Heart Rate Monitors : The Beginning

Hello out there in the land of multisports. Today, and for the next few posts I'm going to be talking about what may, after a good pair of running shoes, be the single greatest piece of gear to have in your arsenal. It is the heart rate monitor. Many make them, some are better than others, and here I'm going to do my best to write objectively about a few of them.

Let's get a few things out of the way first. A heart rate monitor is a device which, through the use of a piece of diagnostic equipment, be it a chest strap, finger clamp, wrist strap, just to name a few, can read one's pulse and transmit the useful information to the interested party. Short answer for us is something that can tell us how hard we're working and display it in a manner that is easy to read at a glance.

There is a point of diminishing returns on adding gear to our kit. It is the point at which the bulk, or added features, reduce our enjoyment of our activity. For everyone this is a very different point. Some people (perhaps myself included) would want to know every wheel turn on the bike, correlate that to a series of heart beats, and then extract the effect of the force on the chain to determine how hard I need to be running after T2. For others the intrusion of a wrist watch detracts from the simple pleasure of running. So I leave that completely up to you. Know that your choice is right, because it's right for you.

That having been said, let's talk about heart rate monitors. I'm sure that you've heard by now that, and if you haven't allow me, during training your ability to work withing specific zones (ranges of beats/minute) allow you to train more efficiently over the long term than any other piece of gear.

I will be talking about heart rate monitors from the perspective of a multisport athlete as opposed to a general fitness athlete. I believe that the best way to track someone's actual heart rate is to put a strap around their chest where the heart is.

While there are many brands of devices that do this, I'll be looking at the following:

• Polar


• Timex


• Suunto


• Garmin

...and perhaps a few others as they come up in discussion.

Stay tuned for the next episode.
-dean

Technology check for Wildflower event weekend

Hello there. This is a test post for race day coverage. This post was sent from my trusty Palm Treo 700W. I'm looking forward to seeing my teammates take on this half iron distance course. Go Wildflower!! Go Team!!

http://irondean.blogspot.com

Small Shops

In any large city you're bound to find a chain store that'll sell you your whole bike setup from helmet & jersey to tri-specific equipment ranging from aerobars and aerobottles to rear mounted hydration gear like the xlab flatwing. More often than not it's a one-stop shop with great deals and loyalty programs. Don't get me wrong they probably even have a discount deal with the local tri/cycle club in the community. I love 'em, have their card and get their discounts and many times they are my first stop.

On the other hand there are the smaller local shops. Many times these are powered by enthusiasts, and independant of chainstore responsibilities. Despite their lower buying power, these shops often have items that you won't find in some of the larger stores which cater to the masses. Many of these shops cater to a particular manufacturer or handle small runs of clothing.
Recently I found a Team Discovery Jersey for $40 instead of the usual $85 or $90 on the sale rack. The combination of a clothing blowout and lack of foot traffic to the store granted me this huge savings. (Love it!)

Visit the small shops. Support the locals. There are deals to be had.

Gear - Motortabs : A Follow up

In the most recent Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI (Oct 21st, 2006) Motortabs were among the nutrition strategy of Michellie Jones, who won the Pro Women's Division in 9:18:31.

See previous post on motortabs

I forgot to point out that motortabs can be found at these online retailers:

• Trisports.com - Discount given for more tabs purchased
• All3sports.com - Motortabs by the box
• Amazon.com - You can even find them on Amazon

Eat, Drink, & Be Triathletes.

Gear - Motortabs

I discovered Motortabs at the end of my triathlon season last year. Motortabs, a fluid replacement system, uses an effervescent delivery system much like an alka seltzer. Instead of powders and scoops, Motortabs are served in foil packets and begin to dissolve when they hit water. In a matter of minutes the tablets, or tabs, dissolve completely in the bottle or cup that they are placed in.

The Motortabs product is available in three easy to drink flavors, lemon-lime, fruit punch and orange. Each tab is 16g of carbohydrates (65 calories per tab) allowing for easy estimation of nutrition needs. Additionally, sodium (250mg) and potassium (75mg) are also a part of the product.

Here’s where I see the Motortabs advantage. The tabs themselves are easy to carry. They taste good. The formula is really simple allowing for easy combination with other nutrition sources. Tabs can be carried and mixed on the fly in aero bottles according to need with water on the course, as there is nearly always water on the course.

