Last year I bought one of those rock solid, simple, sturdy Casio Watches that are supposed to last you a long time. I still love it with all my heart and sometimes wear it, but my primary watch is now the Garmin Forerunner 165.

A dozen years ago I got into running and installed an app on my phone to track my progress. I kept pushing harder to beat my previous records, and eventually injured myself badly. I used to think that the quantified self was the root of all evil and that it was the reason why I overtrained. It actually was out of ego, and it turns out that quantified self and coaching to make sense of the data can yield amazing results.

[!success] I got a Garmin Forerunner 165 and I am very happy with it.

I recommend caution nonetheless: the watch is a great tool to gather metrics about how you run, but it is a terrible replacement for a coach. Working with a professional will give you much better results.

Why I got it

In my mid 30s I realized that my metabolism wasn't what it used to be. I started gaining weight and felt uneasy in my body. After two kids and today's geopolitics , my mental health started to degrade too.

I've decided to get back into running to help with both aspects. Exercising makes the body burn calories and produce endorphins. Both are useful to feel better. Yes, it's only in my mid 30s that I realized that exercising was a physiological need. A need I had neglected for too long.

But the last time I got into running I injured myself badly. I'm the least competitive person against others, but I'm very competitive against myself. This means I'm subject to overtraining. I needed something to keep me on track.

Several friends had Garmin watches and told me that their watches actually prevented them from overtraining. That was my cue: I would buy one, and use it to get back in shape. Even better: the model I wanted, the Forerunner 165, could last 11 days on a single charge. It means I could wear it at night to follow my sleep patterns, and it would vibrate gently on my wrist to wake me up silently. This promised to be a low maintenance and useful watch.

[!info] In summary

I bought the Forerunner 165 to:

• Get back into running.
• Prevent overtraining.
• Follow my sleep patterns.
• Not babysit the watch or be constantly nagged by it.

First impressions

I bought the watch at the end of August 2025, and I started running immediately with it. In addition to the watch, I also bought a pair of Merrell Trail Glove 7: "barefoot" shoes that have such a thin sole that you have to land on the front of the foot and not on the heel.

I installed the Garmin Connect app on my phone, and I was delighted to see that I didn't any subscription to start a coaching plan. I enrolled in a Garmin Coach program for beginners, and I started following it. At the end of each run, the watch would ask me how I felt, and each run was more painful than the last. I thought it was just muscles building up so I kept following the program. And this is how I injured myself.

I went to a physiotherapist, and we started a specific training plan for barefoot shoes. Of course I quit the Garmin Coach one. He taught me that barefoot shoes require a higher cadence (number of steps per minute) than regular running shoes. I could configure the watch to keep track of my cadence during my runs. A gauge would tell me if I ran too few or too many steps per minute.

After the physiotherapy sessions ended, I could keep running normally. As of writing, I go running three times a week. Each session is between 6 and 12km long.

What I like

I didn't want a smart watch because I don't want it to pester me, and I don't want to charge it every day. On those two fronts the Forerunner delivered. I don't receive any of my phone notifications on my watch, and it doesn't pester me with anything during the day. I use my watch when I need it, not when it needs me.

As for the battery, it is fantastic for this type of watch. With 3 runs a week, my watch lasts 9 to 10 days on a single charge. I keep my watch at night so it monitors my sleep too. And charging is fast: I can charge it from 10 to 100% in about 1.5 hour.

I can confidently go to sleep with it and know it will still have plenty of battery to wake me up the next day with a gentle vibration on my wrist. I hate alarms that scream at you in the morning. This gentle nudge is infinitely better.

I have pathologically bad sleep and the watch does a good job at tracking it. It even helped me detect sleep apnea, that doctors later confirmed. The watch gives you several metrics for the night: how long you've slept, your average and resting heart rate, your average and lowest respiration and more. It can also measure your pulse oximetry, but that depletes the battery twice as fast as if it doesn't. That watch also supports tracking naps.

When it comes to exercising, I only use it for running. I can't say anything about its accuracy, but my physiotherapist seemed to believe that all the measures were plausible.

The wristband has many holes, making it easy to adjust. It is comfortable to wear, even during exercise when the wrist can swell and sweat a bit. It is also slightly elastic, so it can stretch a bit for extra comfort.

It is possible to use the watch only to track how you run, or to configure workouts in the app depending on your objectives. During my physiotherapy training I would make it track my cadence, but you can track a lot more metrics. You can also configure several steps, e.g. warm-up, light run, fast run, series, etc.

There are also built-in, free Garmin Coach programs depending on your needs, but I can't say I have a positive experience with them. If you're new to running I really recommend going to a professional coach or physiotherapist to get you started.

At €230, the watch is not cheap, but seems fairly priced for the amount of value I get from it. I also don't expect to replace it anytime soon.

What I don't like

The watch has an odd recovery time metric can be difficult to understand: you can workout lightly to recover. To this day I'm not entirely sure what it does.

Beyond that it's a good watch I can't complain about!

Conclusion

I’m very happy with my Forerunner 165. It’s important to bear in mind it’s just a tool, not something that can replace a human coach. If your knees or tendons hurt and the watch tells you to go running, don’t. Go see a professional.