Things Break…Sometimes in Bunches

I love my Garmin 405. It has suffered with me through countless terrible runs and half-hearted efforts since I purchased it on Thanksgiving 2009.  Dark Atlas has seen eight states and even Paris, France.  It was with me for my 50M race, was with me for my marathon PR, and has carried me to three of my four consecutive BQs. 
 

But we are both getting older and sadly showing signs.  Myself, I have a mildly serious case of shin splints that may or may not be a stress fracture depending on a doctor’s diagnosis…which I have conveniently avoided.  I’ve had shin splints before, and always reduced my running and mileage to ensure they didn’t evolve (like a Mogwai into a Gremlin).  But this is the first time the pain in my right leg has forced me to take off primary runs (skipping a 8M tempo run and a 18M long run this past week).    In lieu of my long run, I did two hours on the elliptical on Saturday and then a three hour cardio session on today (elliptical, bike, elliptical); all pain free.  My hope is to make it through my speed workout on Tuesday and then maybe skip my tempo run and hopefully be pain free for my 20M next weekend.

 

Now, back to the important matter; Dark Atlas.  The battery lifespan is getting shorter and shorter.  A 20M all but exhausts the battery starting out on a full charge.  Worse, somehow the satellite reception is off, causing me to add about .02M to every mile I run.  Many times I’ve run next to Racer and her Garmin is right on while I keep adding hundredths.  Also, running my base 4M, 5M, or 7M routes all coming up about .02M per mile short. 

 

I’ve spoken to the fine people at Garmin and run completed both a satellite reset and a factory reset. Nothing solves the problem.  “They just get old and stop performing as well,” the Garmin representative told me.  Don’t we all. 

However, Garmin no longer makes the 405.  Or even the 410 for that matter.  They do make the 610, which I’ve never really loved and is perhaps more watch than necessary.  But the 210, which Racer owns, lacks a simple feature I really like…the ability to look at the individual laps of a run on the watch (the 210 requires you to download the run before you can dissect each mile).  The good news is that I can find new 405s and 410s online—relatively inexpensive. 

Or should I go with the Nike GPS?  Does anyone have this watch that really likes it?  Can you review your splits on your watch?  Is there anything annoying about the Nike GPS watch?

While I await your input, I will continue to be an elliptical god as I rest my leg.  Because there is little need for an aging Garmin on the elliptical.