Most running watch reviews never ran a race.
I am one amateur runner training for a sub-1:35 half marathon. I publish what my watch predicted, what I actually ran, and where the gap was — plus honest comparisons of the training platforms that cost you a subscription every month.
Every page opens with the same box: what I wore, and what I only compared on paper. No page pretends otherwise.
Latest
On flat ground, Garmin's running power is just your pace
26 runs from my own export, plotted. Pace alone explains 94.5% of what the watts do. What that means before you buy a power meter.
Measured on: Garmin Forerunner 265 — 26 runs, wrist-based running power, June to August 2026
Garmin says your VO2 max has no decimals. Your watch disagrees.
Garmin support says the rounded number is all there is. It is not — the exact value sits in your own data. Three ways to get it.
Measured on: Garmin Forerunner 265 — two months of account-export data, 26 running entries
I ran 157 times on an Apple Watch before switching to a Garmin
Sixteen months of half marathon training on an Apple Watch Series 10, then a Forerunner 265. What the switch changed, from my own exported data.
Measured on: Apple Watch Series 10 — 157 runs, March 2025 to June 2026, Garmin Forerunner 265 — 26 runs, June 2026 onward
A new Garmin's race predictor spends its first month guessing
My Forerunner 265 said 1:54:56, then 1:36:46 nine weeks later. My actual pace barely moved. Here is what the predictor was really doing.
Measured on: Garmin Forerunner 265 — 26 runs, June to August 2026, Apple Watch Series 10 — 157 runs, March 2025 to June 2026