Garmin Fenix 5X Update

In Colorado while out on a mountain bike ride, I found myself saying, "As much as I hate my watch, I really like it." In a previous post, I ranted about the distance measurement inaccuracy, the trouble with getting maps for it, and the difficulty getting a computer to recognize it, but in fairness, the Garmin Fenix 5X is growing on me.

For starters, I like that I can have different settings for what is showing on the watch face for different activities. For example, when I am trail running, I have it show the overall time in the center, the largest number. On the top and bottom in smaller print, I have it show my lap pace and my distance, respectively. When I am mountain biking, I have it on the default settings, so it show my time, distance, elevation, elevation gain, And I have a ton of other options, like run, cross country skiing, rowing (which for me is kayaking), hiking, swimming, and more. When I look at the other data after a run or ride, it tells me whether the workout was maintaining, improving, or overreaching my aerobic and anaerobic fitness. I found this particularly useful when running at elevation in Colorado Springs. My second run there on my second full day, I did six miles and 1000 feet of elevation gain, and it told me I was overreaching. That told me I made the right decision in deciding to wait until Tuesday to do my long run, and also to do it on a rail trail.

I also like that I can see my heart rate at anytime, and also my heart rate profile over the last four hours. It will also tell me my recovery heart rate if I forget to get out of the run or bike screen. Of course I can also see my max heart rate and average heart rate for any given workout, which, again, I found useful in Colorado Springs. It helped me gauge my effort versus my perceived effort.

Some of the data the watch gives in Garmin Express; my watch itself when I review an activity will tell me that 4.1 is "significantly improving" my anaerobic fitness, and that 5.0 is "overreaching" my aerobic fitness. That information told me that I was struggling with getting enough oxygen, that the difficulty I thought I was experiencing with running at elevation wasn't just in my head. 

I haven't tried following a track yet, but I have put maps on it and transferred waypoints to it. I did that for the New Santa Fe Trail, but I kind of forgot to use it. Mostly, I wasn't sure how to get to the maps on it during a workout, so that is something I will still have to figure out. I wish I could find an expert to show me how to use it the way I want to. If I can figure out how to use it properly, I think I will actually really like it!