Fitness

Smashed my Half Marathon PB

Some Marathon Runners

Hardly a groundbreaking update, but finally some black-on-white evidence that the fitness regime is paying off. Yep – I smashed my personal half marathon record, and also bagged my longest ever run. Very pleased with this.

CooSpo Heart Rate Monitor Review

CooSpo HRM H6 product box

I finally ended a 2 week period of iffy training stats by replacing the Garmin HR chest strap that died on me, and here’s a few words on the replacement product I’ve chosen as my daily activity heart rate monitor: cheap, accurate, compatible.

Garmin Fenix Optical Heart Rate Test

Back of Garmin Fenix 5 Plus Sapphire Titanium

My Garmin chest strap finally died. Originally bundled with the 920XT I purchased back in August 2015, I’ve been using the HRM-RUN on average three or four times a week without issues, but after two intermittent failures during road rides…

Garmin 3D Speed & Distance Test

Garmin Fenix 5+ in front of some trees

Not really sure if you should be using the 3D Speed or 3D Distance activity settings on your Garmin fitness watch? Me neither. But I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in the mountains recently, and with so much geography at my disposal felt it might be time for a little controlled experiment.

End2End Mountain Bike Race

Small image showing some mountain bikers at the start of a race

A couple of photos and some light reflection on my first ever formal mountain bike race, this year’s End2End challenge on the Isle of Man. This one’s been on my radar for quite a while now, but I’ve always found an excuse to duck out. Not any more.

First Lap of the Island

Map of Isle of Man showing an outline of the ride taken

Another box ticked, another itch scratched: ride around the Isle of Man in one go. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, and seeing as it wasn’t a race I took plenty of photos along the way. One or two of them may feature a bike …

Travelling Light(er)

Photo of an iPhone XS next to a Garmin Fēnix 5 Plus

In the never ending quest to reduce the size of my travelling kit I’ve found two new solutions, two reasons to leave the laptop at home more often: a keyboard that lets me type well using my phone, and an app that lets me plan hikes or runs for use with my Garmin fitness watch.

Garmin Fenix 5 Plus

A selection of Garmin Fenix 5 Plus fitness watches

By no means an in-depth review, this is a page of my experiences after two weeks with Garmin’s new fitness wearable, the Fēnix 5 Plus. I take a look at the device’s performance with particular emphasis on heart rate monitor and GPS, and touch on some of the other observations while walking, hiking, running, and cycling using this £749 premium wearable.

Garmin Forerunner 920XT

My first foray into the world of fitness watches, I’m counting on this geeky chunk of (ahem) red plastic turning me into a lean, mean running machine. Included are some notes from a true beginner’s point of view and some basic retrospect comparisons to Apple Watch.