I Want It! New Garmin FR60 Announced Today

I started out as a running purist...you know, one of those people who thought a good pair of sneakers, some music and some shorts and a tank were all you needed to be a runner. This past September, I added a heart rate monitor (HRM) and now I'm pretty much addicted to that sucker. (It's awesome watching your effort and performance improve over time....the proof is in the data and that's very satisfying.)

Since jumping on the HRM train, I've been secretly obsessing over the the Garmin Forerunner. My Dad (who loves gadgets) raves about his; he's got hundreds of runs saved on his computer with intense calculations of pace, route and distance. I read an essay by a Garmin-lover in Runner's World a couple of months ago that further fueled my fixation. And now, Garmin is seriously making it impossible for me to resist its siren call, thanks to the release of the FR60.

This fitness watch is meant to be used for more than just running--you can use it on your bike, on a cardio machine, even in a gym class (it still has the famous Garmin GPS technology, but now it's housed in the model's smaller, more traditional watch). FR60 tracks time, calories burned, heart rate and other data from linked fitness equipment (think: treadmills, ellipticals and Spinning bikes), then--with the supplied ANT+ USB stick--wirelessly transfers that information to your PC or Mac (yay!) when you get close to your computer back at home. And cylcists can add a bike speed and cadence sensor and a bike mount.

The models come in black, red, and lilac and range in price from $129.99 to $199.99 depending on if you ante up for a "slimmed down, featherlight" foot pod. Now for the bad news: They won't be available until the second quarter of 2009 (so there's plenty of time to start saving pennies so you can have one). To learn more about the FR60 and Garmin’s other products and services, go to www.garmin.com and www.garmin.blogs.com. Posted by Liz