Ultrarunners don't do much in moderation. We run too far, we sleep too much and we eat like it's our job. We like to run and, for the most part, run hard. It's tough passing up a workout for a rest day, and it's even harder not overdoing it on an easy day. This is where a heart rate monitor comes in handy.
It's easy to know when you're slacking and need to push it up a notch, but Suunto's M5 heart rate monitor watch is great for telling me when to slow down and take it easy.
The watch is very simple to use (in fact, it's easier to just figure it out on the fly than to read the directions) and it has a mere three buttons: start, stop and settings. The design is sleek, and the whole kit weighs almost the same as my bare Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS watch. The heart rate chest strap is elastic, pretty comfy and has a greater size range than others I've tried. more
Getting started is cake. After you put in your personal stats (weight, height and others) choose from three fitness goals: fitness, free training or weight loss. Then you're ready to get started.
Suunto has a built-in 7-day training plan which has the watch telling you which days to exercise, for how long and at what intensity. The watch kept telling me that my very hard days' heart rate max should be about 165, which doesn't feel that high to me, but I am not a computer watch and probably don't know better.
Once exercise has started, the display couldn't be simpler to read. Your heart rate is shown in large numbers, and below you can select to display other options such as kCals burned and elapsed time. I wish it would also show the current time, but that would clutter up the screen.
Around the inside of the bezel are arrows. The goal is to fill the arrows to the check mark, wherever it may be on the display. That means you're on your target heart rate. Heart rate too low? You'll get an up arrow. Too high? Down arrow. Simple, right?
This is what I find most useful about this watch because I don't always take it easy enough on light days. Now I have a little chirping, i.e., annoying, reminder that my heart rate is too high.
We initially had a hard time pairing the chest strap and watch. Eventually we tried taking the battery out, putting it in upside down, and then flipping it again to be correct. Through some sort of reboot wizardry this made the two recognize each other and off we went.
If you get the optional Movestick, a USB wireless link device, you can upload data to Movescount.com. Think of Movescount.com as a social network for fitness freaks. You can upload and share your routes and training plans, as well as download them from others. While the Movestick isn't necessary to track your heart rate, it does seem key to get the full benefit of the watch and the companion website. It's Mac and PC compatible.
The M5 will also track your distance and speed with a Suunto foot or bike pod, sold separately.
The watch is great for gym rats, those of you who may be stuck on ships or treadmills, or anyone who isn't too concerned with tracking distance. For me, I prefer a GPS watch because I must know how far I've run. It is a compulsion; I can't help it. Some runs I found myself using both a GPS and the M5, which made me look like a super nerd who appears very concerned with the time.
So, if you're a fitness newbie, or maybe trying to get back into a workout routine, this could be a useful bit of kit to get you motivated and out the door. I tended to loosely follow Suunto's exercise plan, or use the free training mode while sticking more to my own ultra training schedule.
The M5 retails for $189. The Movestick will run you $69.99 and the Foot POD will set you back $149. That's over $400 for what the Garmin Forerunner 405CX will do for $369.99. If you don't care about distance, or if you like someone to spoon feed you a training plan then the M5 is a capable, yet simple, motivator. Hardcore fitness geeks probably don't need to spend an extra for a "coach on your wrist" and most likely won't be satisfied without GPS.
More info can be found at www.suuntowatches.com.
Sara Davidson is an ultramarathoner and GearScout's time obsessed running gear queen.
