On Heart-Rate Monitors

So I figured if I'm going to do this, I may as well do it properly. So I got a heart-rate monitor (HRM).

Suddenly, what I've read in John Stanton's Running Room's Book on Running is making more sense. Maximum heart rate, target zone, fartlek - these words hold no menace for me anymore. Since heart rate seemed so important to training, and moreso to not exhausting myself, I figured I would look into a heart rate monitor.

Since I'm starting out, I rationalized I only need a very simple monitor - you can get them with bells, whistles, doodads and add-ons to make your head spin. Of course, the more doodads, the higher price. Also, I'm on a budget.

I was looking at the Acumen Eon Basix heartrate monitor, because it seemed like the most basic and least expensive of them. The review I read was pretty blasé - there are pluses, there are minuses - but it seemed to be generally what I wanted.

The book mentioned above describes Polar as the best monitor brand out there, however, so when I didn't see Acumen at the store, I wasn't too depressed. I ended up purchasing the F2 by Polar for $70 plus tax. However, the salesman was really adamant that I might just be wasting my money. Instead, he suggested the Garmin Forerunner, either the 205 or the 305. According to him, the heart rate is less important than the pace and speed.

I certainly can't disagree with something I don't know enough about. But I was also looking for a timer/stop watch, and I'm going on what I do know, which is that when I started running the first time (somewhere, an ex is chortling at the words 'first time'), we used a heart rate monitor, and it was fun.

Not to mention - the 205 comes in at a cool $199 and the 305 is $299 (suggested retail prices on Garmin's website). Since that totally blows my budget, I think for now, I will keep it to the basic monitor that I bought, until I have a better understanding of what I'm doing.