Hey Runners - Is a HRM a need??

gmthisfeller

Strictly for running, I agree with the general majority here: a nice tool, but you can do without. It does help with figuring out your productive pace, and it has been nice for me to watch my average heart rate fall as my performance increases. It's just a nice thing, though. I think that without it, I could have made the same progress.

Agree with what someone above said: all you NEED is a good pair of shoes! Get fitted. This is the best advice I ever got when I was getting into running.

THAT SAID, I started running WHILE trying to lose weight. I had no idea how much running shreds calories. I had to eat A. LOT. to compensate for my long runs, and I think I wouldn't have known where to start if I didn't have my HRM. Knowing how much I burned helped me eat well and recover well, and I think I would have under-ate if I hadn't had an HRM.

In most forms "me too's" are frowned upon, but dang it, this deserves a "Me too!"

So, +1 for this post.

alathIN

I use a HRM pretty regularly and I find it especially helpful during longer races like half marathon.
A lot of people - me included - have a tendency to get excited and try to run too fast in the beginning. Or sometimes I will catch myself going too hard when I am feeling good mid-race. That is often a mistake.
If you have a target HR zone, the HRM can provide a discipline to help you stay at your best whole-race pace.

starvinkevin

Just get one - the Polar FT4 is around $50 and all the batteries are replaceable. You won't regret it and you'll lose more weight because you won't overrestimate/underestimate your calories.... plus it really really helps for improving your running because you know when to slow down your pace if you're going to fast which lets you run farther in my experience.

donrdon

For me, I've got one and enjoy all the features. Is it useful.....yes (pace, distance, etc). But do absolutely "need" it.......nope.

janer4jc

Black Friday...there's a good idea. I wonder what I need?

learnerdriver

I think my needs are decent shoes, a really good sports bra, and some lycra to prevent chafe ewwwwwwwww.

I have a Garmin 10 as I wanted to figure out my pace, and how I tire but then again, I don't have a digital watch nor an iphone :noway: Best of luck with your half!

bonjour24

I have a Polar FT something. I wore it for a while in the beginning- i really loved it. It told me how far, fast, HR, cals burned, and more importantly it gave me a graph of daily activity. I kept running because i didn't want to see a gap in the graph! Didn't have GPS on it though, but I plan my runs using geodistance.com usually so i already know my route.
I stopped using it after about 6 months. I just got fed up of the strap losing my heart rate. I got fed up with having to readjust it all the time. And i moved on.
I moved onto a Nike Sportsband. It doesn't have GPS. but it has a thingy that you attach to your shoe, and a watch (which is really a pendrive). It logs distance, speed, cals, etc, and is way more comfy. And you just plug the toggle into your computer and enter a whole other world! There's a site that you link into and it monitors everything.
So I say a HRM is not really necessary. If you're going to give one a go, try and get a 2nd hand one or borrow one first to see if you like it.
Running really isn't that complicated unless you're at expert level and are competing. For me there are 3 speeds- stop, run, and run a bit faster for a shorter time. I don't need to know what my HR is to do that properly.

AwesomeSquirrel

I ran for over a year including two half marathons with a GPS watch or a HRM. I did have one of these NIke+ things o measure distance roughly (works the same as your iPhone app) which did me fine. I know have a GPS watch with HRM (TomTom Runner) and I'm in love with it, but you don't "need" it. I do particularly enjoy the HRM feature, I've started doing a lot of runs by heart rate zone instead of pace and that has led to both faster tempo runs and slower (more valuable) recovery runs.

Bottom line: I love my GPS + HRM but you don't need it. WHen you're starting out, put that money towards decent shoes instead and if you still want it in a year, buy it.

NoxDineen

Do you *need* one? No. Really you don't need a GPS either. Or shoes (I've seen somebody running barefoot when it was around 0 degrees Celsius... seriously thought the dude was insane but also badass).

I'm currently pretty interested in some of the Polar HRM/GPS combos, as they claim they can analyze your runs and notify you when/where you're running less efficiently than you're capable of. Since I'm also training for a more obstacle races, a half-marathon and probably a marathon it seems to me like learning how to maximize efficiency is probably not a bad idea.

In general my own attitude is if it's something I really want, and might actually need, and it's associated with something I *know* I love doing I get it. (Plus I'm cheap so once I drop the cash I'll run even in the Canadian winter because I darn well better use my shiny new gadget.)

DymonNdaRgh40

Not really, because I don't need it to run. All you really need are some comfortable running shoes. However, when I have an awesome run I like seeing my heart rate and the calorie burn. I also like to see it on those rare days when I have a bad run or ran an unfamiliar area. It's helpful to see if your working too hard or not hard enough.