Happy (early) Birthday to Me!

My parents arrived in Santa Barbara this morning, my dad bearing an early birthday present : ) Giving me some clever cover story about how he got me new running shoes, he handed me a wrapped present. Well, let's just say that there were no shoes in that shoe box, and I'm now the proud owner of a Garmin Forerunner 405!!!

Esthetically it's sleek and sexy, and functionally (ok, so I haven't actually used it yet), it's awesome! I've named her Juliette : ) A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned to him that I had started looking into GPS watches, but for the time being they were a bit out of my budget. Well I guess that convo planted the seed and he started looking, too. Then amongst all the crazy Black Friday sales, he found the 405 for a pretty good deal, much to my benefit. I'm super excited to test it out on race day Sunday, but also a little nervous about using it for the first time during a marathon. I spent over an hour tonight reading the manual, playing with the functions and settings, and downloading the software, so I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Pretty sweet technology though. On the flipside of this wonderful new accessory, I can no longer "cheat" on my runs - no more underestimating my distance, or guessing my pace (at which I suck). Hopefully it will keep me accountable and improve my training! Since the 405 is still relatively new, I'll post a review in the near future. Finally, I want to say another huge THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to my dad for this amazing birthday present!! I'm predicting a long, happy friendship between Juliette and I : )

p.s. less than 24 hours!!