7 Reasons to use a GPS Heart Rate Monitor
Posted on Aug 22, 2008 under GPS Heart rate monitor, garmin | No CommentWhy should you consider using a GPS Heart Rate Monitor?
I took up competitive running later in life and started with a marathon as my goal. I took advice from various distance coaches and they recommended using a heart rate monitor as part of my training. I have now been using heart rate monitors since 1998. My first HRM was just a chest strap and a digital readout of the heart rate. I think it was a Polar heart rate monitor. I still had to wear a running watch on the other wrist to measure my time!
Technology moved on and I got a GPS time and distance monitor, a Garmin forerunner 201, and I was still wearing the HRM on the other wrist! This was better as I could download my time and distance to the computer. It was still a bit irritating as I still had two “watches” when I was running.
Finally a company developed exactly what I was looking for, a GPS Heart Rate Monitor all in one timepiece. My first one was a Garmin forerunner 301. This was great and all the data could be downloaded to my computer for analysis and route planning.
Since starting running with a heart rate monitor in 1998 I ran my first marathon in 1999. I went on to join Carnegie Harriers running club in 2003 and have run many races from 1 mile to 45 miles. For the last couple of years I have stopped running road races and run trail, cross country and my favorite hill races. In hill racing the GPS element comes into its own as the routes are not marked and navigation is important.
So here are my 7 reasons why you should get a GPS Heart Rate Monitor.
1. Using a Heart Rate Monitor is like having your own rev counter. This means you know immediately if you are going into the “red zone”. Once you have worked out the numbers of your upper and lower heart rate zones, you can keep an eye on it at all times. Even better some of the new HRM’s have an audible alarm so you can hear if you are over or under your heart rate zones. Having this information at your fingertips really helps you train effectively, stops you overtraining and really importantly helps you to manage your self during long races.
2. Having the GPS helps you know exactly how far you have run. This can be really useful if you, like me, have to travel with work or on holiday. All of a sudden you do not have your usual measured training runs so you are not sure if you have run far enough, or perhaps too far. Having a GPS HRM lets you know the distance exactly. You also know your pace or speed so you can practice getting your tempo right.
3. The third benefit is that it helps you with your motivation. Once you know your numbers for heart rate zones, pace or speed rates you can challenge yourself to stick to these levels as you train. It is like having a coach out with you sitting on your wrist. One of the GPS heart rate monitors also has a “running buddy” that is a virtual training partner. The GPS HRM tells you if you are in front or behind your partner. This certainly keeps me motivated. Would you like to be beaten by a computer?
4. One of my favorite benefits is that you can download the data from your GPS Heart rate monitor to your computer. This means that you can download and compare your data to see how you are progressing and improving. It also means you can set all your zones, paces and routes including full training plans on your computer. You can then up load them to the gps hrm watch to use when you train next. The computer software lets you see graphs and visual representations of where you have been. I really like this feature as most of my running is off road. This means you can see your route and also the shape and height of the hill you have just run over.
5. As you might imagine you can use the GPS Heart rate monitor for navigation. You can plan way points in and you can use previous routes to follow. A small arrow appears on the screen pointing in the direction you should go. This is a great help and provided you set it up well it can save you a lot of time. I still like to use maps and compass for navigation in the hills and it is important to have them in case of equipment failure. On the web there are route sharing websites where you can download other peoples routes, load them onto your watch and run somewhere you have never been before. Pretty cool eh?
6. Being able to record and store your running data allows you to fine tune your training. This can show you exactly where in a training run or event where things started to change. You can also compare pace against elevation and other variables that might not have been so obvious from separate pieces of equipment. Knowing elevation is really important to hill runners as we can climb up to 8,000 feet in one race. This can let you know why a 14 mile race takes longer than a marathon!
7. Having a GPS heart rate monitor is fun! It can be great to be a bit of a techie and play around with it to customize it for your exact specifications. If you are more like me I just press on and start and off I go and enjoy keeping an eye on my heart rate to make sure I am training or racing at my optimum level. You can then go back after upload it and share it with your friends or post it on a blog. I often post race profiles on our club blog.
Well these are my thoughts on why you should consider a GPS Heart Rate Monitor. It can help improve your training and fitness. It can even make it a bit more fun.
There are quite a few GPS Heart Rate Monitors on the market. It is important you find one that suits your needs.
