Heart rate monitor training

So to use the RS800 do you have to have addidas shoes or can it be used with other makes? I'd be intrested to know more about this product as I just love those gadgets. Sad I know.

Snap do you prefer the rs800 to the garmins?

Not tried the garmin, but very happy with the polar so far. I'm only using one pair of shoes at the moment but when I really get off road I'll have to configure the other shoes. I wonder how much of a difference changing shoes can make and how sensitive is that stride sensor!

I'm qite happy with the RS800 too. I wouldn't pay £350 for it though - maybe £150

It uses infared to transmit data to the computer - it's short range so you basically have to hold teh watch to the reciever. I think blutooth would have been a much better option to use especially as you can pair devices - im sure for teams it would be a great improvement.

I calibrated the footpod on a track last week running 1200 meters. I find it to be slightly generous in my real world running. It measured 7.4 miles for the 7.2 mile lap of richmond park & 5.88 miles for the 5.62 local route that I measured on my bicycle.

I haven't had it long enough to check if it measures routes consistantly but if it does that would be great as I'd be comparing like with like.

As for the heart rate monitor feature - I quite like that but don't really know how to interperate the data. I like the "optimizer" test I do each morning where it measures my resting heart rate, then I stand up & it measures that peak & then my standing heart rate & tells me if I'm overtraining, well rested etc

Here's a sample of teh results from a run that I don't know how to interperate.

I've been running fairly haphazadrly for 3 years & would like to be sub 1:25 for Windsor half marathon (30 mins faster than last year). I PB'd at Reading in April this year in 91:35

Maybe I should by the Dummies book?

Data Value Unit
Duration 1:01:20
Sampling Rate 5 s
Running Index 76

Energy Expenditure 703 kcal
Number of Heart Beats 8721 beats
Recovery -65 beats
Minimum Heart Rate 68 bpm
Average Heart Rate 142 bpm
Maximum Heart Rate 171 bpm
Standard Deviation 16.4 bpm

Minimum Speed 12:30 min/km
Average Speed 4:57 min/km
Maximum Speed 3:21 min/km
Distance 12.4 km

Minimum Cadence 57 rpm
Average Cadence 87 rpm
Maximum Cadence 98 rpm

Minimum Altitude -48 m
Average Altitude -23 m
Maximum Altitude 1 m
Ascent 95 m
Descent 292 m
VAM 93 m

Could you explain the cadence I thought that was only used for biking? I presume it must be how many steps your taking?

yeah same as biking - one revolution of teh feet - the speed per min it takes your right foot (or which ever one has the footpod) to hit the ground twice.

I think Polar says 86prm is about right for half-marathon distance although I can't remember where I read this, if I believe it,m & even if I understand it.

I've been up to 176rpm on the bike (not me own effort - fixed gear downhill) & I wonder what the fastest I could get running downhill would be at the increased risk of personal injury

As you repeat certain runs you can see if fitness improves your cadence and lenght of stride...or make it worse :)

I'm gonna join in here as I've just been trying out my new HRM. The good news is, my heart's still beating. The only other conclusion I've reached so far is that Waitrose must be a relatively relaxed place to shop as I got my HR down to 51 whilst waiting in the queue. No idea what my resting HR is but I'll soon find out.

Quick question: how would anyone rate a strenuous spinning class as a way to obtain maximum heart rate? Thought I'd strap it on this evening and give it my all.

A spinning class would not be ideal to get a max as we have different max results for different sports.

best way to do it is to find a hill or do a track session of 800 meters.

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/hrm2.htm

stress tests carry a degree of risk so let someone know what you are doing & make sure thy have a phone & know where you are in teh very rare case that they might need to call an ambulance.

By the way - the slow flickering of fluorescent lights is supposed to slow you down - to make you dopey & more likely to buy things you dont need. That's why essentials like milk & beer are always at the back or far end of supermarkets forcing you to walk past loads of other stuff

Interesting!

I'll see what reading a get tonight, then compare it with what I get from running exercises. A few lung-busting runs up and down Greenwich Park should do the trick.


Update: my office environment must be even more relaxing than Waitrose. I just registered a 38!

It's actually not a brilliant idea to calibrate the pod on the track (not a tartan track anyway); over the distance (1200 metres plus) the slight resilience of the surface is enough to cause a deviation, as is the curvature of the track.

I suppose in the absense of a properly surveyed course you might borrow someone's Garmin to measure out a stretch of road for yourself. The longer the better. It is easy to calibrate and recalibrate the RS800sd on the fly, so if you started your course from home you could recalibrate every time you set out for a run, according to the shoes you had on or the pace you intended to stick to.

That said: I have just been out for a 10 miler with several k along a main road with kilometre stones, and the RS800sd was accurate to within a metre per 2 kilometres; my pace varied from 5:15 per k to 4:27 per k, and the road is nicely undulating. That was using the default calibration but after selecting the shoe (I wore the speed sensor inside the new Addidad shoe today).

I think the Garmin 305 and Polar RS800sd cater for two different groups of runners. If you are really interested in geographical data then the Garmin is for you. But if you are really into HR data and analysis and you want reliable feedback on your pace as you run, go for the Polar.
If I was rich I would buy the RS800sd and the Garmin 205, I think.

If I didn't have much time for computers and software and analysis but just wanted basic HR data and a reliable post-run record of where I'd been and how fast, I'd go for the Garmin 305. It'd give be the additional advantage of the "virtual partner", too, great if you do a lot of running on your own.

paininthe foot - sorry! No, you can use the Polar footpod with any shoe. It rides in the laces, like the older footpods. But you can fit it inside the new Addidas if you want.

The new "speed sensor" has the advantage that there is no on-off switch, i..e no moving parts or contacts to go wrong. You can change the battery yourself, as you can with the RS800 watch and the HR transmitter belt.

Minor grumble, the watch has decided not to talk to the stride sensor ever again from what I can see. I had this problem when I calibrated on the track at Harrow, turned out to be the watch not the sensor so they swapped it for another one. Any of you regular users experience this?

Thanks Snap sounds like a cracking bit of kit. Think I will stick to my garmin for now.

Still not sure whether HR training is doing me any good or not. Have finally got down to the speed I managed for my fastest marathon 7.06 min/mile over an 11 mile run on Sunday. Funny thing is is that I have been less paranoid about HR stats for the last few weeks. Don't know whether that means HR training doesnt suit me or if it's due to the cooler weather.

Quick update on playing with my new toy... Spinning like my life depended on it got my HR up to 176. Did a quick hill test yesterday evening and reached 181. Probably a couple more beats in there somewhere but it felt fairly max'd out to me!

Anyway, I'm giving myself a working range of 38 - 182, making my 70% effort level 139 bpm. This is quite reassuring as I appear to have been doing my long runs at about the right level (if a little toppy).

Fixed problem with stride sensor. Took out battery and straightened the contacts and it started working. I think this is a design flaw as I've heard I'm not the first to have this problem.

Big Pony - I couldn't get mine to talk at first. But if it happens again, remove the sensor from the watch menu (you'll know what I mean) and re-teach it.
Because of the W.I.R.E technology they are sensitive to computers (Bluetooth etc). If your sensor comes from a Polar office you may safely assume it's been corrupted a bit!

Not that I've had any problems since.