Have you read the instructions? Have you played with the various features? I have had my FR 305 for almost a year and can't imagine training without it.

If you have the Auto Pause feature on, it will pause when you stop...then start up again when you start again.

Pace information is tricky...if you were on an escalator moving at a constant pace, I guarantee the pace numbers would be rock steady. Try it! Get in your car and drive down the block with the cruise control on at 10mph...you'll see. It's hard for the unit to derive pace information from a runner or biker who varies pace second by second. You can set the "smoothing" feature on the unit and that helps out a lot.

As I said, I have raced with my Garmin in 1/2 IMs, marathons, 1/2 Marathons, 5Ks and all my training rides and runs. It's reliable and it works great for me. Take some time to read the instruction manual and to get to know the basic features before giving up on such a great tool.

Wow man, with as close as your wrists are to the satellites, I would expect the unit to be right on.

But in all seriousness, this issue was supposed to be corrected somewhat over the 301 unit. And in my experience it has; that is, the 305 is way more sensitve than the 301. IMO though, I wouldn't rely on the pace too much, you might want to try the avg. pace setting or do "laps" where I think the pace resets itself.

I am excited to try the 405.

No GPS device I have ever owned has been to hot on the instantantous run pace. If you set one of the screens to show the average pace of the current lap (or average pace overall) you will find it is highly accurate.

And note: it's not too big for anyone's wrist. I have tiny wrist myself and don't even notice it. I imagine the people who don't want to wear this thing because of the 'bulk' are the same people who don't want to blow their noses on their sleeves/hands or are concerned more with having a matching outfit for the race photos than making a PR. IE - non-serious runners.

"No GPS device I have ever owned has been to hot on the instantantous run pace. If you set one of the screens to show the average pace of the current lap (or average pace overall) you will find it is highly accurate"

That's solid advice. Set your watch to lap at every .1 or .25 mile and it'll display that time until the next lap passes. I think mine is actually quite accurate from second to second, it rarely deviates more than :10 sec/mi while running. With as accurate as I think mine is, I now have it start a new lap every 1/4 mile and display the last lap in one of the data fields. Then, for the next 90-120 seconds, I have my previous 1/4 split.

And I also agree about the bulk. It's dimension are somewhat large, but it's a very light unit on your wrist. My fiance will run with mine from time to time, and she's about 5'2" and 100 lbs...AND she's always more concerned with how she looks than a PR....but still wants to be able to run fast....though she won't blow her nose in her sleeve....

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"Lemond is cycling's version of Rev Jessie Jackson." -johnnyperu 5/18/07
"Just because I suck doesn't mean my bike has to" -rickn 9/2/08

Yeah, i use quarter splits in races myself.

When I first started using my Garmin 305, it would jump around a bit and even show a pace when I was motionless. I called Garmin and was told that the fluctuating reading were due to the GPS satellites not getting an accurate lock. One thing to understand is that the 305 does not take all the satellite information and calculate one point as your location, it calculates an area were you are located. If the satellite signals are poor, the calculated area grows larger and your pace and location will jump around more. To help reduce the fluctuations and get a tighter triangulation the watch firmware throws out errant points, so it helps for the watch to get a good strong signal [for the cpu].
After I did a soft reset of the watch and let it sit for about 15 minutes, the performance improved and I don't have those problems anymore.

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Las Vegas NV | IM KY 07

To add on the accuracy discussion, let me make a suggestion:

Set up a custom screen on your 305 (or 205) and have one of the fields show GPS accuracy. Anything less than 40 feet is very good. Anything less than 30 feet is excellent. Some places you'll get less than 20 feet. Where I live, it is unusual to have an accuracy under 30 feet once I get running.

[note: edited to say "under" 30 feet instead of "over"]

Whenever mine shows less than 30 feet consistently I can count on each mile split being within a couple seconds (less than 1/100th of a mile) of being right on. But if I am running and I see that GPS accuracy field being too high, I know that I probably need to take what the Garmin says with a grain of salt.

