Peg’s Posts: KC Marathon — survived and qualified!

I’m not much for bragging, but this post may be an exception, because … I’m going to Boston! Last Saturday, I ran my second marathon in 3:38:33, beating my time goal of 3:40 and comfortably meeting my qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. Weeks ago, Fred, one of my training partners, said he’d be my personal pacer and get me my Boston qualifying time. I’d run with Fred and Wilma through rainstorms, 4 a.m. “beat the heat” runs, long runs and some local 5ks. With Forerunner keeping me on pace and Fred lending just enough commentary to keep me engaged but not distracted, I ran a comfortably hard, but not excruciating race. See our run in Garmin Connect.

Caddy Confidential: Garmin Teamwork and Tournament Time

You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play. ~Warren Beatty

 Well, that certainly could be said for the team of humble scribes here at the Garmin Blog. We all have the distinct pleasure of working on products we are incredibly passionate about. So when we packed up the cameras and headed to Swope Memorial Golf Course for our most recent Approach G5 photo shoot, we quickly realized "work" felt a lot more like "play." 

And in true Garmin style, everyone involved was an avid golfer. We had a lawyer, a cartographer, a guy from sales, yours truly and more - all pitching in on the shoot. And to a person, we're all crazy about golf. Which is one of the great things about Garmin culture. Not only do we make the products we sell, we use them on a daily basis. We test them, we talk about them, we beat on them, and then we put our heads together to make them better.   

So if you're strapping a new Astro on your bird dog, installing your 20-footer with a new GPSMAP, or a duffer teeing up the G5 for the first time, rest assured each and every one of those bad boys has been fully vetted and thoroughly enjoyed by a group of hunting/boating/golfing nuts here at Garmin HQ.

Finally, it's tournament time down here at the caddy shack. Your humble caddy will be teeing it up in a two-man scramble this very weekend - 40 degree temps and all. We'll be playing from the tips and the pins will be tucked in the hardest spots for the inaugural "Tilly's Terror." We're hoping to go low with the Approach G5 in hand, so stay tuned for details.

Marathon training plan for beginners from Vali Tomescu

Valeriu (Vali) Tomescu, is a member of the Garmin Advisory Board and coach to Beijing gold medalist in the marathon, Constantina Dita. Below he offers some advice to beginning marathoners, along with a recommended training plan.

Vali: Training is a marathon. You should act like a professional in everything that you do and say. Remember about your goals and have the end in mind. That vision you have of yourself at your best carries with it the responsibility to act like a champion every day.

Remember that you are a human being, not a human doing. What you are doing is not who you are. Think WHO you want to be when you grow up instead of WHAT you want to be. That mind frame will prepare you for a successful future in life and in sport. Humans were born to do two things. Make mistakes and do the impossible. The more you do of one, the more you will do of the other.

Continue reading below for a training plan (in miles) tailored for beginning runners, 25-40 years old.

NBAA Day 2: G1000 retrofit for the CitationJet

The general rule of thumb for those attending NBAA is that people visit the exhibit hall on day one and static display on day two to see the aircraft. Since I didn't want to buck the trend, I visited our static display today and saw the newest G1000 retrofit platform, the Cessna CitationJet. We're expecting to receive Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) on this G1000 program in 2010, and once we do it will pave the way for CitationJet operators to install the G1000. These customers will then be flying with the best of the G1000 -- from fully integrated autopilot to synthetic vision technology (SVT) to SafeTaxi.

This is our third G1000 retrofit program. The first two were for the King Air C90 and King Air 200 series, and customers have been very pleased with the advantages of flying with Garmin glass. After all, many of these customers are going from steam gauges to glass and that's an amazing leap forward in technology, not to mention safety of flight and enhanced situational awareness. Check out this online demo to learn more.

G3000 Wows NBAA Convention

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention is in full swing and attendees are buzzing about new product announcements. Yesterday we announced the G3000, and today, HondaJet and PiperJet announced that they've selected the G3000 for their cockpits. The G3000 is Garmin's first touchscreen-controlled, all-glass avionics suite for Part 23 turbine aircraft. It replaces mechanical knobs and switches with infrared touchscreens that serve as the primary way to access the system. NBAA attendees have been able to get a first hand look at the new avionics suite, but since we know not everyone can attend the show, here's a glimpse of what the G3000 looks like and what the media is saying. 

