Garmin in a Fog

Last Saturday we met for our group run at Lunken. Rather than the boring, flat run I had half hoped for and half dreaded, we ran way from the airport down Eastern Ave and then up Delta. I think we ran about 6.5 miles, and about 1.5 of those miles were uphill. My memories of Delta were of trying to make it up during mile 17 of a 20 mile run last year. It was not easy. This time, though, it felt easy and my legs felt light. Thankfully, it was at the beginning of our route. Once again, I somehow managed to run some pretty fast miles and I pulled away from my running buddy, Holly. Apparently, my increase in speed even caught the eye of our head coach who asked me if I had picked up my pace. I think my fastest mile during that run was 8:42. For me, that is blistering.
However, that is my Garmin Forerunner time, and after last night's run, I have realized that "Garmy" has a little problem. (Garmy is the name I gave my device. The computer program that uploads that data from the Garmin asks you to give it a "friendly name.") I bought the foot pod separately after getting the watch and heart rate monitor as a birthday gift. The instructions say it is about 97% accurate without calibration. Well, why would I spend the time calibrating. 3% plus or minus was not going to bother me. Last night our run called for 5 miles in O'Bryonville. Lindsay and Holly were both there, and I did manage to keep my pace to a more reasonable level so we could all run together. When we got back to the store, though, Garmy said I had run 5.4 miles, and Lindsay's Garmin Forerunner 305 said we had run 4.9. The Forerunner 305 uses GPS technology rather than a foot pod, so it is more accurate. Apparently my foot pod was a half a mile over?? After doing some online research, foot pods can really vary from person to person depending on your form and stride. So, I guess I am going to have to take the time to calibrate, after all. Tonight my plan is to go to the gym and use the treadmill to calibrate. Hopefully that will resolve my problems and I will get more trustworthy data from now on.
As I said, Last night was a group run. On Monday I got 5.5 miles in on my own. Tuesday I rested. So far, so good. If I can just get Garmy to cooperate, I think I'll be right on target.