Upgraded

Despite my attraction to data, I resisted getting a GPS watch for quite a long time.

Mostly because I hadn't been training anywhere interesting enough to need one. 
I fixed that.

It wasn't until April of 2016 - seven and a half years after I began to run, mostly just using the gmap pedometer website and a Timex (in)famous racing branded watch - that I picked up my trusty, faithful Garmin fenix 2.

Which got me going in all sorts of exciting new directions!

I trained for and ran my first more-than-50k ultra with it, and have had all sorts of off-road and backcountry adventures with it. The watch wasn't without its minor inconveniences: any activity longer than 3hrs - like most of my races - would not sync via bluetooth, so I'd have to hook it up via cable to a computer (or later via an adapter to my phone, using it as a removable storage device then uploading the file manually) in order to get the data from it. It would sometimes take quite a while to get a satellite lock, but that's in the nature of a GPS watch. It was nothing I couldn't deal with, especially since it gave me pretty solid data even when I went rambling off on tiny, unknown side trails..

When you see the sun highlighting a side trail, you go that way, whether you know where it goes or not.
It's a rule.

..or out across a lake.

I don't really paddle for training effect, but it's nice to know how far I went.

Well, I was getting decent data. That sort of changed recently.

I was ok with the quirks that started a few months ago. All of a sudden, the elevation and calories burned went what I can only describe as completely heckin' bonkers.

Um, no.

It was a bit annoying, but I mostly only wanted accurate GPS and time tracking data. Not to mention, for counting daily steps, tracking heart rate and sleep, and for a lot of my lunch runs, I was using a Garmin Vivosport. I relied on the long battery life of the fenix 2 to get me through long training days and races, though...but even that was becoming problematic.

When I ran the Sulphur Springs 100k in 2017, I had a little less than 10% of what had been a 98% full battery at the start remaining - so in GPS mode its useful life was about 16.5hrs, give or take. When I ran the Sunburn Solstice Full last year, I put it on charge by 10.5hrs in because I'd seen the battery nearly deplete itself when I ran the Tally in the Valley 12-hour night race in 2018. 

Powerbank in my pocket with my wrist tethered by the charging cable at Sunburn Solstice

The degradation of GPS time per charge was not totally unexpected - rechargeable lithium cells have a finite lifespan - but I was a little surprised to have lost a quarter of its capacity within two years. Part of the problem was I had no indication - other than the "low battery" warning that would vibrate my wrist when it was down to 10% - of remaining life while recording an activity. Still, I could have lived with all this, but suddenly a couple of weeks ago the GPS itself flaked out on me.

The red track is what the watch recorded - I drew in my actual starting pin, and my path of travel in blue.
I did not, in fact, run over the Grand River at 1:16/km pace.

I put it down to a single incident - the watch had told me it lost signal while I was under some tree cover, so fair enough - until the same thing happened again a week later - I'd been using the Vivosport for my lunch runs all week, so this was actually only the 3rd or 4th activity I recorded with the fenix after that first bit of incongruity.

I made sure I had satellite lock before I started, and the watch never told me it lost signal this time. However..

I started and finished at the same place, approximately where the red pin is.

This was getting frustrating. As much as I'd resisted looking at anything new - particularly as I'd only paid two hundred bucks for the fenix 2, which I knew was a once-in-a-lifetime score - I started poking around the internet to see what kind of deals might be out there. I will totally admit to being a bit enamoured with the newest version of my formerly trusty companion; there were all kinds of new features, far surpassing the combined capabilities of my Vivosport and fenix 2.

My timing was, once again, apparently impeccable. Instead of the usual $50-$100 off sale that Garmin offers during their Father's Day sale (which coincides with the arrival of summer weather in the northern hemisphere, and more people getting outdoors for training and adventures), they were offering a full $200 (almost 25%) off MSRP on the fenix 6. 

Make no mistake - it was still pricey, but between Tanker and my mum (both of whom spoil the crap out of me on a regular basis) telling me "you have a birthday coming soon" , plus the fact MEC was offering the same discount (which meant a Canadian company could get a bit of benefit from the sale)...well, a parcel arrived at my office for me yesterday. 

If you think I was waiting until the middle of next month to open it, you're nuts!

I did get the base model - I don't need wifi, maps, or music capabilities from a watch, and while the Pro Solar edition (which can recharge its battery via solar panels in the face) is quite attractive, it's also more than $1,500CAD after tax. Having only put one tiny nick in the face of my fenix 2 despite some rather hard usage (and some rather deep gouges in the bezel) while climbing via ferrata & backcountry camping, I was sure the gorilla glass of the base model fenix 6 would be just fine without the extra expense of a sapphire crystal.

Charging it up

Diving in to the setup, it became rapidly apparent just how much GPS/smartwatch technology has come along in the past 4 years. The full colour screen - which is almost twice the size of the fenix 2, despite the case of the watch being nearly the same dimensions - was just the start. There were a whole host of new features for me to play with!

YOU GUYS IT HAS SUP METRICS

Some things I hadn't even really expected had been improved by leaps and bounds.

I greatly appreciate that the "pause" screen now scrolls through the distance and time, so I no longer have to scream in anguish when I end up saving my workout at X.99km.

The display itself is so much fancier - a huge change from the almost exclusively alphanumeric output from its predecessor.

Little map with data when you're saved a workout - this was today's lunch walk.

Estimated recovery time - 5 hours for a half-hour walk?

Ok, I definitely was not expecting this kind of depth of analysis from a watch.

I got to take it out for a little trot around the neighbourhood last night after work, and I will say I'm not totally happy with everything about it. I dislike that I can't disable the vibration at each kilometer split without entirely turning off either auto lap or the vibrate function (which I want to leave on so it whirrs on my wrist when I'm supposed to get up off my butt and go for a stroll during the day) - in a long race, that's going to get old real quick, especially since kilometer markers on courses rarely match up with watches. At least I stopped it from going BLEEP at each kilometer; I've always been irritated hearing that from other people's wrists during race, so definitely didn't want it following me around permanently!

I've also figured out some other customization - gotta make it mine!

While it may be a little less reliable than I'd desire, the fenix 2 is still a pretty decent watch...so it's gone to Tanker, so he can have a means to record his paddling in his new kayak, plus any hiking and cycling we do. 

Pictured here trying it out while chasing me on my run last night, and trying to add to the elevation gain.

So hopefully I'm in for many happy years with my new toy - I can't wait to get it out for a nice romp through the woods this weekend!

'Cause this road running stuff just isn't doing it for me.

It feels like the end of an era, and I'm not totally happy that I now have a device (the Vivosport) sitting unused, since the fenix 6 has taken over all of its functions as well as the fenix 2's...but I'm pretty stoked about the new data I'll have to play with, even if I'm far too slow and indifferent a runner to make any reasonable use of it!

High performance runners don't necessarily get to stop and take photos of lovely sunsets, though, so on balance I'm ok with my mediocrity.

Hopefully eventually I'll actually be able to rebuild my strength and endurance enough to put the battery life and tracking through its paces, but in the meantime I am grateful that I have people who love me and spoil me with new toys to play with. 

Some day I may even be worthy of it!
Nahh, not likely.