Latest Review
For this installment of Watch I Wear When, worn&wound’s newest contributor James Enloe tells us about his favorite watch to wear when he goes for a run. We’re really excited to have James as a part of the worn&wound team, and we think you’ll really like what he has to offer. He’s a watch nerd from way back, having spent years collecting, writing watch reviews and other columns and being an active member of several watch forums. For more info on James, check out his bio here.
One last thing before we get to Jame’s piece. The response to our first Watch I Wear When was pretty weak. We asked you to send us your favorite watches and we didn’t get much of a response. That’s OK, we’re all busy people with better things to do than take pictures of our watches. But we want to give this thing one more try. This time around, there are no limitations. Send is a picture and a few words on your favorite watch to wear when you…whatever the hell you want! Cooking, driving, skiing, sleeping working. Pick an activity and send us a picture and a few words about your favorite watch for the occasion. Submissions can be sent to [email protected]. Now, on to James’ post.
James E.: Garmin Forerunner 110
Running is one of the few exercises I do that I actually truly enjoy. There is just something about being out in the open with the rhythmic beat of my shoes on the pavement, just me and my thoughts (and I suppose the endorphins may have something to do with it as well). Normally when I am picking a watch to wear for the day I have a handful to chose from, but when it is time to head out the door for a run, I go for just one watch: a Garmin Forerunner 110.
Admittedly, the Garmin is not the most stylish piece; it’s built for a purpose and it looks like it. Of course looks do not necessarily matter when you are pounding the pavement (at least they shouldn’t), what does matter is function and that is where the Forerunner 110 begins to shine. My one gripe over the past few years of running is never really having an accurate sense of my distance and pace. I have tried other watches with shoe “pods” that track your distance via your stride, but as 
your stride varies your distance becomes less accurate. Case in point: last summer at the peak of my running I put in my long weekend run, which when complete my running watch at the time told me I had gone 13.1 miles. To verify I used a couple of online tools and found that it was off by almost a mile! My distance was in fact 14 miles; as my distance grew my pace slowed and my stride shortened, but the foot pod was not able to adequately adjust to this to properly track where I was.
Enter the Forerunner 110. It eliminates this variation in stride by tracking your speed and distance via GPS. I am still amazed that this moderately sized watch contains essentially a full blow GPS computer inside. Combined with the heart rate chest strap I can track my heart rate and caloric burn as well. Another plus is the self contained rechargeable battery, so no more battery cell replacements. For the data driven people (such as myself) the watch can be linked via your computer and your run data uploaded to Garmin’s website where you can see your distance, pace, speed, calories, heart rate data, elevation change and even a map of your run. Slick. Best of all you can get this in a very reasonably priced package.
It may not be a daily wear watch, but my Garmin Forerunner 110 still probably gets worn more times a week than any other watch in my collection.