That last point was made especially clear to me on a past race. I had premixed bottles of nutrition sitting waiting for me at mile 60 of 112 and after four hours of baking on the hot pavement the stuff was nearly undrinkable. What was missing on my part was the desire to drink as much as I had to to stay hydrated and to keep my energy stores up. All over the course was Gatorade, which for me needed to be cut down a little with water, and cold water. On a hot day nothing, and I mean nothing, sounds or feels better than a bottle of cold water. If I had had an aero bottle and Motortabs I would have been able to mix my drinks as I went, adding cold water and which ever flavor tab suited my fancy as I went. Instead I had to discard over three hours of planned nutrition and do my best with what was on the course. Not what I had planned and far from ideal.

On a personal note I’ve tried several products, am not sponsored by any of them (YET, hint hint!), but have found that this product allows me the greatest amount of nutritional and logistical flexibility over the long course. Couple that with also liking the flavor and not minding the tenth bottle of the stuff over the course of a workout or race and I think I’ve found my product. I’m going back to Ironman this summer and Motortabs are a key part of my nutrition plan for training and racing. With any luck at all, there will be a new PR for me out there. I can’t wait.

Gear - Perpetuem

First up is Perpetuem, a fine product from Hammer Nutrition.
Hammer has come a long way in engineering their products to work for distance athletes for the duration.

One serving of this stuff, was 260 calories from 54 grams of carbohydrates, most of that from maltodextrin, a long chain carbohydrate. I mixed almost 1.5 servings per 22 oz bottle and found that it dissolved with a little work and stayed that way for the duration of my workouts. I liked the mild flavor and could handle it repeatedly over a long workout, sometimes 5-7 bottles worth.

A note here, there is 6g of protein per serving. Now we've entered in to some dicey ground. The debate over whether or not protein should be a part of your nutrition regiment during exercise or race is a hot topic of debate. Personally I'm not sure. See, honest. Dean = not sure about protein. Some people say that it increases active recover or feeds muscle. Some people say that it throws a monkey wrench in to the digestive process. Some people say that it does nothing.

Dean still = not sure.

Perpetuem remains on my shelf as a staple product for 2-3 hour workouts. The jury is still out as to whether or not it causes some level of problem in my stomach or if it is any of a hundred other factors including but not limited to stress, over training, poor combination of solid foods, improper pre-workout nutrition, sleep deprivation, stress (oh, did I say that one already), heat, and the list goes on and on.

If there's one thing I can say about all of this it is this, think about it. Yes, you heard me right, think about it. Read what you can get your hands on. Try the free samples. Buy small bottles of concentrate or single serving pouches, and try it out. What works for one person may not work for you. You may thrive on nothing but fructose (fruit sugar) based sports drinks. You may reject protein completely. You may discover, like a friend of mine, that vitamin water though carb free, and gu's with a power bar thrown in are the perfect mix.

You have to try it. In the meantime Perpeteum gets a 4 our of a 5 rating in my book for being good, but with a small reservation due to something unknown. Plenty of carbs, salts, and a nice mild taste, a little like vanilla if you ask me.

Links:

• Hammer Nutrition
• Deep link to Perpetuem

Nutrition

When you talk to distance athletes, long course triathletes in particular, you find that beyond physical gear the conversation will drift towards nutrition. "What do you eat/drink", "How much do you take with you", "What do you use?" The answers and solutions vary even more widely than the products available. Combinations of products often work better for individuals as different people metabolize and burn nutrients at different rates. Scientific studies also prove and disprove concrete training methodology every year. So what do you take?

Me personally, I've tried quite a few products and here's what I look for:

• Calories per bottle (as this will help me calculate total calories sustaining me over the distance)
• Carbs per bottle (major source of fuel)
• Type of carbs in the drink/food/gel (different sugars have properties that lend themselves to easier, slower, faster, absorption rates and may have an effect on one's digestive system)
• Flavor (All the above properties are meaningless if you don't want to or can't drink/eat it)
• How mixable is it at the concentration I need it?
• Does it still taste good when it's been baking in a plastic water bottle for four hours?
• Very important!!! (See Flavor)

See then next few posts for my reviews on selected nutrition products and their virtues

Good Gear - Xlab flatwing system

Ahh, the x-wing, I mean the xlab flatwing.

When it comes to gear I love things that are adaptable to the situation, whatever that situation may be. In the field, on the road, in a race, very little is more important than being able to have the fuel you’re going to need for the time that you’ll be out on training/racing/enjoying the scenery with you when you need it.

