A lot of devices come with an inbuilt HRM these days but back in 2016 it wasn’t as frequent. I bought my brother’s Garmin Forerunner 235 and with it the chest strap. Over the next few months I ran my best ever half marathon and my worst ever marathon. I no longer use one but there were some good points it. I honestly can’t tell you if it’s good - as I said my best half and worst full came using it but below is what I liked and what I loathed:
Pros:
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It’s not subjective. Often we run by how we feel but with a HRM you don’t get the choice. It independently measures your effort and so when you can’t be bothered it kicks you up the backside and when you are flying it reigns you in.
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It helps you run at a rhythm. After a while you get used to running at the same effort and that certainly helped me in my half when I ran without it. My splits were all within 10 seconds of each other which I think is because the HRM got me used to running at a consistent effort.
Cons:
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It tells you the truth. Turns out I’m not as fit as I’d like to believe!!! It took over a minute a mile off my training pace and often left me frustrated that I was constantly slowing down.
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It turned me into a madman. It was slowing me down so much I felt like I was shouting at it all the time. Fellow runners must have wondered “why is that guy having an argument with his wrist”?
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It was uncomfortable. Most these day are wrist based but I would spend the first mile of most runs adjusting the strap to try and get it to stick in place. Probably looked to people around like I was adjusting a bra strap!
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It made me not enjoy running. When the battery went I was relieved. I’d spent 8 months running with it and hadn’t enjoyed it. Yes it had been successful for the half but I run primarily to enjoy it so if anything takes that away it’s not worth persisting with.
So, in conclusion, they work and they don’t work! For me, it wasn’t the way forwards. How have you found training to heart rate?
Hi Olly, I've enjoyed your blog so far. As you've posed the question re HRMs I'll give you my thoughts..
ReplyDeleteI'm a born-again runner, and until last summer hadn't run in 25 yrs. Obviously HRMs were not standard kit back then, and one ran on feel. I do likewise now, despite wearing a Garmin with wrist HRM. Breathing is the key measure for me, and tells me all I need to know. I find my heart rate gradually climbs anyway if maintaining a steady, but challenging pace, and if I was running to heart rate I might be misled into slowing down. HR, for me anyway, is just an interesting bit of data, and that's about it...
Hi Gavin. Thanks for your comments. Yep I agree on it just being an interesting bit of data. Totally down to the individual but anything that saps your enjoyment just isn't worth it for me!
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