This will help to remove the doubt.

I have the 201, but the same should apply to the 305. As mentioned above, you should get better results with the average pace screen not instantaneous. I set a custom screen with the distance up top (big) and the bottom split (small) into two windows, one showing average pace for the split and the other showing overall average pace. I set my splits to automatically reset every mile. I find the accuracy of the split window to be very good after only a few hundred yards. Best of all, when you get home you can download your data with nice 1 mile splits.

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Trek Madone 5.9SL
Felt B12 (sold)

Just chiming in to say I've had my 305 for about 1 1/2 years now and what you describe is not normal for me. I would second some other comments that the jumps in pace may be due to a poor satellite reception rather than a defect in the 305 itself. Are you running near large buildings/tree cover, or out in the country? I'm in a rural area and my pace display is quite steady during the run and also very consistent with the "average" pace shown at the end of my run. As an aside, my pace actually got more consistent the more I trained with the Garmin.

Additionally, I set the autolap function to "lap" at each mile so I also get my mile splits as I go.

Finally, when I first got mine, I initially tried to persuade my wife to get one too. She thought it "looked" too big. She is 5'2", 108 lbs. She ran with mine twice and bought one for herself.

 
my advice is similar to others ish..

what i do is..
[1] turn of pace smoothing.. put it down to the least setting. smoothing sucks
[2] set autolapping to either 1mile or 1km
[3] use two fields for pace. current pace and current lap pace

what you will see is an accurate lap pace (after a few secs) and the sometimes accurate current pace.
what your mind will do very quickly is compare these two fields and apply its own smoothing.

i have been using this method for over a year and find it works really well.

"though she won't blow her nose in her sleeve.... "

that is priceless my friend

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//semi retired - old school = http://www.iwilltri.com //

The "current pace" thing is all over the board (largely b/c, I'm guessing, WE are all over the board in our pace). I don't really look at it much at all.

I have mine set to autopause when my pace drops to a walk/standstill, so it pauses at stoplights, etc. and I don't have to start and stop it, except for when I'm done running. I also have the auto lap counter set at one mile, so it keeps my mile splits (and displays them every mile). Even though the current pace jumps all over, the lap pace is spot on.

And, FWIW, I am a fairly small-wristed female, and I wear mine happily and with no issues.

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

When your system is hooked up to the computer and the Garmin software is open, have it check for updates. That smoothed out problems I had pretty quickly.

I've found mine to be very accurate once I got the update on there. Prior to that, it was always showing me being about 30 seconds off my actual pace. Also, if you've hit a turn-around point or turned a corner, the pace calculation will be off for a little while.

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You're not stuck in traffic. You ARE traffic.

Oh one more thing. Be sure to run the Garmin "WebUpdater" application frequently to keep your firmware up to date. Some of the later firmware updates made HUGE improvements in accuracy and the ability of the 205/305 to hold a signal. You'll find it in the same program group as the Training Center app.

mine seems to hold a pretty steady pace. try the firmware update as mentioned. i ran the update before ever using mine. also, do you swing your arms a lot while running? this could really skew pace, as it could pick up almost stopping (rear swing) to fast acceleration (forward swing)...just a thought.

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"that which does not destroy me will only make me stronger" Frederick Nietzsche
andrew peabody
http://BREAKAWAYMULTISPORT.COM

Thanks everyone. Not one person had negatives, which gives me hope.

I do swing my arms while I run.

I have not done any adjustments yet, but lots of great ideas.

No one commented on my watch just started running again after I had stopped it.
Since I called gamin yesterday and was told how to do a hard reset, I had done that
before I used it yesterday.

Okay, I will keep it and try more of the ideas.

Again, not one negative comment about return it. Cannot get much better inputs
on a product from ST than that.

Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

AND she's always more concerned with how she looks than a PR....but still wants to be able to run fast....though she won't blow her nose in her sleeve....

