Yet Another Gadget?

Well, yeah.

I'm a gadget junkie. I always have been, since I was a kid. One of my favorite toys when I was 7 years old was a transistor radio my mom gave me. For years I thought it was because I could listen to any radio station I wanted, but now I realize it was the portability of it. I didn't have to be listening to the radio station SOME place, I could listen ANY place. In my bed, in the bathtub, walking to school.

The obsession followed me through life and into adulthood. Anyone who knows me for a period of time (5 minutes maybe?) will soon be introduced to my Treo 755p. One of these days I'm going to have it surgically attached to my hand, but I'm waffling on that because I wouldn't be able to hold a water bottle while running.

Speaking of which, I ordered yet another gadget. I'm a regular visitor of a clearance site called Woot, which has the business model of one item each day. When it's sold out, you can't order until midnight the next day, at which point the next item comes up. On occasion they have what they call a Woot Off, which brings up a new item as soon as the previous item is sold out.

Yesterday, Woot had this:



Yup, it's the Garmin Forerunner 50. But why, you ask, would I want to buy a non-GPS Garmin watch that doesn't measure heart rate, but uses a foot pod to estimate distance traveled when I could just wear my GPS?

* Foot pod. It will allow me to wear my 305 when on the treadmill so I can take the distance data and import it into Garmin Training Center or SportTracks.
* Stylish watch!
* It's 50 bucks!

The $50 thing is the kicker. The Forerunner 50's suggested retail price is $100, which is what Amazon.com is charging for it at present. If I were to buy the foot pod alone, it'd cost $80. Here, I paid $50, got a watch that's compatible with the 305's strap, plus the foot pod. I'd call it a bargain.

Now all I have to do is get back on the treadmill again. I plan on doing that a lot once the hard rains hit.