Ka-Thump ... Ka-Thump

Although i am surrounded by runners who embrace technology that enhances the athletic experience, i've traditionally held off from attaching too much gadgetry to my person since 1) i'd feel less like a cheetah and 2) i'd be broke if i acquired all of the techno-bling that appealed to me.  There is so much great stuff out there.

Nevertheless, since the random beeps coming from my trusty Nike chronograph signaled the end of its simple yet fruitful life, i thought i better find something to replace it.

i do have a Garmin Forerunner 201 that i've had for a while and was my first foray into the world of GPS.  That device was certainly the best i had ever donned on my wrist and quite revolutionary for me.  i can remember taking a ruler, paper and a pencil onto the local map within the phone book and measuring out course after course.  Sure, sites like mapmyrun.com made things easier, but to just head out the door for a loop to wherever and know exactly how far i'd gone in real-time was amazing.

Standard joke: Of course, it didn't do the running for me.  Oh well.

So i found myself looking for something that could handle swimming, biking, and running.  The 201 didn't fit that bill.  i read lots of great reviews on my options as a triathlete and though the Garmin Forerunner 310XT really seemed like the way to go, i wanted to spend less coin and try something a little different.  Hence, i went with the non-GPS Garmin FR60.  If you want to know more about it, i'd suggest clicking that link.  i'd suggest clicking it anyway since it is written by a guy who also has some great race reports and writes a very interesting blog on his triathlon adventures.  Suffice it to say, the thing keeps track of time (check), distance without a GPS (it is fairly accurate, but tails off a little at variable speeds), cadence on the bike (check), heart rate (check), and more.

It is the heart rate monitoring which intruiged me the most.  While i knew my resting heart rate in the morning is 37, i had not paid much attention to the Ka-Thump during workouts.  i decided i wanted to know, so i headed to amazon.com and made it happen.  So far, here is what i have learned.

Four 800 meter hill repeats in the middle of an 8 mile run looks like this:

 

If i run hill repeats on a treadmill (say some 1/4 mile reps in the middle of 7 miles at 8:34s with the reps' incline at 4-1-5-1-6-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-7-1%), it looks like this: 

Now, over to the bike.  If i am on the trainer in the basement and a boring movie is in front of me, i get this:

If i am challenged a bit more, even during a 45 minute group spin class, i get different results:

i am not yet using the heart rate to drive my workouts, but am simply gathering feedback about where i am at during different types of scenarios.  i am also able to track the data over time to see if i am improving (or not).

Also, given the importance of cadence in Ironman and the fact that i have no idea how often my feet spin around on those pedals, the cadence data will be quite valuable.

Yes, i do like charts and graphs.  No, i will not let the pretty colors get in my eyes and prevent me from stopping a run and looking at a hawk flying overhead or the pretty colors that matter most: the sunsets.  Mainly this is a tool to keep me motivated and perhaps get me to the finish line a little more efficiently.

Ka-Thump ... Ka-Thump ...  Ka-Thump ... Ka-Thump........