The Line of Death

After my Labor Day adventures, I put Helga (my trusty Garmin 405CX) in my purse. I took a rest day on Tuesday (my legs felt like they were going to fall off) and went to spin class last night. When I came home last night, I decided to put her on the charger to get ready for tonight’s tempo run.


Before I clipped her in, she was fine. She was showing the date, I pushed a few buttons—all was well. I clipped her in, expecting the beep indicating that she was charging, but instead, she went blank. I freaked out.

I promptly got on my computer and did some Google searches and found some advice--keep her on the clip and try a master reset. I attempted that, and after about 8 seconds, was greeted with the line of death. I left her on the charger all night and was getting the same results this morning. NOOOOOO!!!!


Maybe I should have seen it coming. Saturday, during my seven miles, she was temperamental and quit about 4.5 miles into it. I charged her on Saturday once I got back and she appeared to be fine. On my Labor Day adventure, she handled all 11.5 miles, so I guessed that Saturday had been a fluke.


I have heard this is not uncommon with this model, so I am hoping it will be easily remedied. My husband had a similar problem with his golf Garmin (line of death and all) and Garmin was super friendly and fixed it with no problems. Fingers crossed that Helga will make a rise from the dead with the help of Garmin Customer Support.


In other news—Spin class has become my new favorite type of cross training. It’s hard, it kills my thighs, and I am a sweaty, messy beast when I am done, but boy oh boy; it’s a killer workout.

In a spin class, you have an instructor who comes up with various scenarios for you to peddle to, along with music with a beat similar to your cadence. Based on the tension, and your sitting or standing position on the bike, you are able to create a resistance similar to what you should be visualizing.


The hour goes by super fast. The instructor I have taken the last couple of times is really great—she explains how you should have your bike set up, how you should sit and how you should peddle (flat feet—no pointed toes). She does a great job creating a challenging workout and she really encourages you to crank up your resistance in order to get a better work out (she uses a lot of “this is your workout—you know what you can handle” guilt) and I find myself really turning up my resistance.


I followed the spin class up with some ab work and some arm work with EB (coworker) and felt like I had an awesome, complete workout. My arms are sore, my legs are tired (in a good way) and my abs might have muscles in them now!


Sadly, after feeling so great following my workout, I had to deal with the line of death on Helga, but I am still feeling the afterglow of a great workout this morning.

I am going to call Garmin in a few minutes, so wish me luck. Somehow I will get my tempo run in tonight!

Happy Running All!!


PS—check back tomorrow. I should have my 50th follower giveaway posted by the evening!