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 List Price: $109.99 Sale Price: $79.00 
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Now you can train indoors with your Forerunner 305 and still track your distance, pace and calories burned. The wireless Foot Pod attaches to your running shoe (threads through the laces for a secure fit) and transmits your distance and pace to the Forerunner. Use the Foot Pod on an indoor track, treadmill or anywhere you can't get GPS satellite signals.
- Automatically Turns on when you Start Moving
- Lets you Track your Running Speed
- Tracks Your Running Distance
- Tracks Calories Burned While on the Treadmill or Pavement
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I recently got a Forerunner 405 and love it. I wanted to work on my cadence, and realized I could do that with this product. Quite simply, I put it on my shoe and can see my cadence at all times, just like my heart rate and speed. I’ve found it to be a great training tool for my running.
I have not tried using this on a treadmill or anything like that. I exclusively use this for cadence, and if you’ve been wanting to work on that, this is a great way to do it.
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After reading the reviews I decided to make the purchase and I do no regret it. I paired my foot pod with a forerunner 305 and I was recognized as soon as I moved my foot. I need it because it got cold and had to result to a treadmill for running.
Pros:
Easily synced with the forerunner 305
Easy to install, it clips on the shoe laces and is secure
Cons:
Well not major but I think Garmin make it possible to walk outside and be able to calibrate the unit using the GPS. To calibrate my unit, I ran a marked 1/8 of a mile and I did that way.
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I purchased this item for my son for Christmas. It was requested specifically by brand and item number. He is a runner and was pleased with the item.
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I bought this product to use with the Garmin Forerunner 305. My expectations were met, and I am very happy.
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I have a Garmin Forerunner 405 and I wanted to really focus on my running cadence. The footpod does in fact track your cadence in realtime, which is great if this is a focus for you. I haven’t really used it for working out on a treadmill, which is probably the more common case, but it works great for what I wanted!
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First off, I think Garmin stinks for making you buy a foot pod to use your Forerunner 305 inside on a treadmill. It’s not like the Forerunner is cheap. That said, this item works great. I used the FAQ instructions online to auto-calibrate it. With the 305 you have two choices for calibration 800 feet or 1/2 mile. They recommend using a track to do it, but I ran 1/2 mile using the GPS on the unit, then strapped on the foot pod. After I calibrated it, I ran a normal run and the distance turned out exactly as the GPS would calculate it. Once I moved inside to the treadmill, it works good when I’m running, but when I’m warming up by walking, it will autopause on me. It only does it a second and starts again automatically, but it’s a bit annoying. Overall, I like having the option for using the 305 inside. Shop around though…when I first looked at Amazon, they wanted $185 for the item, which was crazy because Garmin had it for $119 on their site. I see now that they’ve reduced the price. I got mine for $61.00, so bargains can be found.
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This is really a great addition for people who want to track ALL of their workouts on Garmin Connect or Garmin Training Center. Like most, I personally prefer outdoor workouts on my Garmin Forerunner 405. With a busy work and travel schedule, I find myself on the treadmill at least a couple of times a week and with the foot pod accessory I can keep track of those workouts along with my outdoor workouts, which is great.
I highly suggest calibrating the unit. I calibrated 3 different times, took the average of all 3 and use that as my permanent calibration. I compared a short foot pod jog to a GPS jog outside, and found that calibration pretty accurate. I think the pace is also more accurate using the foot pod vs. the treadmill.Only con would be the price. After paying $350 for the watch with heart rate monitor, I wish the accessories were a little more affordable. Overall, a great product to enhance your use of the Forerunner 405.
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I recently replaced my Forerunner 305 with the 405cx and decided to replace the original version of the footpod (which I have reviewed on Amazon) with this newer model. I am happy with my decision.
Unlike the original version, this model is smaller, lighter (because it uses a “button” battery rather than an AA battery), and much easier to attach and remove from your sneakers.
However, as a practical matter, I leave it on my sneakers even when I run outdoors because I am not confident that the plastic clips that have to be detached to remove this unit will hold up (i.e. not break) under frequent usage, and if they do, then there is no way to attach the footpod to the laceclip that attaches to your sneakers. But this unit is so small and light compared to the original version (which I also ran with outdoors because it was such a pain to remove it since that required almost completely unlacing my sneakers), that I do not notice it.
The only downside to not removing it when running outside is that unlike the older version, which had an on/off switch, the new footpod is motion-activated, so its battery gets used whenever it is in motion. You can tell when it is activated because a red light will initially flash 3 times. When you initially pair it with your Forerunner, just shake it vigorously a couple of times.
This unit works perfectly with both my 405 cx and 50. With the 405cx I used the GPS calibration method, and with the 50 (which has no GPS) I used manual calibration by running a marked distance on a trail in a local park. Before calibration, I was getting inaccurate readings.
There is no battery indicator, so I keep an extra “button” battery (CR 2032) in my gym bag. The battery has already “died” on me once while I was running on the treadmill.
If you keep this unit on your sneakers when you run outside with a Forerunner that has a GPS, Garmin tech support has told me that if both the GPS and the footpod are activated, the GPS signal will override the footpod, though the battery in the footpod will still be used (however, I still disable the footpod when running outside; on the 405cx that is easily done by going into Accessories).
If you are considering purchasing this unit to use with the Forerunner 50 (which I have reviewed on Amazon), then buy it as part of a package. The unit alone costs about the same as such a package for the Forerunner 50.
Once calibrated, this unit works effortlessly and accurately with my Forerunner 405cx to track my distances and pace when I run on the treadmill. There really is no other way to upload this data onto a computer unless you use the footpod when running indoors on a treadmill. (Note for Mac users: I use a software program called Ascent, which is far superior to Garmin Connect and Garmin Training Center).
I am happy with this unit and recommend it. Once you put it onto your sneakers, pair it with your Forerunner, and calibrate it, there is nothing else to do except let it track your data for you.
Update August 21, 2009: I started removing this from my sneakers when I run outdoors and then reattaching it when I run on the treadmill indoors at the gym. The plastic clips are sturdier than I originally thought, though I handle them very carefully.
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I live in Rio de Janeiro and when I run in the forest my Garmin Forerunner 405 it doesn’t receive the sign of the satelite. Now I use the Garmin foot pod and and I can check my pace, traveled distance and my time during the race in the forest. It is my great partner.
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The foot pod is great. Unfortunately, it arrived with a DEAD battery – really not cool considering how much money it cost. BUT less than $4 later for a new battery (CR2032), the foot pod worked perfectly! It is super accurate and even let me know the degree of inaccuracy of my gym’s treadmills.