I'm looking for general comments, mockery, commiseration and advice as I transition from twelve years with my glorious Forerunner 305 to this newfangled 245.
Specific questions:
1. I really like the idea of coached training plans, but they seem to be only available for the 5k, 10k, and marathon, while my current focus is the mile. How can I get a training program for the mile? I'm willing to pay for something good, especially if it's adaptive.
2. I chose one of the "fitness" programs, because fitness is good for everyone. The first few workout were just there offered to me when I selected the Run activity, but last night the Hilly Workout I had been looking forward to all day was gone. When I pressed Run, it just started a run, with no program. I'm guessing that the watch had given up on me doing the scheduled workout because it was ten p.m. and my "body battery" was at 5%. Is that right? What are the criteria it uses for dropping a workout from my schedule?
3. I now know that I could have held the up button to find my desired workout, but at the time I remembered that the scheduled workout was 45 hilly minutes in zone 3, so I just pressed go and warmed up for a few minutes on the way to the good hills. Periodically, but not at any regular interval, the watch would light up with a blue ring and my heartrate. I wasn't doing a set workout, just a generic Run, so I couldn't have been out of range, so what does a blue ring mean? It didn't say "heart rate too high" or "heart rate too low" or anything, just blue -- kind of aquamarine, but not green or red -- and the HR number. I kept wondering what it wanted me to do.
Forerunner changes
1. Related to the above, the 305 plays a high tone if you're going too fast and a low tone if you're going too slow, and actually displays the words "speed up" or "slow down." I miss that. Can I make the 245 do that?
2. After the end-of-workout cooldown, on the 305, when I press the lap button, it displays Workout Complete, plays a happy sound, and the timer stops. I found out the hard way that on the 245 even though I get the same message and happy sound (thanks for keeping that) the timer keeps running until I also press stop. Weird design decision. It means I end up with a useless few second lap at the end.
3. Okay, I have to admit that it totally rocks that the 245 is an actual watch I can wear from day-to-day, and not a giant clunky thing that doesn't even fit around my wrist, but don't ever tell my beloved 305 that. I'm still going to take it out for a fast mile now and again, because that's all its poor battery can manage. The automatic light when I look at the watch works really well, and it's fun to have so many features to fidget with during boring meetings. I'm glad I bought it. This one isn't a question, just giving credit where credit is due.
4. Do I have to reprogram all my old workouts from Garmin Training Center into Connect? When I tried to export them they weren't recognized.