Garmin Forerunner 301 Personal GPS with Heart Rate Monitor

Wrist unit shows you where you've been, how fast you're going and how hard you're working

By Charlie White

If you?re a walker, runner, biker, or if you engage in any other sport that requires you to move from one place to another, there?s a high-technology tool that helps you keep tabs on your workouts. Not only does the Garmin Forerunner 301 Personal GPS with Heart Rate Monitor ($325 retail, $210 street) know where you are and how fast you?re going, it knows how hard your heart is working, too. Packed into this wrist unit is a GPS receiver, along with a heart monitor that receives signals from a device strapped around your chest. What will they think of next?

Just the thought of a receiver that?s small enough to wear on your wrist that can communicate with satellites seems miraculous to me. When I first unpacked the Forerunner 301, it didn?t seem possible for it to work at all. After waiting three hours for it to charge up, I took the unit outside, following the instructions for acquiring satellite signals. In the middle of its 1½-inch wide screen, there was a little graphic that notified me that it was acquiring satellite signals. I couldn?t help but think to myself, ?gee whiz.? After about five minutes, during which the graphic?s indicator had been moving back and forth, the display suddenly changed, showing me how far I?d walked and what my pace was. It was communicating with the satellites. Wow. Next, I decided to strap the Forerunner?s heart monitor around my waist. Following the instructions to place it just below my rib cage, in just a few seconds the Forerunner had acquired its signal, too. So there it was, telemetry on how my heart was beating and where I was in space. All was working beautifully.

My first impression of the Garmin Forerunner 301 was of a rugged, high-tech unit that would be suitable for the rigors of everyday exercising, or even for use on a battlefield. In fact, Garmin products are a favorite with US troops in Iraq, because of their hardy construction and accuracy. Garmin has also made a name for itself with full-sized GPS devices that are commonly used in vehicles. Even though the Forerunner represents a marvel in miniaturization, the wrist unit is still rather large, about 3¼ inches wide and 1¾ inches tall. It?s also about two thirds of an inch thick, so if you want to wear this unit on your wrist under a business suit or long-sleeved shirt, it probably won?t fit underneath the sleeve. On winter days you might want to wear it outside your clothes, on top of your coat sleeve, and Garmin has included a wristband extender so you can easily do just that. Keep in mind, though, this is not a wristwatch. In fact, even though it can show you the time-of-day in one of its modes, it?s not intended to be a timepiece at all. The unit is so big compared to a watch that if you actually wore it for everyday use you would certainly be accused of major geekyness. No, this is an all-business, specialized scientific instrument for measuring performance and gathering data in the field.

The heart monitor strap is also quite businesslike, and it?s easy to put it around your waist and get it working quickly. (By the way, you can get the Garmin Forerunner 201 which is the same unit without the heart monitor functions?it costs about $100 less) Its elastic band that holds it in place is sufficiently stretchy, and can be expanded to accommodate even the heftiest athletes. Once I got it adjusted to the proper size, it proved itself to be quite comfortable and after a few minutes I forgot I was wearing it. 

After its initial acquisition of satellite signals, the next time you use the Forerunner it only takes about 45 seconds to establish communication with those satellites. Its large display does an excellent job of showing all the data it?s gathering. An extra convenience is its back light, and after you?ve used it the first time in a session, it will illuminate with the push of any button, staying on for about 10 seconds. On its main screen, a common stopwatch dominates the display at the top. At the top right is a small icon which displays your heart rate. The bottom left of the display indicates the pace at which you are running/walking/biking, and the bottom right of the display tells you the distance you?ve traveled. The push of the down arrow button takes you to more detailed information about lap pace, lap time and lap distance, and another push shows you your current and average heart rate. There?s also a screen where have the Forerunner display custom data.

The real fun starts when you?re done with your run, walk, or other exercise activity. Bringing the Forerunner inside and stopping the stopwatch, you then plug the unit into its included USB cable. This cable not only charges the battery that?s good for 13 to 14 hours of use before you need to charge it again, it serves as a conduit for the data between the Forerunner wrist unit and its Training Center software on your PC. By the way, there?s also an AC adapter you can use to charge the unit if you?re away from your computer.

The Forerunner wrist unit can store two years? worth of data, which can be downloaded into your computer in just a few seconds. The software is started automatically as soon as you plug in the Forerunner, and it asks if you would like to send its data history into the program. When you do, you?re presented with a well-organized screen (see graphic below) with a calendar and your assorted historical data sets on the left side of the screen, and on the right there?s a map that shows the exact route you?ve taken on the top, and on the bottom is a versatile graphing system that allows you to compare two sets of coordinates with each other. For example, you can have one index indicating your pace, and the other indicating your heart rate. Or, you can have one index showing the elevation of where you went, and the second index showing your speed.