I totally love technology, so naturally I was inclined to use it to help me train.  A lot of my reading included information on training using heart rate zones.  I thought I should check this out.  I have a heart rate monitor watch, but it needs a new battery.  The other thing is that it requires you to stop all activity to be able to get a good reading.  I realized I would need one of those heart rate monitors with a chest strap.  I really struggled on this decision, wondering if it would be worth it.

I did some intensive research into watches and heart rate monitors.  My requirements:

  • cheap, i.e. under $200
  • could monitor heart rate constantly
  • could tell me my distance/pace indoors as well as out

I looked at the Adidas miCoach set since I had already been using the miCoach app.  I could get it dirt cheap at the Running Room’s website (about $100 less than anywhere else).  The only thing is that it only connects to your phone/iPod through their miCoach app.  It would not connect to a watch. http://www.shop.runningroom.com/product_info.php?language_id=1&products_id=5069

Next, I checked out the Nike+ products.  Their watch is pretty cool looking and even has a touch screen.  It uses GPS plus a foot pod to track distance.  Apparently the GPS is not great and I do not have the Nike+ shoes that will accommodate the foot pod.  The cost of the watch is $200, then I would have to buy the $80.00 heart rate monitor seperately. http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-406329/pgid-431911

I went to the Garmin site next and they have a great product-selector tool.  https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142&ra=true  I was able to select GPS and Heart Rate.  Yikes, expensive!  The cheapest was $179.99 and I would need to also buy a $70 foot pod if I wanted to track my distance indoors.  Then I had a closer look at the watches without GPS.  If I used one of those with a foot pod, I could track my distance indoors and outdoors. 

This lead me to the final choice between Garmin FR60 or FR70 paired with a Garmin Foot Pod.  From what I read, the Garmin FR60 doesn’t have a very good wrist strap.  It was available at London Drugs for $200 and I could buy the foot pod from Amazon.ca for $50, which was going over budget.  I did a Google search for the FR70 and found a company in Calgary that sold it for $129.99 plus $10.00 shipping.  Perfect!  http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/fr70.html

The Garmin FR70 and the Garmin Foot Pod are on their way.  I will post a review as soon as I get them!