Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Speed Work...Finally...and a Garmin HR Monitor Issue

Got out to the Centennial Trail in Snohomish and ran a total of five miles, which included a 1 mile warmup, followed by 4x .5 mile fast, .5 mile slow. The fast half mile segments were:

3:24
3:23
3:14
3:25

I tried to keep them at about 5k race pace. Legs felt good, but chest & lungs are still a mess.

Okay, this has been irking me since I got my Garmin Forerunner 305 about a month ago. The HR monitor doesn't seem to settle into an "accurate" reading until about 2-3 miles into the run. Even when I'm running very slowly and KNOW that my HR is likely in the 130-135 range, it immediately jumps up to about 165 and holds there until that 2-3 mile mark, when it suddenly drops down to where it should be. I can remember ONE TIME when it seemed to read correctly the entire run. Does this happen to anyone else? If so, is there a way to get it to work properly? It's frustrating and, obviously, not very helpful.
Thanks!

2 comments:

  1. My 305 is fairly accurate once I put it on. I usually wear it for a few minutes before my run (usually when I am waiting for the satellite to lock on). Does it say 165 from the moment you wear it? Every now and then I will get incorrect reading on the HR for the first ½ mile. Once it rocketed up to 222 which kind of freaked me out.


    Someone on the garmin forums offered this.
    If you've never changed the battery, that would be the one thing to try.

    Another thing would be to make sure the strap is snug. The elastic might have stretched and/or all the exercising made you slimmer so you might need to tighten it a little.

    Also, wet the electrodes (with water, spit, a bit of soap, or electrode gel).

    -Dumprunner

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  2. Thanks Matt. When I put it on, it seems to read my resting HR correctly. Once I start running, it jumps up pretty quickly. I always wet the contacts (and my skin, underneath) beforehand. Strap is plenty tight. I've never changed the strap battery, but I bought it new only a month ago. Maybe it still needs a new battery?
    Thanks again, Matt!

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