Training Tool or Gadget?

The Soleus GPS watch I’ve been using for close to ten years was acting up. It took forever for the GPS to connect, the strap was broken and taped together more than a few times, and the distances didn’t seem consistent. So I started looking around for a new running watch. As I started looking at all the makes, models and features I was torn. Should I get all the bells and whistles or go basic? Having music to Bluetooth from my watch sounded cool. But did I need it? The one feature that really interested me was a heart rate monitor. I’d never used a heart monitor running but some of the podcasts I’d listened to had talked about the benefit of it. The Marathon Training Academy  podcast had a session with Dr. Phil Maffetone talking about the MAF method which used a formula based on your heart rate and age to determine your training pace. It sounded like it made sense. After checking several reviews online I decided on the  Garmin Forerunner 35. So far, after five runs, I like it. I’ll do a full review of it after I put a few more runs on it but it is easy to read, seems to connect to GPS quickly and the buttons are easy to push. More to come.