Owning a GPS watch is a great way to help get the best out of your training. They provide you with a handy training log for later analysis, and by having a live monitor of your pace and distance on your wrist it becomes vastly easier to execute specific sessions or efforts. Many runners just use the basic tracking features, but even the most simple modern Garmins will have extra features that can really make things easier for you, if you know where to look.
One I like to show my athletes is the Workout function, which I use a lot on my Forerunner 235. This feature allows you to create a completely customised session of your choosing - most commonly intervals - and send it to the watch, which can then be used on your run to guide you through the session with various alerts, just like having a coach right there with you! Let me talk you through it.
First you need to build your session on Garmin Connect. You can do this on your PC but I find it easier to use the app on my phone. Just go to More (bottom right) > Training > Workouts > Create a Workout > Run and then create the workout of your choosing. Below is my own example of a 6 x 800m session, with recoveries between the 800s set at 90 seconds. I've also built in a custom warm up and cool down here, meaning that I can choose when to end these sections by pressing the watch's Lap button. When you've finished making your session, just press the Send to Device icon in the top right and then sync your watch. The workout will now be on your Garmin.
When you're ready to run, find your session on your watch via Training > My Workouts and then press the Run key a couple of times to get going. You'll then notice that you have a useful extra screen displayed that will explain the step of the workout that you're on, and tick down what is left of each interval, be that distance or time. You can still cycle through the other screens you would normally have, for example the time and date screen, heart rate zones, or overall run stats, by using the up/down keys in the normal way.
The major benefit of using the workout function is that it puts the watch in control, allowing you to focus on your run. It will automatically tick over to the next step of the workout at the right time, so in this example as soon as I finish each 800m it will click over and start counting down the recovery. It will beep and vibrate at you as you get close to the end of each interval and recovery, and then again when they have ended. You can run more freely, look at your watch less, and be simply guided round a totally accurate workout. It also has the benefit of giving you beautifully neat splits on your watch afterwards! Note in the image below how I've run exactly 800m (0.80km) and rested exactly 1.30.0 each time.
Lastly, I would also recommend using the Workout function when doing time trials - unofficial solo or small group race-style efforts over specific distances or times - for similar reasons. Firstly, the watch will tick downwards with how much time or distance you have left during the time trial which can be helpful to glance at. Secondly, it will stop automatically at the point at which you have asked it to, without you having to press anything, allowing you to focus fully on blasting through the line. This can genuinely save you seconds off your time as you won't be preoccupied in the home straight with stopping your watch at the exact point. Lastly, you'll know you ran the exact distance or time specified and, again, it will look nice and neat in the app afterwards.
See the below example from a 5K time trial of my own in October 2020. When you build it in the app initially, all you need to do is one single 'Run' step of the specified distance or time, and nothing else. So in this instance it was just one single Run step of 5 kilometres.
So give it a go on your next workout or time trial, and let me know how you get on! I've personally found it to be hugely motivating and useful when doing hard sessions solo. Good luck!
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