For those of you like me that take a break from running in the winter months; it’s time to dust off the running shoes and get back into the swing of things. Spring is right around the corner. For the last two years I’ve used my iPhone with some type of running app to track my distance, pace and overall time. That tends to get frustrating at times because I would sometimes hit the screen while running which would stop the app, I would just get sick of holding the damn thing while running or if it started to rain that would pose an issue.

This year I have potentially solved that issue by purchasing a Garmin Forerunner 10. This is more or less an entry-level running watch which is fine with me. I don’t need all the fancy features. All I personally want to keep track of is distance and pace. The Garmin Forerunner 10 does just that; keeps it simple.

When you turn the watch on for the first time the time and date automatically set based on your GPS location. It’s extremely easy to navigate through the settings to set your weight and preferred distance metrics (I chose miles).

From there to start the GPS for a running session all you need to do is press the button on the upper right of the watch and the GPS will acquire the satellites. Once that is complete press the button again to begin your run. When you are finished with your run, simply press the same button and you will be presented with the stats of your run.

When the watch is not in use you have the ability of turning it off to preserve the battery. When the battery becomes low you can simply recharge it using he included USB cable.

I’m going to continue to use this watch with my runs this spring and summer. I’m going to include some trail runs to see how well the GPS does in the woods as well as running in the rain to see how well the watch stands up to that. It should do fine based on the water resistance level, but you never know until you try. Stay tuned…

Gear shown in this article:

Garmin Forerunner 10 GPS Watch

Under Armor Running Shoes

Blade Rigs Guppy Knife (I always run with this blade)

This article was originally published on the Loadout Room and written by Scott Witner