Open water test for Garmin 310XT

First, let me say that this watch is an attention grabber. My friend, a fellow triathlete, IN noticed it immediately before the swim leg of the OSIM tri. So some free advertisment for Perfect Watch.

Second, the erratic GPS tracking that I observed at the pool continued on the open water swim. The swim route of 750m was captured as 1.83 km. And if you believed the GPS tracking, I swam in zig-zag fashion all the way.

I'd be the first to acknowledge that I am not a good swimmer and I'd to sight and change course frequently. But I believe the tracking error on the swim is quite large.

Also, the elevation measure is unreliable. Apparently I went 40 m under sea level at one point and did not drown.

So my 1.5 km swim was recorded as 4.19 km. :(

View swim on Garmin connect.

The HR capture was good once I exited from the water. So no issue there. And it was a breeze thereafter. The GPS tracking for the cycling and run legs were spot on.

Next question I had was how well the synchronization upload would work. In the past, I had some trouble uploading multisport workouts from the FR305. The good news is that this time around, it was fuss free. The three legs were uploaded as three different events. No problem whatsoever.

So the good news is that the Garmin 310XT works well as an all-in-one watch for triathlons, but not one that I would necessarily want to rely on for data capture features while on the swim. But then, won't it be nice to record HR, swim pace, etc for the swim leg?

Garmin 310XT: first impressions

After months of waiting, I finally got my hands on the Garmin 310XT. It's smaller but slightly heavier than the Forerunner 305, but the display is clearer with adjustable backlight. The display screen is about the same. A solid feel to it. Comes with the wireless ANT transmitter for synchronizing.

The HRM is different from the non-water proof HRM. It is similar to the newer Polar HRM - the HRM device is a small 2x1" attachment that secures to the belt. Lighter than Polar's HRM, felt rather plasticey.

There is a running activity, three biking activities and one others (with a ski pix, but I use it for swim). Does this mean that I can have three bikes? Perhaps a mountain bike? Each bike can be customized for weight and tracked for mileage. Nice.

I fancy that the satellite tracking is much faster than the 305. And there's a transition when switching screens - like a ppt transition.

So how does it perform in workouts? I only had the chance to bring it out for a ride yesterday (30k), and it performed no differently from the 305. This evening I swam with the 310.

Kinda felt silly with a HRM belt around my chest while doing laps in the pool, but all in the name of fair testing. First, the HRM does not work under water. Pop out of water, and the 310 immediately picks up the heart rate. Go back in, and the blanks come back on.

Second, the distance reading was way off. After one lap (50m), the watch registered 600m. I attribute this to the satellite tracking error. This meant that the auto lap function is useless while swimming in the pool. Other than these two hiccups, the watch worked well ... it IS waterproof, but I have yet to bring it to 50m depth! :) But that would be scuba diving, wouldn't it?

View lap swim on Garmin connect.

Getting the data transfered to Garmin Connect was quite straightforward. But have to first download the Garmin ANT agent program. Plug in the wireless receiver, and as long as the 310 is within 10m, it'll sync.

What else? The other features are pretty standard - virtual partner, location markers, back to start, customizable display fields, auto lap, auto pause, auto scroll, cadence sensor... oh yes, there's a power feature. I guess it is for power taps. Not there yet... too expensive.

Next, to test the multi sport feature on Sunday. Stay tuned. :)

Read my open water test for the 310XT.

Garmin 310XT not available through Sin dealer

The Garmin 310XT (also known as the Garmin 310CT) was launched in the US this month. I have been eagerly anticipating the launch. So I called up the Garmin dealer to find out when the 310 will be available.

Much to my chagrin, I found out that the dealer will NOT be bringing the 310 into Singapore. No explanation was offered.

How about that?

Update on July 21: Called another dealer today, and to my relief, they informed me that they will be bringing in the 310XT in about three weeks time. As for pricing, I'll have to call them next week. A number of my buddies and I can't wait to get our hands on the 310!

Update on July 30: Navicom has brought in the new Garmin 310XT! And I just picked one up at Perfect Watch for SGD699. A little expensive, but hopefully worth the money. Will update with review subsequently.

For recent updates, please see my August posts.

Garmin Forerunner 310XT

Scheduled for launch in 2Q this year, the Garmin Forerunner 310XT is designed for the triathlete. It is a prettier version of the Garmin Forerunner 350 and most importantly of all, it is water proof to 50m. In addition, the battery life is supposedly 20 hours, double that of the FR 350. Enough for an IM!

Size and weight: slightly smaller than the FR350, and slightly lighter as well. But nicer design:


Price USD349 (USD399 with HRM)

TLog: 24 km long run - objective unaccomplished

Cool evening, supposed to rain late afternoon, but the sky held up in the eastern part of the island. Switched run from Thu to today as I wanted to cycle tomorrow and keep Sun free. This is an evening run, as opposed to my normal morning runs.

The good news: (1) managed to keep HR below 140 for first 9 km as well as the second 9 km... hard cap in both cases (ok, perhaps 1 or 2 above 140, but this is the best by far in terms of HR).

(2) First tempo run at 5:45 and 5:39 for 10 and 11 km resp. Better than the 11:35 target. Second long run was good. Hard cap at 140 HR maintained... had to walk 500 m after first tempo run to bring HR down sufficiently to maintain the cap. It worked.

(3) Found some rthyme from the strides, even when going slow. Concentrated on the lean and kick back. Kick back wasn't high as pace was slow, but if I focused on the kick back motion and arm swing, I can improve my pace even without higher HR. This is a good outcome, I think. Was able to go below 8 min/km for km 4 to 9 even while keeping HR < 140. And also for 14, 15 and 17 km.

Now the bad news. Second tempo run fell short of target. 5:51 and 5:55 for 21 and 22 km. Had to break for road crossing after 300m on 23 km (I was actually quite relieved to have to wait for the traffic!). What's more the Garmin had a problem ... system autodown or sthg. So that broke my tempo .. anyway, the truth was that I was running out of steam then. Miserable 7:19 for 23 km. Way off the target of 17:30 (5:46 pace) for the three km! :(

Felt tired after this run, unlike previous long runs. Found this to be a hard run in spite of better slow pace run.