Stocking Stuffers

Garmin Forerunner 745

$700 Looking and feeling very much like Garmin’s multisport flagship Forerunner 945, the new 745 is a bit thinner and smaller – weighing about 3 g less and with a slightly smaller overall size (43.8 x 43.8 x

13.3 mm vs. 47 x 47 x 13.7 mm). You still get a 30.4 mm display, though, with the same 240 x 240 pixel resolution.

As one expects with a Garmin multisport GPS watch, the 745 has lots of built-in activity profiles, including triathlon, swimming (pool and open water), cycling (indoor and outdoor) and running. Monitoring speed and distance is just a tiny part of what the 745 can do, though. VO2 max, training load, training status and aerobic and anaerobic training effects are all measured, and the watch can even make workout suggestions based on that data.

Health information has become a must in high-end sports watches these days, and the 745 provides lots of data. Pulse Ox sensors provide info on how you’re sleeping or how you’re acclimatizing to altitude, and there’s a Body Battery energy monitor to help you track energy levels. There’s also a menstrual cycle tracking feature to help women adjust their training when needed.

Once a workout is completed, the watch easily syncs through Garmin Connect, which can upload your workouts to training programs such as TrainingPeaks, or social apps like Strava. You can also use Garmin Connect to plan and download routes using the course creator.

The 745 is an able smartwatch, too, providing text, e-mail, social media updates and other notifications from your phone. You can also store up to 500 songs, and sync playlists from Spotify, Amazon Music and other music streaming services. The 745 can also use the Garmin Pay contactless payment solution.

Even though the watch is smaller and lighter than the Forerunner

945, the 745 offers impressive battery life – up to seven days in Smartwatch mode, six hours in GPS mode with music and 16 hours in GPS mode without music.

Amp Human PR Lotion

$49 Endorsed by pro triathletes including Lucy Charles Barclay and Matt Russell, PR Lotion “is designed to maximize your training and recovery by unlocking bicarb, a natural electrolyte that improves muscle function and helps you combat fatigue during hard workouts.”

The idea is to deliver sodium bicarbonate to your system through the skin, so you get the benefits of buffering acid production in your muscles without the gastrointestinal side effects that are a side effect through regular ingestion. PR lotion can also reduce post-exercise inflammation and help you recover faster between workouts.

Yeti Crossroads Backpack

$250 Perfect for commuting or as an everyday backpack, the Crossroads offers 23 l of capacity. Thanks to the 1000D Nylon material lined with 420D Nylon ripstop, you get a tough, durable and rugged pack that will lives up to the rigorous demands triathletes put on their equipment. There’s a quick stash pocket for sunglasses and other necessities (mask, anyone?), while there are separate laptop (it’ll fit a 15.5” computer) and tablet pockets as well. The Crossroads stays upright, too, when you put it down, making it easy to load or unload. Add in the custom made dual-density foam shoulder straps and articulated back panel and you have a very comfortable pack that carries a load with ease.

Hyperice HyperVolt Plus Bluetooth

$600 We all know the benefits of massage therapy, but with our busy lifestyles and the restrictions getting thrown at us with the COVID-19 pandemic, getting to an appointment isn’t always realistic. Thanks to the HyperVolt Plus, though, you can take a lot of the therapy into your own hands. The brushless, hightorque 60-watt motor powers an impressive 3,200 percussions a minute. It delivers that powerful massage therapy surprisingly quietly, regardless of which one of the three speeds you’re using. It comes with five interchangeable head attachments.—KM