You’ve probably all heard about how much you’re supposed to be consuming as you work, that’s both in calories and fluid. It takes months to figure out how much to bring along and in what proportions, what won’t upset the stomach, and what we’re invariably going to want in hour four of our ride. The question becomes how to carry everything that you’re going to need. Most bike frames have at least one bottle cage mount, and many have two. At best that’s two hours maybe two and a half hours of planned nutrition. If you’re only going out for two hours this is perfect. If you’re training for something longer, say an ironman or other long course, we’re going to need some help.

You could take along a camelback, they’re great for water, but I hate cleaning them out. You could hide bottles on the side of the road, but that takes some planning and gambling. You could stop off and just get some more water at a 7-11 or a gas station, and you probably should. But do you want to do that every two hours? Maybe you do. Not for me to say.

For me, I like to pack it with me. A saddle mounted solution like this one or similar systems offered by manufacturers like profile design and others, offer the ability to add two more bottle cages increasing your range over the long haul. The xlab flatwing system offers a little bit more. With the addition of a threaded nut you can carry your CO2 & delivery unit, and carry a spare tube or two with a set of Velcro straps. I’ve been using this for a season and find that I use one extra bottle cage on the back and use the other side of the wing to hang my spare tube(s).

I’m a fan. ‘nuff said.

One of my favorite rides - Malibu - Latigo Canyon Rd

I say Ironman... Go on, question my sanity. But not before you check out one of my favorite bike workouts.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=613681

As a tool, mapping services like the gmap-pedometer are amongst my favorites.

The Gmap-pedometer site uses google's mapping API, markes off each mile (can be toggled on and off), and mixes in topographical data to allow users to see the changes in elevation over mileage. Web 2.0 adds the ability to use all the mapping features that google maps users have grown to love in addition to being able to edit routes by recording, then double clicking on the map to set way points.

Drawbacks? You can only plot out your waypoints in straight lines. From where I sit, that's it. In a click you can "Clear points and starover" and save the route that you've created.

Oh, by the way, the route features a steady four mile warm-up, and nearly 2000 feet of climbing through the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains over the next twelve miles. The rest of the ride is descents, small rollers, and views of the Pacific to die for. Let me know when you want to go and I'll ride it with you. -dean

Good Gear - Hydration #1 - The Aero bottle

Behold, the Aero bottle, or Aerodrink as deemed by the manufactuer, Profile Design. The bottle itself holds 32 fluid ozs if you fill it up to the top of the bottle. The main advantage to using a system like this is that it was designed to fit between the aero bars of your bike. Which means that the straw is right in front of your face! There is no excuse for forgetting to drink. Without a solution like this one would actually HAVE TO REACH either down to the bottle cages on the frame or behind the seat to wrestle a drink. Personally I've found that I drink as much as I should without even thinking about it using a system like this.


The second advantage is that it allows you to mix your drinks on the fly, put the martini shaker down! If you use Motortabs or other effervescing products you can drop these right in to the bottle and they will dissolve in minutes. You can mix as much or as little as you want. On the other hand if you're using a premix or course supplies, Gatorade Endurance and/or water, you can pour what you need out of any of those bottles straight in to this one. When I discovered that I was in need of something cold to drink but had already mixed up the bottles that I was going to be using for the day, I was able to slightly dilute the mixture, which was already warm after a few hours on the road, with ice cold water.

An aerobottle is a great solution for those looking for an easy way to stay hydrated on the course.

Aerobottle = Good Gear

Good gear - Running Shoes

Despite the very countable masses that run barefoot through marathons, a great many of us rely on shoes to protect our feet from the ground, and cushion the impact on the *gulp* concrete. No single shoe works for everyone. If you're running now you learned to walk at some point. You followed the examples of those around you and what you heard you should be doing. This in addition to the varying numbers of body styles, leads to a nearly infinite combination of foot shapes, stride patterns, and cushioning needs. Thankfully the shoe industry has our backs.

A good pair of running shoes should feel like coming home, unless you live in a haunted house where evil stalks you at every turn. You should slip in to them and immediately feel like running, they make your feet feel lighter and every foot fall feel less like work and more like a glide. As the purchaser of horrible running shoes (for my feet) I can tell you the difference between a good pair of shoes and an ill-fitting one was like night and day, pain to pleasure.

