Do you Garmin?

Recently I went on a run with a new group of people.  They were very nice people, I even chatted a bit with them after.  We were discussing running shoes and the kind of life span we each get out of our shoes.  I mentioned how I track the mileage on mine with the Garmin Connect app.  It seems that they did not know that was something that could be done through the app.  So I thought, how many people are not getting all they can from the app?  I know a lot of runners who use the Garmin watches for keeping track of their runs.  It is a popular brand.  And does have a lot of features, that most people may not know about.  So I decided to write about a few of my favorite features that might not be well known.  I will start with the gear tracking.  How it works is that you input what shoes you have.  Make, Model, when you got them, and how many miles you want to put on them.  From here you have two options, you can either set a pair as your default and it will automatically assign all runs to those shoes, but this can be edited if need be.  However if like me you have multiple pairs you run in, you can just input whatever shoe you wore for each run manually.  And once a pair of shoes reach the end of their life you can just retire it, and remove it from the list.  And you get a badge and points for it!  Next you are able to set personal goals.  Is it your goal to run 25 miles a week or 120 miles in a month.  You can set just such personal goals and the app will keep track of those goals for you and let you know when you accomplish them.   And of course you get points for setting goals, and for achieving them of course. I do like earning points.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment.  And finally, courses.  Well not really courses, they are just running routes.  You can create your favorite routes and share them with others who have input their favorite routes.  A great place to look if you are looking for a new route to run.  You can search by area on the map or by distance.  It really is a nice tool.   The Garmin Connect app has many more features to it not discussed here, but these are some of my favorites.  Feel free to explore the app yourself if you have it.  Of course you can do and see SO much more if you log into your Garmin Connect app from the website.  Set up your dashboard, check your stats against other users, and leave messages for your friends.