Garmin Forerunner 305. Any experiences?

I need a new HRM and quite fancy a gps enabled device as a training tool for running as well as cycling. I’ve fallen into bad habits of late and have only been running two or three times in the last few months and thought one of these would provide me with some much needed motivation.

Any thoughts?

Good bit of kit. Mrs J has the 205 and I used to have the Edge 305.
Good for logging rides or runs and visualising progress re speed, distance, HR etc
If you use a mac try Ascent as logging software.

Yup, pretty good, the only complaint I have is that the speaker on mine has become a bit feeble – I think through salt corrosion from sweat through the speaker holes in the back. So as it happens about an hour ago I ordered a 310xt 🙂

Thanks for the replies. Think I’ll give it a punt for £85 😉

Bargain for that price. I have a 305 and have been running with a Garmin GPS for years now.
I am pretty low tech when it comes to running but I wouldnt be without it now. Dont use the HRM much though.
sportstracks software is very good as well.

My mistake 😳 £107 on Amazon is cheapest I could find. Gone for it anyway. Thanks for the replies chaps!

For that price it is amazing. I used mine for a couple of years, now have a 310xt…mainly that I wanted a longer battery life. Use it for everything, running, cycling, geocatching and navigating.

£107 at Amazon is still an amazing price, considering the technology it packs.

Awesome bit of kit, some prefer it to the newer 310xt, its a bargain at that price. Ive used one for 9 months or so- woulsnt be without now for training. Tough too, survived a bike crasg better than me last week!!

I gave about 50 quid more for mine and still vhappy with it.

In my experience it will defo give you motivation. To start with I just could not wait to get out and run or ride just to get something new uploaded. Having owed it for 5 months now, I enjoy using it as I run to keep an eye on my pace.

I’ve really ownly scratched the surface of what it can do.

Slight hi-jack, but one the OP can use, what’s your fav function and why?

Probably the cadence feature with the footpod, as I tend to watch this more than pace to stop over striding.
The virtual training partner is great too, but I don’t use it so often.

now have a 310xt mainly that I wanted a longer battery life

I have the forerunner 405 and am seriously considering going up to the 310XT, cheapest I have seen it is £202, for that reason as All day rides over 6 hours keep getting cut off at the end.

What is the real world run on the 310XT battery?

what’s your fav function and why?

Average pace. I have an 8 mile hilly mixed terrain route and when I can average sub 6 min mile I know I am getting into shape! 😀

When I can average a sub 6 mile, I know I’ve fallen off a big cliff 🙂

When I can average a sub 6 mile, I know I have taken the bus.

I’ve got a 310XT – amazes me how much can be crammed into a package that size. Can’t say I’ve run the battery down from 100% but the review/comments by Rainmaker suggests 20 to 30 hours.

Average pace is probably my fave’ function too, though the day my 310 tells me I’m sub 6 min/mile is the day it’s telling lies!

The virtual training partner is great too, but I don’t use it so often.

Thats a great feature as well. Especially as most training runs have faster and slower bits. Means if you fall back a bit you can try to make it up later etc.

I’ve the edge 305, great, but the keys regulalry clog with mud, stick it on the top tube near the headtube (the bars will protect it in a crash) and run some clingfilm round it.

It’s great, does everything I wanted, even use it as a sat-nav if you plan a route on google maps/earth before you go (althoyugh I did end up going to a training conference with work and having to arrive wet from the chest down after carrying the bike over my head through a “ford” at the end of a 2 mile decent!

Great piece of kit. Going strong 2 years later and i paid more than that for it. Sporttracks is also a great piece of software to use.

Quite excited about getting this now!

As above, top piece of kit.The virtual training partner is worth the price of it alone,it’s the best way to see you’re improving by racing against yourself….

I’ve not ran the battery on the 310xt down, but easily lasted kielder100. I switched to the 305 after 16hours during a 24solo as that was when I got changed. No idea if it would have lasted the race (it claims 20hours)

Sportstracks as mentioned before is great.

favourite function is probably the ability to follow a course, I use it all the time on road to get to where I am working (different places each week).