded. Maybe it was more about the age of the computer. But I have a new computer to go with my new watch, and all I need is a USB port when my watch goes into its dock, and the run shows up pretty immediately. I don’t have to guess anymore.

            I’ve worn this watch for nearly two months and 122 miles (along with my new green RoadID that I don’t leave home without). I am a big fan of its simplicity and ease of use when running.