Yes, 2019 is just a few weeks old and you made the commitment to get more physical for the New Year. Maybe the goal is to get in better, healthier shape, or lose some of that extra baggage you’ve been carrying around for a few years. In order to accomplish this, you’ve decided to put one foot in front of the other, at a quick pace by taking up running. Well, Good for You! But, do you know what you're getting yourself into?

Running is a sport, just like any other sport that you may watch on tv. But running is a personal, individual, one that basically pits you against yourself. Every time you lace up your shoes, you're going to be competing against your last time out, the distance you ran, how long it took you, how well you ended up. It’s all about how well your body is performing this time out, against the last time you set off, out the door.

Like any new endeavor that you want to commit to, you need to really commit to it! It must become a habit to you, a part of your life, that if you don’t do it, you’re going to have that nagging feeling hanging around you for the day, knowing that you missed your appointed time slot and that somehow you need to make it up!

Starting a new habit of any kind is hard, especially when it’s one you kind of dread can be a little scary. But the trick is, don’t go all in at the start and swear you’ll run six days a week if you’ve barely run before. Create a schedule and stick to it. Another specific that can set you up for failure is don't set unrealistic or hard to attain goals when starting out! This again is just going to set yourself up for failure. You can get to your ultimate goal, but you need to pace yourself and gradually build up your body's stamina and endurance to help you to get there and reach those goals. Most people that take up a running regimen fail because that want to reach that 5-mile mark without breaking a sweat.

First things first, running is probably one of the easier, more cost-effective sports to take up. After all, you basically just need a good, comfortable, while a supportive pair of running shoes. The outfits can come later but you need good running shoes to start, not a fashionable running outfit so you look good out on the road or trail!

The most surefire way to get the right shoes is to head to your local specialty running shop. They’ll put you on a treadmill and analyze your stride to match the right fit and style with how you naturally run. Listen to them, again, color and style do not mean a thing if you’re not wearing a supportive pair of shoes that can go the distance with you so that you’re not injuring your feet when your pounding that pavement, or mountain trail, if that’s the type of running you’re going to be doing. And if you are, then make sure you tell the shoe specialists that so they can fit you with the right terrain shoes for your run.

Remember up above we talked about goal setting? One of the best ways to keep you honest in making sure you really are attaining those preset goals of your is to track them. In order to track them, you need to monitor your daily runs and the best way to do that is with a good, reliable GPS enabled smartwatch/activity tracker. As the saying goes, the only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday. Now with technology getting better every day, you can measure this for real.

One brand of GPS watches that I like is from Garmin, and their slogan really sums up what I mentioned above. Their slogan is "Beat Yesterday" which with a personal sport like running, that’s really what it’s all about, right? Some GPS watches save your previous times for routes and workouts, giving you the chance to race a previous you. This way you can clearly see your improvements and get motivated to push yourself that little bit harder on every run.

A good beginner running watch that fits this to a "T" is the Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Watch. Which is a simple, easy to use GPS watch that tracks your steps, calories burned, the intensity of your run and can upload this data to an online community with its free app called Garmin Connect. With the aid of which you can summarily track your progress and if so, inclined can share this data with your running friends and see how you're doing against others. Which provides you with a little more of a competition against others instead of just against yourself. Which sometimes can be a great motivator to push yourself further, thus increasing your personal best! And unlike some other GPS watches, the Garmin Forerunner 35 also comes with a wrist-based heart rate monitor that monitors your heart rate without the need for a chest strap and lets you know just how well you're maintaining your heart rate rhythm while running and also at rest!

And the reliable GPS, which Garmin is known for quickly acquires satellites to track distance, speed, and location without requiring the use of your cell phone, so you have more portability without the need for a strong cell signal.

Keep in mind that you need to maintain a healthy diet, since your running, you’re going to need to eat the right amount of foods, some rich in carbs, fiber and of course protein. But knowing when to eat and what can be another topic for us to write about. Let’s just say you don’t want to eat a big meal before a run. A bagel, or a bowl of oatmeal, or a banana will do just fine. After all, you don’t want your body trying to digest a heavy amount of food when it should be working on breaking down what you’ve ingested into fuel, energy!

So, now that you have a few basics, go ahead and get those proper shoes, dress appropriately for the weather and strap on your Garmin Forerunner 35  and get out there and run!