"So Dean, where do I find such shoes?" I'm glad you asked. Go to a RUNNING store. No, Sportmart is not a running store. Here's why. In high school I could have gotten a job at Sportmart, in the shoe department. What's wrong with that? In high school I wasn't a runner. In fact I hated running more than I hated getting up early in the morning. (By the way now I get up early in the morning to run...) You want to find a person to help you who knows about what each shoe has, does, and is. A good salesperson is a runner themselves, will let you try on as many shoes as you need to in order to find a good fit, and will even let you take 'em out for a quick spin. A great salesperson will take a look at your barefoot, or sock clad, stride and see where you're striking the ground and the amount of pronation (lateral rolling) your foot does. All these things tie in to what shoe you should buy.

If running is going to be a big part of your year, you owe it to your feet, and that part of your mind that is encouraging you to get out there and run, to get not just a pair of shoes that fit your foot but a pair that fit you. They should fit your foot length, width, compensate for where your foot strikes the ground, and feel good. Heck, if you don't like the color, maybe you shouldn't buy the shoe. Seriously, why would you buy something that you need for workouts that is going to make you cringe everything you have to train?

To sum up:
Sportmart is not a running store
Good shoe = Better run
Dean = Gear Geek

Gear of the day - Heart Rate Monitors

First to be reviewed, by virture of what I've used most recently, is the heart rate monitor. I've had three of these things and each one had a different level of complexity and served a different purpose.

The first one is the Polar FS1. This is the most basic monitor that I've used. It has a single button to navigate through all the functions. Think of it as a watch this is also a heart rate monitor. Count on it to deliver data from the moment and keep you within a programmed zone (user specified).

The second one is the Timex Ironman Heart Rate Fitness System
This is a classic timex ironman watch. Everything that you'd expect to see from a company that's been producing watches in this line for as long as I can remember. This model is the base of their heartrate/fitness line. Timex indiglo, synchronized transmission to reduce cross talk, and the chest strap round out this watch.

The third is my current pick, being the gear/data geek that I am. [Warning: Pricy] I wanted a product that would record my workouts for me as I am clearly too lazy to write this stuff down myself. I also wanted to have the ability to compare marker sets against one another. How does my body react over the same course at the same pace in varying weather/wind/and so on and so on. The Polar 625x & Polar 725x just give me the warm fuzzies when it comes to gear. Both are bike and run computers in addition to being heartrate monitors and watches. Both are capable of recording speed and distance from a shoe pod or from a magnetic pickup off the front wheel of your bike. As far as recording the data goes, each will record in varying increments (5/10/15s) depending on how much data you want and plot that data over time and distance, which is all viewable if you download it to your computer and in to the software that polar provides. For me this is perfect. The 725x goes one step further in that it also allows users to add on a power accessory to their bike which allows the tracking of wattage over time. For me wattage is cool, but not necessary at the training level. It has always seemed to me that that metric is a piece of lab data which is a measure of growth or a means of baselining over time but less useful than heartrate, speed, distance, or even altitude gain.

I prefer the polar system to GPS in that the accelerometer used in the footpod to measure speed and distance only takes one AAA battery and needs to be replaced rarely (twice for me last season). Though at a disadvantage to the GPS systems currently on the market by Garmin or Timex in that the footpod and the watch must be calibrated every so often, accelerometer based measurement currently used by Polar and Suunto is less dependant on weather conditions and urban geography, takes a smaller footprint on the athlete, and I've found to be less tempermental. But my voice is just one. Many athletes swear by them. In fact one of the things that I would have loved out of my system is the ability to overlay my routes on a real map, as I tend not to run in straight lines, or reliable courses. It would probably be akin to tracking the roaming patterns of wild animals... as they trek across Los Angeles... in running shoes... dodging traffic.

Both options yield significant amounts of information and it rests in the hands of the user to take or leave as much of it as is necessary. I have more to say on this, but for now these are the pieces that I've used and have loved.

For training for longer distances, nothing, and I mean nothing is more important than training in the correct heartrate zones. All right, I exaggerate a little. A heart rate monitor falls a close close second to a good pair of running shoes. But that's it. Run in sweats, a headband, wool socks, but bring the shoes and the heartrate monitor.
-dean

Dean the Gear Geek

I love gear. New gear, old gear, good gear. And in honor of the holiday shopping season I'll be reviewing some of my favorites currently out there for all your loose dollars and euro. Stay tuned. -dean