Finally. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy a GPS watch until I could confidently say “I’m a runner.” Three marathons, a half marathon and almost 2,000 miles* later, I can’t deny it any longer.

I’m a runner. And now I have a shiny new Garmin Forerunner 210 to celebrate.

I hemmed and hawed for a a week over which to buy, but in the end went for the cheapest GPS watch I could find that would:

• Display current or average pace.
• Show distance.
• Do automatic mile laps (so I could see where my feet get heavy over long runs).
• Allow for intervals with warm up and cool down periods.
• Have a relatively small profile.

The FR210 does all of these, and a bit more (like work with a heart monitor if I want to go there). It doesn’t do as much as the Timex Run Trainer. But, my G+ running peeps all poo-pooed the Timex and I couldn’t find it at local stores to at least see how big it was in comparison to the 210.

I also thought seriously about the Soleus 1.0, which is about as basic and cheap as they come. At $99, it has all the features on that list except intervals. The Soleus doesn’t work with a computer (to offload your data), but I’m finding I care less and less about that. I guess it’s nice to have maps to refer to, but I hardly ever refer to them. That said, the Garmin does upload workouts to my computer, so better to have and not need than need and not have. Really, though, it was the intervals that pushed me toward the Garmin.

The FR210 so far is stupid-easy to use. I took it out of the box, tossed the instructions aside, charged it for 10 minutes and hit the road for 5 miles. I find the interface intuitive and easy to read. I worried a bit about the controls being goofy for a left-hander who wears his watch on his right hand. Not so. The buttons are big enough to find and press without much effort, and once I memorize where their locations/functions, it’ll become brainless.

I look forward to having it as a digital companion.

*An estimate. I could find a record of 1,758 miles dating back to June 2008, but started running the previous fall.