What, you don’t know what Plogging is? Well, it’s a fairly new term that originated in Sweden. The word plogging fuses "plocka" and "jogga," meaning "picking (up)" and "jogging" in Swedish. Being as “Eco-Friendly” as the Swedes are, they combined these words to come up with another benefit besides becoming healthier when going out on a run, they pick up roadside trash and turn their solo run into a social event.

This new fad is gaining ground in the United States. After all, haven’t you frowned while your out there on a run and see a discarded coffee cup, or a soda or six-pack ring lying on the ground as you pass by? An avid runner, Colin Cooley co-founder of Wicked+, a creative and communications agency formed the plogging group Wicked+ Run Club as a way to bring together a group of local runners on a weekly basis and do some good. For their part, they pick up litter along their local beaches.

You too can participate in this new way to help the environment and “Mother Earth” at the same time. And yes, on this one day a week, your time and distance is probably going to drop off quite a bit, but everyone needs a “rest-day” when you can get out there and just enjoy a jog, instead of a fast-paced run. And why not ask a few friends to join you like Mr. Cooley did and pick a route that you know could use some care-taking attention. If you contact your local environmental agency, they may be able to supply you with bags to deposit the trash that you pick up along the way and coordinate a drop-off point where the agency can follow you at a later time or day and pick up what you have collected.

And there really are other fitness related benefits to beginning a running day of plogging. From a medical standpoint, plogging (or how about ‘plalking’, which would be walking and picking up litter) naturally emulates human body mechanics,” says Dr. Barbara Bergin, an orthopedic surgeon. “Our prehistoric ancestors walked long distances, and from time to time, would bend over to pick up fruit and nuts and bugs from the ground to eat.”

Plogging is multitasking in its best form. Dr. Bergin also notes the stretching benefits that the plogging may provide. “Bending overstretches the back, buttocks, hamstrings, and calves. Plogging is multitasking in its best form. And since your working a possible new route and probably depositing your bags of reclaimed litter from the day’s outing. You want to make sure you and your friends know just where you are in relation to the trail and your pickup/drop-off point.

If your friends are “game” once your free and clear of your bags of captured trash. There’s no reason you can’t make the distance back to your vehicles into a “Best Time” run. And using a GPS enabled running watch like the Garmin Forerunner 630  will let you know just where you are when you are. And this type of Smartwatch can be your constant fitness companion keeping track of all your important stats so that they’re available to you when you want them. And if you’d like to pick up the pace a bit more from your slower pace when you were picking up that trash, the Forerunner 630 provides you with advanced running dynamics¹ including ground contact time balance, stride length and vertical ratio. When your all participating in this Plogging adventure you can all upload your data to Garmin Connect and compare each other’s performance.

So are you ready to get your Plogging team together and do your eco-part to beautify your running route? Go ahead, get your friends involved and I bet your all going to feel pretty good about yourselves once your all sitting back in your cars with that satisfied smile on your faces.

Your Plogging companions here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com!

GPS running watches are fitness devices worn on the wrist that let runners measure and track their path of travel anywhere on Earth. This distinguishes GPS watches from other types of activity trackers, which typically use an accelerometer to measure movement (such as the number of steps taken).

For runners, this location data translates the number distance traveled and speed (pace), though many devices also track more advanced data.

While GPS watches are not necessary, many runners find them to be informative and use the data to help improve performance, both in training and racing. Watches like the Garmin’s  have a proprietary feature called Garmin Connect, which is your online training tool to store, analyze and share all your fitness activities. Garmin Connect will display a map, temperature, lap splits, a variety of graphs and your notes for every activity, depending on your device, accessories, and location. It’s everything you need to see what you’ve done and how you’re doing.

GPS watches have been a welcome addition to running, for a while now. The first was the Forerunner 101, introduced by Garmin in 2003. It was a relatively large, oval-shaped device that did not offer users the option to upload data for storage or analysis. Since then, GPS reception and battery life has improved significantly, and advances in the technology have allowed devices to get much smaller, making them more practical for everyday wear. And as mentioned above, with the Garmin Connect feature, you can analyze your own data, for your particular use, or upload it and share with a community of runners or friends and use it to compete against one another.

