Disclaimer: I received a Garmin Forerunner 935®Multisport GPS Watch from Garmin to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Little known fact about me: when it comes to transporting things, I like to make things as difficult as possible for myself.

No, no, really. I do. It’s very hard for me to condense. My husband always laments that I’m the least efficient when it comes to packing.

This applies to running too. I have… a lot of things. An iPod. My iPhone. A FitBit. An interval timer. Headphones. Watch. Gels. Belt. Hydration vest. You name it, I probably have it somewhere on my person.

Or… well, I did.

After six years of running, I’ve realized the error of my ways. When I’m running I should carry the least amount as possible, not the most; I’ve been trying to par down my running gear. While these things are all extremely useful unto themselves, there’s gear that can pull double, even triple duty!

Cue the Garmin Forerunner 935®️!

Since getting the watch last month, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I’ve not worn it. I don’t wear it to sleep (but I could, and perhaps should) because it has sleep tracking.

The Garmin Forerunner 935® has so many features that if I were to include them all, I’d be writing a novel that rivals War and Peace in length.

As such, I’m going to share the top three features that I use and as blog posts go up, I’ll be sharing links at the end of this post to other BibRave Pros blogs so you can read their highlights too.

The Garmin acts as my step counter, so the first thing I shed was the FitBit One. My FitBit hadn’t been working well recently. And since I’m trying to par down, making the decision to switch over to the Garmin was an easy one.

My goal is to hit 10,000 steps every day and I do check on this number throughout the day (more than I care to admit). I’m a stay at home mom so on the days that I don’t have a run scheduled, I use the step counter to keep me honest and motivated throughout the day.

Additionally, the Forerunner 935® has a move alert. If I’ve been sedentary for too long, a vibration reminds me to get up and move!

I’ve also said goodbye to the interval timer that I used to clip to my belt because I can just use the one on my Garmin! You can easily set the intervals for distance, time, or open (which means open-ended intervals).

I’m a fan of the Galloway method for longer races, meaning that I use set intervals to pace myself throughout a workout or race.

One of the main reasoned I used a separate interval timer was that it allowed me to change my intervals mid-race. This is slightly more challenging using the Garmin.

For example: Occasionally I begin a run or race at 2 minutes/walk 1 minute and decide that I’d like to switch to a run 1 minute/walk 1 minute. Changing intervals run on the Garmin breaks a run into segments, rather than a continual overall distance.

However, I feel like I’ve gotten better over the past few years about gauging what type of timing I’ll need on a particular day so I’ll continue to use the Forerunner 935® for this feature. The interval timer is getting moved to the back of the running drawer.

Speaking of moving, the third feature that I’m loving on the Garmin Forerunner 935® is its wrist based heart rate monitor. This is a new to me feature; my old watch had a chest strap heart rate monitor, which I rarely used.

I’ve been keyed in on this data the past month. I’m always interested to see my resting heart rate compared to my heart rate when I’m doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) or running.

While this is a multi-sport watch, I haven’t had the opportunity to use it during a different type of workout yet. However, the fact that I can use it while swimming has piqued my interest! Without a doubt, I’ll be trying when we open our pool again in 2018.

I could go on and on about the other things that I love about this watch.

The long battery life is unparallel to any previous devices I’ve had.  The texts/app alerts so I’m not constantly grabbing my phone are so convenient. The ability to change music directly from my wrist so I don’t have to constantly take my phone out of my belt is awesome.

The Forerunner 935® stops just short of cooking and serving my family Thanksgiving dinner. (Oh, how lovely that would be!)

I have everything I could ever want or need in one spot and that spot is the Garmin Forerunner 935®.

Reviews from other BibRave Pros:

Jenna
Mai
Gina
Brenda
Vanessa
Frank
Casey
Angie
Lindsey
Emily
Mark
Ryan

What are your must haves during a run? I’m a reformed pack-rat and I’m doing good with the paring down on items that come with me on long runs/races. Do you have any specific questions about the Garmin Forerunner 935®? Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer from personal experience and if I don’t know, I’ll ask around to my fellow BibRave Pros.

Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving!