I recentlyreviewed the Forerunner 265, Garmins $499 running watch.
(Thats five kilometers, or 3.1 miles.)
I enjoyed the training and ended up clocking my best 5K time in years.
Let me tell you about how it went, and how you might potentially have a similar experience.
That shortest distance, the 5K, is a commongateway to racing for beginners.
Ive run plenty of 5Ks, but none recently.
I did always enjoy them more than longer races.
What better way to test the watch’s training plans than to try one myself?
I made it through, and had a great time on race day.
In the app, you’ve got the option to set up workouts in several ways.
you might create workouts and add them to your calendar.
The workout you added will pop up when you begin a run from your watch on that day.
it’s possible for you to download or sync a training plan from another app or source.
For example, theRunnaapp can add workouts to your Garmin calendar.
These last two are what people usually mean when they talk about Garmin training plans.
Theres one more way to get workouts from your Garmin watch, sort of.
The adaptive training plan is only available if you have a watch with weekly DSW.
Garmin has afull list of compatible watches here.
The adaptive training plan is basically an app-friendly version of the daily suggested workouts.
Each plan has a minimum and maximum number of training weeks, which will differ from plan to plan.
The adaptive plan, on the other hand, will work no matter when your race is.
If its far in the future, youll just get non-specific workouts until race day is closer.
Coach Jeff will use run/walk intervals, for example (heskind of famous for it).
The adaptive plans have none of that.
Theres no named coach, no videos with tips or encouragement.
That tells me Im on track.
If I slide into the orange zone, I know Im slacking.
In the adaptive plans, theres no confidence gauge.
(This is the main thing I miss when using the adaptive plans.)
That said, watches that support the adaptive plans also tend to have a race predictor feature.
you’ve got the option to access this through the app or through a glance on the watch.
So you’ve got the option to check at any moment to see your predicted time.
What the first few workouts look like
Theres one more big difference.
Thats what I see right now on a Coach Greg 5K plan.
There are no benchmarks or time trials built in.
Theyll just be hidden.
On the 265, press the middle left button and select Training to view your suggested workouts.
With the adaptive plan, your plan and the daily suggested workouts are one and the same.
On the adaptive plans, you cant reschedule workouts for the future.
Youcando a future workout today, though.
And if you skip todays workout, theres a good chance it will show up again in the future.
As far as I can tell, this doesnt happen with the expert plans.
Theyre geared for the specific race you set them up for.
Race distances
The expert plans are available for 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and marathon races.
The adaptive plans can be geared toward a race or personal goal of any distance.
(For example, you might be assigned to do an easy run at 10:30 minutes per mile.)
The assigned workout for that day will pop up.
(Anything above 66% is considered good.)
Theres no penalty for a poor execution score, or even for skipping a run.
I was just trying to build up mileage and be more consistent with my running habit.
At first I picked a 10K plan with Coach Amy, but honestly…it wasnt for me.
At least not for my current stage of training.
There were threshold workouts that asked me to hold a too-fast pace for too long, and Ihatedthem.
I ended up quitting the plan, and just using the daily suggested workouts for a while.
I didnt follow them religiously; if a workout looked fun or interesting, I did it.
If it looked miserable, I didnt.
I said to myself.
Theres ahalf-marathon in a cool placein October.
I dont want to do a half this year, but they have a four-mile option.
Maybe Ill sign up for the four-miler.
I started to have dreams of winning an age-group medal.
Well, now that I had an actualgoalrace, I figured Id try the coaching plan again.
I still skipped a few of the gnarlier threshold runs.
18 minutes at 5K pace?
But that cute little sprint workout with the 15-second bursts and long recoveries?
Thats fun, Ill do that one any time it pops up.
Even with this imperfect training, my predicted 5K time kept dropping.
I lucked out: there were two options.
The night before my race, my watch predicted a 25:50 finish time.
I ran the race, and finished in 26:04.
Preferences vary, so you may find that what bothers me may not bother you.
Still, this is my personal advice.
Thats true no matter which throw in of plan you choose.
Theres no way to know in Week 1 what awaits you in Week 8.
Theyre quick to recover from, and they cost, what, 25 bucks to enter?
You shouldnt find that out the hard way.
So my advice is to give yourself a big-picture target or two for guidance.
Aweekly mileage targetis a good one, since mileage is one of the biggest drivers of progress in running.
(For me, that was 20 to 30 miles.)
The other thing to remember is that you know your body better than any app.
If you need an extra rest day or an easy run instead of a workout, take it.
The plan will adapt.
