Hrm

[james57]

I am currently looking to buy a HRM for my duathlon training .. I was thinking about the Polar 625X .. any comments, suggestions .. and the cheapest way to get one .. probably online..

Cheers

[evanyc]

the 625x seems pretty intense. if you're willing to pay that much and need that much info i see no reason why it wouldnt be a great computer. i already had a cycling computer and i'm not super competitive so my needs were limited. i went with the RS100 to use for running and cycling and it's been great. i do have some general questions about using heart rate info that i'll post in this thread when i get back from running.

[james57]

The reason I am seriously considering a HRM is that I tend to have major migraines the following day after doing intense interval training. fyi my RHR is 40-42 and was doing 5 sets of 5 min @ 176 with 3 min recovery .. was fine the next day and started feeling really bad in the PM.. I suspect that when I slighlty go over 170ish this is a trigger .. anyone else having this kind of issue ..

[evanyc]

if that's the primary reason your looking for a HRM i think the RS100 would be fine and it's about $300 cheaper than the R625x which has an insane amount of features. i'm new to the world of HRMs though so others can probably give better input that i can

i've had headaches happen after intense workouts but it generally stems from dehydration i think.

ok, so heart rate questions.

i just got into running so i'm not as used to judging exertion as i am with swimming and cycling which i've always done. i also just got a monitor for the first time so this is the first time i've done any training based on HR. right now i'm doing base training so trying stay between 70-80% max hr (134-154bpm). how important is it to stay strictly in this zone during base training?

today's workout for example (this is a light week) was 20 minutes of running for 2 minutes then walking for 1. i'd generally go above zone with about 30-15 seconds left in each running interval and get up to around 160, then go back down to between 135-140 during the recovery. i was in zone for 12 minutes and above zone for 8. is this a bad thing? should i pace the run a bit slower to keep a lower HR, or extend the recoveries a bit longer?

sorry for the newb questions. i'm just gettin into this. i've swam and cycled forever but never all that intensely. i generally felt like i was in pretty good cardio shape but who knows.

[james57]

Thks for the info .. in this case it would be the blind leading the blind .. someone else should jump in ..

[rplong]

I just bought the s725x (cycling version) the 625 comes with the footpod, which makes is sort of the runnign version. the 725 comes with cyclocomputer sensor. I have foudn it very useful and plan on getting the IRDA USB port to upload the info to my computer to track as I am almost out of memory on the watch. Very pleased with it so far. You might as well go big, because you will most likely want to upgrade in the future at soem point. I found both the 625 and 725 on EBAY for $250 apiece. I wish I had gone with the 625 b/c the footpod is like 120 bucks by itself and the speed sensor is only like 40. You won't be disappointed or wishing that there were more features. Good luck. I bought from this guy and he has 625 right now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Polar-S625X-NIB-Heart-Rate-Monitor-2007_W0QQitemZ320078499225QQihZ011QQcategoryZ75230QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem