Heart Rate Monitor Questions..

My Nike+ that I attach to my ipod and use to track my runs is totally on it's last legs.  I'm still logging workouts, but I like SEEING my progress on the computer.   I'm wanting to make the leap into the big leagues and get myself a HRM to get more out of my workouts but I've got a few questions that I'm hoping you guys can help me out with...

What do you have/use?
Does it track your HRM and your distance and pace?
Is i****erproof? (apparently my nike sensor is not..)
Is it rechargeable? Battery operated?
How do you wear it? (watch, shoe, etc...)
Can you plug it into your computer to upload data to a site?  (I'm a nerd and kinda like keeping track..)
Any other things I should keep in mind?

Thanks for any info you guys can pass along!!!

Katie

1.I have a garmin forerunner 110
2. Yes
3. It is sweatproof,so its water resistant, but I can't swim in it
4.It is rechargable
5.Its a watch
6.Yes, this was the whole reason I bought it, check out my half marathon distance I did last week to give you an idea about what kind of data you will get connect.garmin.com/activity/45461763

Katie

I have the Garmin as well. I'm a big fan and it tracks EVERYTHING (pace, miles/hr, distance, heart rate etc) and I can use it everywhere but the pool. I have the 405.

It's a rechargable and has a usb key that wirelessly uploads everything to your computer - mine is plugged in right now.

Be mindful of what you're looking for. There are LOTs of watches out there that only measure heart rate and time. You can get other foot pod devices (like the Nike) but they're basing the calculation on your stride length not actual distance. I got a nasty wake up call when I switched to a Garmin (with GPS) and found out I wasn't running as far/fast.

here's an example of one of my recent runs - not I wasn't wearing the Heart rate monitor.

 I have a Polar HRM, I use it for swim/run/bike.  I don't think mine tracks pace, it tracks calories, HR, and I can upload to computer. This one has a pedometer function that I don't use.

I wear a band around my chest to measure my HR and a watch that tracks the information.

Hi!!!  I was wondering which model you have?  I am looking to splash around in the water myself... 

Davina,

I bought mine almost 4 years ago, I don't remember the model.  It is very similar to this one:

http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/products/get_active/running_multisport/RS100

They have different ones on their webpage....the one above is good underwater to 50 meters.

You'll have to buy the watch and the band to go around your chest.

Thank you!

I have the Garmin 310XT. It is waterproof but the GPS doesn't work that well in water. (It used to pretty much not work at all but they upgraded the software and now it's not bad most of the time.) The HRM works okay in the pool, but not too well under a wetsuit.

It tracks EVERYTHING. Pace, speed, time, miles, calories, HR, cadence (if you buy the separate cadence sensor for the bike). Plus you can do laps and it tells you the current stats for the lap, the average for the lap, the average for the entire workout, etc.

You can customize the displays to show what makes sense to you for each type of workout -- run, bike, other. You can keep stats for up to 6 or 7 bikes.

It uploads to the computer. You can also download maps of routes to it from certain websites.

It recharges. The battery lasts about 20 hours though.

I wear it on my wrist except on the bike where I put it in a special bike mount. The HR strap is around my chest, of course.

I think that's everything ... oh wait, you can do intervals with it too. And multi-sport -- so you can set it up to time an entire triathlon or duathlon or whatever and every time you hit the lap button, it goes to the next sport (or transition).

Thanks for all the input guys, I really appreciate it!!

I'm convinced that I want one....now comes the fun part, shopping around for a good deal!!

If you are looking for a good deal, look for the Garmin 305. It is the model before the 310 that Marie was talking about. The big difference???? it isn'****erproof. Other than that it does all the same things. Being the older model it is a lot less expensive $150ish vs 350ish for the 310 model.

Scott