Garmin Extends Title Sponsorship of Team Garmin-Slipstream Through 2013

Still celebrating Bradley Wiggins' victory and Team Garmin's strong showing at Australia's Jayco Herald Sun Tour - where we had 3 in the top 4 and the King of Mountains - we're thrilled to break this news here:

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, announced today that it has extended for an additional three years its title sponsorship of Team Garmin-Slipstream, the ProTour cycling team dedicated to ethical sporting and developing the next generation of cycling champions. The extension for the U.S.-based team comprised of elite talent from around the world is an addition to the company’s current sponsorship through 2010, marking one of the most significant multi-national sponsorship deals in the history of professional cycling.

“The success of the team spans the globe and surpassed our expectations for the first year and a half of our title sponsorship, bringing Garmin’s reputation for quality, commitment, performance and productivity into countless households in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia,” said Jon Cassat, Garmin’s vice president of communications. “Our objectives were – and continue to be – to integrate our products on sports’ biggest stages and to build global brand awareness. Whether capturing victories around the world, winning national championships or working to develop future generations of talent, Team Garmin has helped us achieve those objectives and has made an impression on billions of potential customers.”

Go flying with new G3000 and G1000 retrofit for CitationJet

Today is a huge day for Garmin's aviation team because we announced the G3000 and the G1000 retrofit for the Cessna CitationJet at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) convention in Orlando, Florida. The G3000 is Garmin's first touchscreen controlled flightdeck for Part 23 turbine aircraft. The hallmark of the system is that it's simple to use. It incorporates icons similar to what you would find on a desktop computer, and it has common sense functions like "back" and "home" that lets pilots quickly retrace their steps. Since we've delivered several million consumer-based touchscreen products, we were able to leverage that knowledge while designing the G3000. One of the unique aspects of having touchscreen in an airplane is that there is bound to be turbulence. Therefore, the G3000 has a patent pending, infrared touchscreen technology, audio and visual feedback, and unique icon animation to help pilots know exactly how the system is responding to their input.

The G1000 retrofit for the Cessna CitationJet will be available exclusively through Cessna's company owned Citation Service Centers. The STC is expected in the second quarter of 2010, and it will let CitationJet owners (model 525, serial number 0001-0359) fly with advantages of the G1000.

Garmin Connect Feature Focus: Explore

You may have noticed an update to Explore recently. Since the launch of Garmin Connect, Explore's Current Map View has been set to San Francisco, the location of the Connect offices. While we enjoyed our home town and activities being the center of attention, we realize that other users are just as faithful to their hometowns and athletic adventures.  A couple weeks ago we decided to mix things up and change the Current Map View. First up was London, UK. We'll be changing the location every week based on city rank when considering visits to Garmin Connect. So far the top cities include:

San Francisco
London
New York City
Copenhagen
Sydney

We think you'll be surprised by some of the cities that pop up as the Current Map View.

nüvifone G60 around the world

The nüvifone G60's reach keeps expanding. It's now available in the U.S., Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Poland, Ukraine, France, and most recently Switzerland.  Sunrise, the largest telecom provider in Switzerland, is the nüvifone G60's carrier in Switzerland. The nüvifone G60 is available in Sunrise centers and in the Digitec online store.

In case you're not familiar with the nüvifone G60 yet, you can check out its features and capabilities at our online demo or training center.    

 

Peg’s Posts: Numbers games

Last week this time, I was anxiously counting the hours ‘til my marathon. Now, with about 17 hours to go, I’m still counting … and playing numerous numbers games. I’ve waffled between pacing myself for a 3h 45m marathon, which is my Boston qualifying time. That means I’d be consulting my pacing partner, Forerunner, to keep me at an 8:35 average pace. But since I missed my BQ by about 90 seconds in my first marathon, maybe I should bank a little time and try for 3h 40m, or about an 8:20 pace. And then there’s the Runner’s World article from this spring that suggested newer BQ standards for some age groups, including mine. Tougher standards, mind you, of 3h 36m for women 35-39. Can I pull that off, which means shaving 11 min from my first marathon time on a much hillier course in less-than-ideal Midwest weather?

Am I sounding like a numbers freak? Don’t answer that until you hear about how Garmin’s helping athletes and fitness-minded folks monitor their health by, you guessed it, providing more numbers to follow. Two of our newest fitness devices, FR60 and Forerunner 310XT, work with the Tanita BC-1000 body composition scale to track your weight, body fat, body water and six other measurements. The readings are stored on your device, then automatically sent to Garmin Connect through the magic of ANT+ wireless technology. At Garmin Connect’s new Health section, you can track these measurements over time. When I stepped on the Tanita scale last Friday, I was intrigued that it could gauge my body water percentage, which is a pretty key measurement for athletes. So I was happy to see that, at least by the scale’s estimate, I was adequately hydrated. And in subsequent steps on the scale this week, all the measurements have remained fairly stable. Find out more about the Tanita scale and how it works with our devices.