My First Time with a Heart Rate Monitor

Knowledge is Power.  I have learned this is so true.

I heard it for a long time, “get a heart rate monitor, you will love it.”  I had no idea why I needed one.  Everyone told me I should get one.  They all loved theirs.  I figured it was a nice to have, not a necessity.   Well, yesterday I borrowed the fancy schmancy one I got my husband for a present last year (for those of you who love gadgets it is a Garmin 310 Forerunner 310XT and I have to admit it is VERY COOL).  Thank heavens my cycling partner (Kara) knew how to use it.  She helped me set it up and away we went.

My homework from last week from Kara was to get a heart rate (HR for the cool kids) monitor.  Don’t you love it when friends assign you homework?  I do!  Kara thought that if I got a HR monitor I could better understand how to push myself while riding the bike.  She knows I am pretty competitive but saw that I wasn’t pushing myself as hard as I could.  So glad she could see that – it was exactly what I needed.

What I loved most about the HR monitor was that I got instant feedback on how I was doing.  If I pedaled faster and pushed myself harder – my HR went up.  With all of the data I was seeing, how fast I was going, I how much distance I had covered (loved this one), I could track my pace at each mile and I did all of that and more.  WOW, I am in LOVE!!!

Have you ever discovered an unexpected tool that helped to motivate you?