My new toy !!!

Last Friday, I've acquired a new toy to replace my old one. The fact that I went through very heavy rain on my bike just to meet the seller speaks volume about my enthusiasm.

Problem with my old toy

What did I get myself ? It was a new heart rate monitor, or running computer. Actually, I've been using Timex's Fitness HRM since January, & at that time, I felt like all the information I get from the device was adequate to what I wanted to do. But as I did more & more races & I got more serious in my training, I found myself wanting for more. It was made worse when I replaced the battery on the Timex transmitter (the device U strap on Ur chest to get heart rate reading) it started to give erratic readings. It was fine at first, but after 2-3 weeks it started malfunctioning. Heart rate readings takes a good 10 mins to appear on the wrist unit, heart rate readings jump from 70+ to 100+ in one go. The problem was that, if the heart rate readings is not accurate, the calorie consumption reading will also become inaccurate. So, after a while, I got fed up & decided to purchase the Polar RS300x SD.

Polar RS300x SD






I'm no stranger to Polar products, having used the Polar Edge in 1994 for my cycling training rides. Polar Edge was a very basic HRM (Heart rate monitor), it can give U heart rate reading, U can set upper & lower limits, it can give U visual & audible alarms if U exceed Ur limits, time spent within the specified limits & that's all. In 1994 it cost me RM450. Back then, the more advanced model was Polar Accurex II, & Vantage XL. The thing was that, back then, sports science in Malaysia was still in its infancy. Members of the Commonwealth Games 1998 squad were each supplied with Polar Accurex II, but none of them used the HRM for more than displaying current heart rate.

My Polar RS300x SD can do much more than that. With the supplied S1 Footpod, it can give U distance readings, plus speed & pace. The wrist unit itself is much more streamlined than my Timex. & the amount of data I can collect from a single training is just overwhelming. With my Timex U can set all 5 training zones by entering Ur max heart rate & it can calculate time spent in the particular training zone U've set for Ur workout. With the RS300x, it has this feature called Polar's OwnZone, which calculates Ur aerobic training zone, within the 1st 3 mins of Ur workout. It makes sense actually, becoz on that particular day, U might be feeling a bit tired & unable to train in Ur normal aerobic zone. & it can still set Ur 5 training zones, called Polar's Sports Zone. & it can calculate time spent below, within & above Ur OwnZone and each of Ur SportsZone. U can get calorie consumption reading, distance, speed, pace, U can set the device to capture auto split time based on distance or time. Man, I can go on & on all day.

There's not much to dislike with this device. One of them is the stopwatch is only up to 1/10th of a second, which is quite amusing considering most sportswatch nowadays can read up to 1/100th of a second. & some of the features I missed from my Timex is the countdown timer & recovery timer.

Hmm... I gotta go. Will continue later.