Dude, why would she blow it into her sleeve? That's why god gave us snot rockets. I don't want my clothes adhering to me with my own mucous. That's just ishy.

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

on the stopping/restarting....does it just show readings or actually restart the timer? mine shows pace and hr readings, even when not recording, if the unit is turned on but not running the timer. pretty sure it only records data when the timer is also running.

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"that which does not destroy me will only make me stronger" Frederick Nietzsche
andrew peabody
http://BREAKAWAYMULTISPORT.COM

I was responding to a comment Learn made:

And note: it's not too big for anyone's wrist. I have tiny wrist myself and don't even notice it. I imagine the people who don't want to wear this thing because of the 'bulk' are the same people who don't want to blow their noses on their sleeves/hands or are concerned more with having a matching outfit for the race photos than making a PR. IE - non-serious runners

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"Lemond is cycling's version of Rev Jessie Jackson." -johnnyperu 5/18/07
"Just because I suck doesn't mean my bike has to" -rickn 9/2/08

I acutally restarts the timer from where I had stopped it.

Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

As far as I know (I could be wrong) this shouldn't matter in the least as the garmin doesn't sample data continuously. I believe max sample rate you can set it to is 1 second. So unless you're running terribly slow, have the arm length of an orangutan, and are windmilling them constantly the effect should be negligible.

I use the 305 and love it - I used to think the same thing about the instantaneous pace so I adjusted the screen so I don't have to see it anymore - now I have time of day, distance, mile split, and average pace (not instantaneous but average calculated each mile). I have another screen setup (you can have different screens set up and toggle through them) for when I use the HR monitor.

Looks like I need to quickly get into these type of custom setups.

Thanks

Dave

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Wow, I usually get 20ft or less, a bad day for me is 27-30ft. Use lap pace and average pace and you get a pretty accuract readout of your pace. I have my smoothing set one level below the most. Great tool to have.

you can set the amount of pace smoothing in the setup which may help. pace smoothing affects the auto-pause as it has to average down to zero before it pauses. it uses smart recording by default which only records data when necessary which seems to average a data point every 5 seconds on most of my runs. When I run a steady run on flat terrain I see my pace vary about 10 seconds/mile with pace smoothing set to the second lowest setting.
Your elevation gain for most runs will be about 2x reality because of the signal bouncing around. I use Ascent software (for Macs only) which does smoothing and ignores elevation changes below a preset value. The Motionbased website corrects elevation data by using topo elevation data. This brings the elevation gain to the same value as a barometric altimeter.

Is there a chance that you bumped your wrist into something that pressed the start button? I wore my 305 snowboarding last week in Breck, just because I was excited to track all the altitude changes (which it was much more accurate than I expected from reading this board), and to know max speed, track total distance traveled each day and perhaps even look up which runs I had done / missed.... well I was disappointed on the last day when I got the nerve to finish off the double blacks my list; when checking my watch, I realized I must have accidentally turned it off during on of my many falls... no proof, no witnesses... oh in that case I never fell once.

Don't use the current pace function at all! It jumps around, not because of arm swinging or variability in your pace, but from the point-in-time accuracy of GPS (~10-40 feet). Unavoidable (though you can use the smoothing). Like others have said, just use "current lap pace" function and set "autolap" to whatever distance/time you want. 1 mile works for me for most training and racing, though I used a 1/4 mile autolap for a 2-mile race I did. Current lap pace will also, of course, reset any time you hit the lap button. You can use this for impromptu interval sessions. Depending on how many satelites you are acquiring at any given time, I've found that any pace estimate provided by GPS under about 1/4 mile distance should be treated with suspicion.

Rik

Ah! I missed that one :-)

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

I've been using mine for a while and it seems to be pretty darn good even with pace smoothing.
but the average pace idea is good..
Butoverall seems to do a pretty job of reflecting my current pace. Only time it goes a but nuttyis if I run in a tunnel or under a bridge for a few minutes. Then it may take a minute or two or three to get on track and recalculate my pace.

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Trying to find ways to pass the time.