Still Training and Still No Plan
Maybe we shouldn’t call it training, because training implies a goal and a plan. Let’s just call it what it is: running. It was supposed to be my easy day so the running consisted of 5′ running and 2′ walking repeated over 4 miles. And because my heart rate stayed below 144 bpm, I can justify calling it an easy run. At least I think my HR stayed below 144 bpm.
A Good Training Device
The smart watch on my wrist is nice. It has GPS, SMS, and TWC. It tells time, weather, location, calendar, altitude. It plays music, makes phone calls, and sends email. It even measures heart rate, but I don’t trust it. Do all smart watches and sport watches these days use sensors to measure heart rate from the wrist? The wrist? I thought we made huge strides in technology when we measured heart rate with a chest strap. After all that’s closer to the heart that the wrist.
Accuracy vs. Precision
Garmin Forerunner 305
Accuracy is what I want and accuracy is what I expect. Let’s not confuse the term accuracy with precision, because that’s a lecture I don’t have time to give right now. I used to use a Garmin Forerunner 305. It was reliable, precise and accurate and it measured heart rate with a chest strap. Then one day it stopped working, so I tried to replace the battery.
It still didn’t work. So broken watch met cast iron anvil and steel hammer. (Here’s the video if you’re interested)
A Good Heart Rate Monitor
To tell the truth, I know my current smart watch is very inaccurate for measuring heart rate because it likes to tell me my heart is pumping at 185 bpm when a finger on my neck tells me it’s only pumping 140 or 150 bpm. It also goes the other way. Sometimes it’s close, but those occurrences seem random.
Needless to say, I’m in the market for a good heart rate monitor. If you have any advice, let me know what you like or dislike about yours. Thanks.