Road to the Ironman #20 – Polar Heart Rate Monitor

What are the most important tools to during your journey to an Ironman? The list is large

• Good running shoes?
• Bike trainer for those cold winter days?
• Trusty treadmill again for those winter days?
• Swimmaster classes?

All good, but right now my choice is a heart rate monitor, in this case I am talking about the new Polar FT60. I used a Polar during my weight loss a few years back and it took all the guessing out of the equation. Well I used it so much it finally wore out. The result was a 70lb weight loss because I was keeping my heart rate in the zones I needed to be in.

Over time I lost touch with Polar and went back to guessing. In training for a sprint or Olympic distance I was OK going all out, but going all out for a half Ironman I crashed and burned. I am now well into building my Ironman base and I was feeling worn out and behind in the fitness level needed to train for an Ironman. So I decided to come back to the Polar Heart Rate Monitor and what a change. I will be the first to admit I have a tough time holding back so the Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) reminds my this is a marathon not a sprint…OH WAIT this is an Ironman not a sprint. Today is a great example. Today was the dreaded long run, 90 minutes. Usually I try to push a 8:30 pace in the beginning and bring it up slowly through out the run. Result? Dead tired, legs that were dead for two or three day and it was hard to go past 90 minutes. Today watching my heart rate it was a breeze (OK a little harder than that). I could have gone on to 2 hours without much trouble. By the end of the 2 hours I will easily beat the 13.1 mile goal.

So if you are looking for a tool to help your journey whether it is weight loss or an Ironman or anything between a Heart Rate Monitor is a wise choice.

IT TAKES ALL THE GUESSING OUT OF THE EQUATION!

Running totals:

Running miles treadmill: 73.35 miles

Running hours treadmill: 11:00

Running miles outside: 0 (getting the itch!!!!!!)

Running hours outside: 0

Biking miles: 155 miles

Biking hours: 8:00 hours

Spinning hours: 4 hrs.

Swimming laps (25 yard pool) : 746 lengths or 373 laps

Swimming distance: 18,900 yards or 10.74 miles

Swimming hours: 6:30 hours

Weight lifting hours: 4:45 hours

Stair Master miles: 7.41

Stair Master hours: 1:00 hour