Ben Shoemate's Notebook

I just got the Garmin Forerunner 205 — I didn’t need the heartrate monitor in the 305 — and now they go and launch this touch-sensitive 405. Drives me nuts!

Runners can track their speed, distance, heart rate and location accurately and effortlessly, and the revolutionary patent-pending touch bezel on the face of the watch makes navigating the options easier than ever. Simply by tapping, holding or running a finger along the bezel, runners can begin a new workout, access their training history or challenge a Virtual Partner™. The Forerunner 405 makes training with a Virtual Partner easy and efficient. Runners can adjust the Virtual Partner’s pace without stopping in the middle of a workout, and the Virtual Partner is always on and ready for a challenge.

The Forerunner 405 is water-resistant (IPX7) and can be used outdoors or indoors (with an optional foot pod), making it the ultimate year-round, all-weather training tool. And the high-sensitivity GPS receiver sustains satellite reception, whether you’re tackling a trail or jogging through the urban canyons of skyscrapers. When a heart-rate monitor is used, the Forerunner 405 helps athletes train in their optimal range of effort. An optional speed/cadence bike sensor helps cyclists monitor their pedaling cadence and wheel speed. At only 60 grams and available in two colors – black and sage green – the Forerunner 405 fits in at the gym, the office or out on the town.

Once the workout is done, the training is far from over. Using ANT+Sport technology, the Forerunner 405 sends workout data to the user’s computer via automatic wireless data transfer. There’s no need to take off the watch or bother with cables as the computer automatically syncs with the Forerunner 405 as soon as the user enters the room. And the data transfer is a two-way street. Runners, joggers, cyclists and hikers can send courses, goals and workouts to their Forerunner 405 before they begin, and then the data gets sent back to the user’s computer when the workout is over. Athletes can log their workouts, track their totals, set goals, share workouts with coaches, friends and family and participate in an online fitness community at Garmin Connect™ — Garmin’s online training site (connect.garmin.com) previously known as MotionBased. Users can also share courses and workout data from one Forerunner 405 to another through wireless data transfer.