My brain was very wrong + Garmin 265s review!

(Shorts, top, shoes)

I swear.  The workouts that I don’t think twice about leading up to them because I think they will be short kill me the most.  I guess my brain was already well into taper mode, thinking everything would be easy breezy. <— That also made me think this one would be easier than it was…

I’m glad I couldn’t see all of the frost on the track until the end of the workout when the sun came up, ha.

We did a 2.5-mile w/u, 2 miles @ 6:25 pace (both miles slightly uphill, which began the frying of my legs), 5 minutes of easy running, and then started our track workout:

6 x 800m (2:57 average), 90 seconds easy, 400m (1:25 average), 2 minutes easy

And then, once those were done, it was 6 x 200m (41 second average) w/200m recovery jogs.

13.5 miles total, and after months of many marathon-paced effort miles, this short, fast stuff hurt more than expected.  I am pretty sure my core was the most exhausted part of me by the end.

I’m listening to the Comfort Crisis right now, and when I wanted to quit this workout during the first interval—> I kept reminding myself that my life is way too comfortable (heaters, cars, access to food etc) and that we aren’t meant to live so comfortably.  I have to force the lack of comfort in my entire body at the track early on a Tuesday morning with friends.

When I got home, Brooke wanted me to come out and hang with her while she skateboarded.  I added about six layers, and I was good to go.

Andrew went to his first CrossFit class with some friends who invited him. I have a feeling this is going to be his new thing!

Sometimes I make my green smoothie in my room to avoid the chance of the blender waking up Beck before he is ready to wake up.

The Garmin 265s!!  I was going to wait until after my race to review the 265s, but I couldn’t wait because I am so in love with it.

So, today, I am talking about the ten reasons why I love this watch:

1.  I keep forgetting I am wearing it.  It actually scares me because I think, ‘Oh dang it, I forgot my watch, and if my workout doesn’t upload to Strava, then it didn’t happen,’ but then I realize I am wearing it when I look down.  It is so ridiculously light compared to any other watch I have ever worn… just 39 grams!  It feels so soft and light against my skin, which has me sold.

2.  The screen.  It is so bright, and whether I am running in the pitch dark or as light as can be, I can see every little number easily.  I didn’t realize how much I would love this feature until I had it, but it makes glancing down to look at your pace the easiest thing ever.  The person next to you running could probably even read from it, too—> That’s how bright it is!  Even though the face is smaller than any watch I’ve used in the past, it is the easiest for me to read off of.

3.  I can listen to music directly from my watch and control the music on my phone with my watch.  I like that a lot.  (It’s a common feature of many different Garmin watches, but it’s great, especially in the winter when you do not want to remove your gloves and get your phone out to change the song).

4.  The battery life is up to FIFTEEN days, even on smartwatch mode!  This is much longer than any of my other watches.

5.  About 8ish years ago, I had a touchscreen Garmin, and I swore them off forever after that one because it drove me crazy… Until this one.  I still mostly use the buttons on the watch, but the touchscreen is surprisingly responsive and easy to swipe through.

6.  Back to the brightness (clearly a big deal to me), I am obsessed with the color display.  It just adds more excitement to my life as I’m going through every piece of information on the watch (wow, I sound cool;).  There are so many different watch faces to choose from, and I find this extra detail a fun perk.

7.  So far, I can’t find any functions on the 265s I am missing after using the Fenix 6s for about five years… The 265s is $449, and the Fenix that I had is $799.  I ADORE the Fenix also, but this is a cheaper option.

8.  Garmin Connect has always allowed me to track my period, but now I can have it all on my watch and not have to go to the app!  It also has a pregnancy tracker and can show your baby’s gestational age/size and some tips for that point in pregnancy.  I am ALL about more information on our cycles and women’s health being accessible, and it’s great to have it on my watch.

9.  It charges much faster than my previous watches.  Maybe that is because it is still pretty new, but it absolutely gasses up so quickly.

10.  The morning report is a favorite.  It shows me the weather, how I slept, and my morning recovery. <–Another feature on many of their watches, but I like the look of it all more on this one. I also love that it reminds me how long until my next race, my goal for the race, and also the predicted weather for race day (so far, it is looking great:)

The technology has changed a bit over the years but this 305 was sure reliable!

Who has tried CrossFit?

What watch do you use, and what do you love about it?

Run/workout that you went into thinking it would be a breeze, but then it wasn’t?

What are you reading right now?