Woes and Praise of Heart Rate Monitor

THE DIMINUTIVES OF CARDIO AND WEIGHTS at 5:30 am!

Like training at the start of the term in January after having a break from my morning routines, waking for this workout was a challenge - I was just too comfortable in bed!

with less time...I opted to train in my room:

• started with Glutes and Core (it was sooo slow going!)
  
• 10 minutes on Trainer + Arm swings to warm up
• Upper Body workout. I have 10 lb weights that I borrowed from a rugby player in the house. its funny b/c they are just too heavy for some of the shoulder excercises. So my next option were cans of beans. These were very light- but better than nothing.

HEART RATE MONITOR ARRIVED!
I was so pleased to finally have my little TIMEX 30 Lap HR Monitor. I thought I found a real steal on E-Bay by winning the bid at 42$, however, after all that other stuff the watch cost me 78$. Whatev's... at least i have it.

I tested it out last night while on duty in the house. I'd arrive at a student's room and tell them that their behaviour was raising my heart-rate! It was funny.

QUESTIONS:

• does the sports bra interfere with the readings? I seem to have a pool of sweat where the elastic supports me... and the elastic is very firm... i wonder.
• do I trust the Age formula for my Max H.R? (ie 220 - age) Is there another way for me to determine my max?

BIKE (trainer) 1h 15 and 20 min. RUN

• I was a bit of a hater today- the cable to read my cadence ripped in half... Did this happen @ the Bike Shop on Monday? BAH!!! Ah well, I know that I'm consistent on the cadence... either 93 or very fast.
• The H.R. monitor was a good resource.
  
• I'm assuming that ZONE 3 is Moderate? I'm really not sure. On the net it says that ZONE 3 = aerobic. perhaps I should have cooled it a bit?
  
• I averaged around 143 beats/min for the workout. I was sweating more than ever.
  
• I was surprised when I started that I was way below the zone. I had to up the wattage with higher gears to pick up my heart rate. Usually I pedal with easy resistence.
  
• Have I not been working hard enough or is this HR Zone too hight?
  
• It was hard but good and do-able. I was just wondering how I would keep that going for 6 whole hours in the desert?!

My HR Monitor was a pane in the neck!

It wouldn't make a reading on my wrist in the aero-position. I had to move my wrist in under my chest to get a reading. I tried to wrap the watch on the top bar of my bike, which was virtually under my chest - yet it still wouldn't read my HR. What a pain! I also ran with the HR monitor, and it still wouldn't read my wrist as I ran. GAH! I think I bought a faulty tool. Or maybe I just don't know how to use it - I'll have to ask for advice.

• The run was spectacular - I charged out to my favourite trails. As soon as I crossed the first river all those exhillerating sensations from being on the trails came back. So much joy- I could have run forever. What a joy to run a straight 20 minutes too!
  

I am now very tired. time for bed.