One of the latest Garmin GPS watches that can do everything for you except actually run by itself, is the Garmin Fenix 5 GPS Multi Sport Watch.  It can track 1000 waypoints, 30 routes and up to 200 hours of log tracking and up to 24 hours of GPS Mode operation or 75 hours in Ultra Trac Battery Saver Mode. As mentioned above, it features advanced GPS and GLONASS satellite reception to track in more challenging environments than GPS alone.

How GPS Works
GPS tracking devices contain a sensor, which receives signals continuously broadcast from satellites maintained by the U.S. Government’s Global Positioning System to ascertain a user’s exact location at various points of time. Using that data, the watch is able to determine a runner’s pace and distance traveled. There are at least 24 satellites circling the planet at all times. Once the watch locates at least three, its software is able to calculate a user’s position. The U.S. Air force claims the GPS system can be accurate to about 3.5 meters, though Garmin, one of the best-known GPS watch manufacturers, reports their receivers to be accurate to within about 15 meters, again, this is based as an average against the latest of their models. Certain features and some conditions (such as terrain, tall buildings or tree cover, or atmospheric effects) can make finding satellites difficult, and the receivers less accurate.

How Accurate Do GPS Watches Need To Be?
No GPS watch is perfectly accurate. However, for training purposes, absolute accuracy is unnecessary. Most watches are consistent enough to give users a general idea of their distance and pace; that information is usually sufficient to provide useful feedback during individual runs and to track progress over time.

Basic Features
Basic GPS watches tend to offer at least three features: pace (in minutes per mile, or kilometer), distance run (in miles or kilometers), and duration.

In addition, many GPS devices now measure heart rate. Training by heart rate can be useful to ensure you’re working at an appropriate intensity for your goals.

Some GPS watches measure heart rate with a chest strap that monitors the heart’s electrical activity. Many newer watches use an optical sensor that reads the user’s pulse from the wrist. There is some concern about the accuracy of the wrist-based heart rate monitors, and the technology is constantly changing/improving. No activity watch or heart rate monitor function watch should ever take the place of a medical device, used by a physician. These watches are used primarily as trackers, or guideposts as fitness training devices, to let a user know approximately how they are progressing

Advanced features
A few GPS watches, like the NEWEST, the Garmin Forerunner 935 Multi Sport GPS Watch offers more advanced measurements. 

These include:
Cadence: Some watches measure cadence or the number of steps per minute you take while running. This is done using a motion sensor in the watch, a chest-mounted monitor, or a foot pod. Although you may have heard that all runners should strive for 180 steps per minute, most experts now agree that there’s no universally desirable cadence. Even among individual runners, cadence can vary depending as you move from easy jogging to race pace. This article gives some guidance on making sense of cadence data.

Stride Length: Stride length is inversely proportional to cadence—the higher your cadence, the shorter your stride length at a constant speed. A shorter stride can help prevent over-striding, which is believed to lead to injury.

Vertical Oscillation: A few of the most advanced watches will measure the vertical motion of your torso—otherwise known as “bounce.” The idea is that the less bounce, the less extraneous work is being done, and the more efficient the runner is being, so a goal would be to have as little oscillation as possible.

VO2 Max: This is a measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen your body is able to consume, in milliliters per minute. The more oxygen one is able to consume, the more is available for muscles, and the harder a runner is able to work, which is why many runners want to improve their VO2 max rates.

Ground Contact Time: This is a measurement of how long, in milliseconds, your foot maintains contact with the ground, and is connected to a running style that includes faster cadence and shorter stride length. In general, runners have ground contact times of 160-300 milliseconds. Elite runners have shorter ground contact times—200 milliseconds or less.

Navigation: While many GPS watches record where you have been, a few include navigation-style maps to tell runners where they are, or how to get back to where they started. These are mostly available on watches marketed to trail runners, such as the Fenix line of watches from Garmin.

So, there you have the basics of what a GPS watch is and what it can do. If you’re in the market for one, you have no further to go then to our On-Line Store of Choice: HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com  and specifically to This link to get the specific information about the Garmin Fenix 935 Multi-Sport GPS Watch which also features the latest in “Wrist Based Heart Rate Monitoring. Check it out today and get out there and run the trails without fear of NOT knowing where you are!