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| My Swimming Route |
After my last Garmin watch stopped working after about two years, I hadn’t really wanted to buy another Garmin, but, as I said, I ended up with the newly-released Garmin Swim 2. It arrived a bit later than indicated by Amazon (this was before the coronavirus), but it arrived, which is pretty impressive in Egypt.
I’m slowly getting used to it and have stopped sulking in a corner because I didn’t want to get a Garmin again. It was nice to return to the Garmin groups that I’d been part of before and it’s good to have a functioning watch.
The battery doesn’t seem to last as long as on my previous watch, but it may be because I’ve got Bluetooth switched on (hark at me, how modern am I?) and I’m often downloading my data via my phone rather than via my laptop now. This is mostly because my laptop is really very slow. I did think about getting a new one, but it’s working fine apart from being slow, so I thought I’d be environmentally friendly and persevere with it. I’m just explaining this because I don’t want anyone getting the idea that I actually like my phone (although my phone isn’t too bad – I still hanker after my old one, sometimes).
I was a bit disappointed to find that my longer distance was only about 1600m and not 1800m. I have started to swim without stopping now, but my swimming speed has decreased. I just can’t seem to improve. It’s very frustrating.
I stop for maybe one minute half-way through as I prepare to turn round (pull my swimming cap back down, see where I’m heading, etc) and I notice that even though I’m not moving, the metres are still clocking up on my watch. I’m never very sure if I should wait until the watch has caught up to me (maybe I’m not so slow, maybe the GPS just can’t keep up!) or whether waiting would just reduce my average speed. I’m not sure it recognizes it as a stop. The reviews said it was the most accurate GPS there is, but I’m not so sure.
I’m also a bit disappointed in the available watch faces that come with the watch. It’s digital, so you can change what the digital display looks like. I’ve chosen one that shows how much battery you have left, but the icon is so small, it’s hard to see. It was larger on my last watch and also gave a percentage; that was much better. Also, it shows seconds ticking by. That’s not a bad thing, but apparently the clock faces that don’t show seconds save your battery life, but if I want to see how much battery I have left on the display, I have to have the seconds showing.
Even though it’s a swimming watch, it doesn’t show your personal records for open water swimming; only for lap swimming. I find that completely daft.
On the other hand, I’m enjoying being able to program workouts on the watch for my pool swims (still experimenting a bit there). The watch works fine as a watch, it’s good to know how far I’m swimming and to have all the data.
The watch also has additional alerts, so in the pool I could set an alert for pace to see if I’m swimming at a consistent speed. However, I think a Finis Tempo Trainer will be better for that. But I like the 500m alert when I’m doing open water swimming.
I’m also delighted to see that OceanMan is coming to Sahl Hasheesh in October. Strangely, the route they are swimming is the very route that I do every day. I wonder if I served as inspiration?! There’s a 1.5km route (my route) or you can do double. I might train myself up for the 3km race (although I won’t be treating it as a race, I’ll be doing it for fun and for the challenge). I’m pretty sure there’s a much longer route as well, but that’s beyond me. Swimming in the sea always takes longer than in the lake, and I also find it harder to do (more exhausting).
The sea is getting warmer now, and I’m almost looking forward to getting in (but not quite there yet). I’m lucky to be able to swim at all during these times of coronavirus (it’s not allowed for you to gather in groups in the sea and all beaches are closed; my interpretation is that swimming alone in the sea is OK [I have my swimming buoy for safety]) and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will remain OK. But rules change with alarming speed (unlike my swimming!)….
I’m slowly getting used to it and have stopped sulking in a corner because I didn’t want to get a Garmin again. It was nice to return to the Garmin groups that I’d been part of before and it’s good to have a functioning watch.
The battery doesn’t seem to last as long as on my previous watch, but it may be because I’ve got Bluetooth switched on (hark at me, how modern am I?) and I’m often downloading my data via my phone rather than via my laptop now. This is mostly because my laptop is really very slow. I did think about getting a new one, but it’s working fine apart from being slow, so I thought I’d be environmentally friendly and persevere with it. I’m just explaining this because I don’t want anyone getting the idea that I actually like my phone (although my phone isn’t too bad – I still hanker after my old one, sometimes).
I was a bit disappointed to find that my longer distance was only about 1600m and not 1800m. I have started to swim without stopping now, but my swimming speed has decreased. I just can’t seem to improve. It’s very frustrating.
I stop for maybe one minute half-way through as I prepare to turn round (pull my swimming cap back down, see where I’m heading, etc) and I notice that even though I’m not moving, the metres are still clocking up on my watch. I’m never very sure if I should wait until the watch has caught up to me (maybe I’m not so slow, maybe the GPS just can’t keep up!) or whether waiting would just reduce my average speed. I’m not sure it recognizes it as a stop. The reviews said it was the most accurate GPS there is, but I’m not so sure.
I’m also a bit disappointed in the available watch faces that come with the watch. It’s digital, so you can change what the digital display looks like. I’ve chosen one that shows how much battery you have left, but the icon is so small, it’s hard to see. It was larger on my last watch and also gave a percentage; that was much better. Also, it shows seconds ticking by. That’s not a bad thing, but apparently the clock faces that don’t show seconds save your battery life, but if I want to see how much battery I have left on the display, I have to have the seconds showing.
Even though it’s a swimming watch, it doesn’t show your personal records for open water swimming; only for lap swimming. I find that completely daft.
On the other hand, I’m enjoying being able to program workouts on the watch for my pool swims (still experimenting a bit there). The watch works fine as a watch, it’s good to know how far I’m swimming and to have all the data.
The watch also has additional alerts, so in the pool I could set an alert for pace to see if I’m swimming at a consistent speed. However, I think a Finis Tempo Trainer will be better for that. But I like the 500m alert when I’m doing open water swimming.
I’m also delighted to see that OceanMan is coming to Sahl Hasheesh in October. Strangely, the route they are swimming is the very route that I do every day. I wonder if I served as inspiration?! There’s a 1.5km route (my route) or you can do double. I might train myself up for the 3km race (although I won’t be treating it as a race, I’ll be doing it for fun and for the challenge). I’m pretty sure there’s a much longer route as well, but that’s beyond me. Swimming in the sea always takes longer than in the lake, and I also find it harder to do (more exhausting).
The sea is getting warmer now, and I’m almost looking forward to getting in (but not quite there yet). I’m lucky to be able to swim at all during these times of coronavirus (it’s not allowed for you to gather in groups in the sea and all beaches are closed; my interpretation is that swimming alone in the sea is OK [I have my swimming buoy for safety]) and am keeping my fingers crossed that it will remain OK. But rules change with alarming speed (unlike my swimming!)….
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