I always suspected that I had let my physical fitness slide over the years. Perhaps crawling off the ice at the weekly hockey game was an indicator. With the Garmin Forerunner 301, I now have quantified proof that I am in fact, Homer Simpson. For amateur and pro athletes—or anybody with the desire to get in shape—the Forerunner 301 definitely keeps you on track, in more ways than one.

Enjoy the Outdoors
The Forerunner isn't designed for the gym bound, though it certainly can act as a basic timer and heart monitor. Its true home is in the outdoors where the Forerunner's GPS capabilities flex its muscles. Track your speed, distance, or drop electronic breadcrumbs to find your way back home. The Forerunner records your location, speed, and heart rate every second with enough memory for two years of data, depending on the vigorousness of your workout. The battery, on the other hand, will keep you working out for around 14 hours between charges.

The large 1.44 by 0.92 inch display shows three different metrics at a time with multiple screens to scroll through. See everything from your performance during your entire workout, just on the current lap to how much time you've been resting. A custom section allows you to select from a slew of other metrics like heart rate zone, terrain grade or calories burned.

The Forerunner comes with three modes: "Biking," "Running," and "Other." You can modify settings for each activity, but the information displayed differs depending on the activity. For example, "Running" mode displays your pace per mile where "Biking" shows your miles per hour. Heart rate zones, speed zones, and equipment weight are all adjustable for each and there's a custom screen to display whatever three items you want. "Other" mode lets you program another activity, say inline skating.

My favorite feature and biggest nemesis is the Virtual Partner that keeps a constant pace. Set a pace and your digital buddy runs with you, taunting you as you chase him down. A little friendly competition when you're without a training partner.

Thinking For You
The Forerunner automatically learns your heart rate and modifies the zones accordingly, a feature called AutoLearn. Heart rate zones are typically a percentage of your maximum heart rate. For example, zone 1 by default is 50-60 percent of your maximum heart rate, zone 2 is 60-70 percent, and so on. As a rough estimate The American Heart Association calculates your maximum as 220 beats per minutes minus age. For more personalized zones, the Forerunner's AutoLearn calculates zones based on your Lactate Threshold. Unfortunately, AutoLearn only works with the Running setting and won't be available in Biking or Other modes.

There's Auto Pause, so there's no pretending you ran for 30 minutes when you spent 15 minutes waiting for street lights. There's also the Auto Lap feature that places digital markers at specific distances for easier data analysis.

It's All PC
All that information doesn't mean a thing without being able to analyze it. That's where Training Center, a Windows-based application, comes into play. Download your workout through USB and see exactly where and when you hit the wall. Did you stay within your heart rate zone? How fast were you? It's all useful information for the perfect workout.

The Training Center goes one better by allowing you to program your own workouts. From setting a pace for that five mile jaunt after work or creating an interval program to slowly bring your heart rate up, hit it hard, and then slowly bring it down.

Set up your routines and then schedule them on the calendar before transferring everything to the Forerunner. Now all you have to do is follow the schedule for the day.

The Bottom Line
The Garmin Forerunner 301 is on my products wish list. I find endurance training an agonizingly boring experience even with my MP3 player in hand. With the Forerunner and the data it provides during and after the run, exercising becomes much more enjoyable. Now I can literally see the improvement both physically and on the computer screen. I'd recommend the Forerunner 301 to any outdoor enthusiast dedicated to endurance training or just looking for motivation to keep in shape.

Pros: Virtual Trainer; Measure Numerous Metrics; PC Based Data Analysis;

Cons: AutoLearn for Running Only;

Company: Garmin
Price: $255-$299 Street Price
Available: Now