watch/polar ?

[Jo-n-NY]

Here is another question for you. I was going to get a watch with a dual timer, but someone mentioned a heart rate monitor. Does Polar make a monitor that is also a watch with dual timer? If so, what model?

Thanks ~ JoAnn

[KSH]

Have you checked out their website? They have a ton of different products that offer all kinds of features.

So what is the dual timer for? What are you hoping to achieve?

Just asking, as there might be other products out there that will suit your needs... depending on how much money you are willing to spend?

[Jo-n-NY]

I want the timer so I can time my walk/run segments, ie.run 1 min, walk 2min etc. It was suggested in the book I was reading and I thought it was a good idea so I didn't have to keep looking at a watch. I will have to get one anyway because my everyday watch does not have a 2nd hand.

When emailing a my future sis n law she suggested to get a heart rate monitor (I never used one) with the watch/timer. My husband knows someone who works for Polar and probably can get me one.

In the mean time I will do some research.

~ JoAnn
PS...I personally would be fine with just a Timex. I am sure one them have a dual timer. I will research them also.

[SadieKate]

In Polar language, I think you mean an exercise set. Certain models let you design and load training programs. At least in my simplied world, it works this way. A beeper or something goes off when you are to change whatever. It sounds like you're just running/walking intervals.

[KSH]

I want the timer so I can time my walk/run segments, ie.run 1 min, walk 2min etc. It was suggested in the book I was reading and I thought it was a good idea so I didn't have to keep looking at a watch. I will have to get one anyway because my everyday watch does not have a 2nd hand.

When emailing a my future sis n law she suggested to get a heart rate monitor (I never used one) with the watch/timer. My husband knows someone who works for Polar and probably can get me one.

In the mean time I will do some research.

~ JoAnn
PS...I personally would be fine with just a Timex. I am sure one them have a dual timer. I will research them also.

Ah. I got ya.

Yea, I know the Timex Ironman watch has a timer for run/walk intervals.

I have a Polar HR monitor and I just use the time elapsed display to time the intervals myself. I wear an iPod/headphones so I probably wouldn't hear the beep from the watch anyways.

I also like to monitor my intervals myself, because it gives me something to think about. When I'm on a 2+ hour run, I need some kind of mental stimulation. That does it. It's so sad, because after about 1.5 hours, I even have a hard time remembering when to stop walking and when to run again. Yea, it's like a dog chasing it's tail really. Keeps my entertained though!

[Jo-n-NY]

Yes that is what I mean. I see a Polar F4 for women that looks like it will do the timing. If my husband can get it, fine, otherwise I will just buy a timex ironman.

Well, do not feel bad KSH...I just got off the treadmill and just had to count 6 sets of run/walk and lost count. I am going by program in a book I read. Tonight was my first time at the program, my memory did not serve me correct, I thought I was suppose to run/walk 1 minute each. Nope it was suppose to be 1 minute run, 3 minute walks. Oh well

~ JoAnn

[baskingshark]

A very low-tech method for counting run/walk intervals on a treadmill....

I used a ponytail band - wrap it around your little finger and then move it to the next after your next interval. It helped me a lot because otherwise I couldn't keep track, with or without a watch (I keep hitting the wrong button)

[Grog]

Without being a dual-timer watch, the Timex Ironman can do "laps." You press a button and it starts a new "segment" of the timed event. You can have the watch display your lap (segment) time in small digits with the total time in big digits, or the total time in small digits with the lap time in big digits. I love the latter setting because it feels like I've just been running for 3-4 minutes.

There is a Timex Ironman watch with a heart rate monitor. It looks pretty good.

There is also a Polar model (but not the F4 I think, unless they changed it) that separates laps.

I currently have a F4 and a Timex Ironman without HRM. I've been caught wearing the two at the same time once.

[Jo-n-NY]

Thanks!!!

Baskingshark, that is a great idea with the ponytail band.

I ended up getting a Timex Ironman, not with the hrm. If I ever get a Polar I was looking at the F4, but I couldn't have for this week and I needed something right away, so I got the Timex.

I figured out the timer but as KSH said, no way I could hear it so I just kept glancing at the watch which wasn't a problem.

Grog...as always the case with Timex and most mechanical toys, I cannot figure out how to do the lap thing. It sounds like a very good suggestion when I can get it figured out. I am such a spazz with this kind of stuff. lol

~ JoAnn

[Grog]

Grog...as always the case with Timex and most mechanical toys, I cannot figure out how to do the lap thing. It sounds like a very good suggestion when I can get it figured out. I am such a spazz with this kind of stuff. lol

Great purchase! (Once you figure it out) you won't regret it!

It can be a bit confusing, here's my best try at explaining it.

Let's say you're on a course with mile markers and you want to track your mile times:

1) Press the MODE button (bottom left) once to get into CHRONO mode.
2) Press START/SPLIT (centre) to start the chronometer; digits are rolling past on the display. START MOVING IT!!
3) When you see the first mile marker, press the START/SPLIT button again. It will freeze the display for 10 seconds (so you can look at it I guess), but it keeps counting for you. After 10 seconds, it will start rolling again.
4) Unless you've changed the setting, your watch will now be displaying your total time in big digits and the time-since-you-hit-the-split-button (aka lap time) in small digits on top.
5) Keep hitting START/SPLIT at every mile marker.
6) When you are finished, press STOP/RESET (bottom right).
7) To review your mile times, press SET/RECALL (top left). It will show a + sign by the START/SPLIT button and a - sign near the STOP/RESET. Pressing the + and - will scroll you through your mile times. There is also a DONE by the SET/RECALL button that you press when you're done recalling your mile times.
8) Once you're done, pressing the MODE button will bring you back to the time display. At any time, when the chronometer is running, you can hit MODE to go back to the time display. The chronometer will keep running anyway.

I prefer to have my watch displaying the lap time in big digits because that's what I want to see when I quickly glance at my watch. If you want to do that, you just have to get in CHRONO mode (as by step 1 above)
then press SET/RECALL. This will allow you to FORMAT. You just have to press the + button to swap SPL (split) and LAP times between top and bottom. In this case, you'd want LAP to be at the bottom. When you're done... press DONE (aka SET/RECALL).

If you use the watch for intervals, then you'll have to glance at your watch to know how far you are into a "lap". Example:
1) Get in chrono mode, hit START, start walking to warm up;
2) When the watch indicates you've been walking for 10 minutes, hit START/SPLIT and start jogging.
3) If your plan is to jog for 3, then walk 2, jog until 3 minutes have passed, hit the START/SPLIT button as you start walking (it will freeze the display for 10 seconds) and hit it again - and start jogging - after 2 minutes. And so on.

It's not like a count-down timer that goes beeping when your run-time has elapsed, but I've found it good enough for my uses...

Enjoy! I find them to be good looking watches, too.

[Jo-n-NY]

Thanks again Grog. I think it is the interval set up that I would want. This path does not have mile markers so I have no idea how far I am going.

I didn't wear the watch today, but will check it out with your directions tonight.

Yes it is a fun watch to wear which I have been doing, but needed to wear something a little dressier today.

~ JoAnn

[emily_in_nc]

JoAnn -- you made the right decision. I have the Polar F4, and it does not do split times. It's a very simple and inexpensive HRM. I used to have a much more expensive, fancier HRM (Polar S210), but it got lost in the mail when I sent it back to Polar for a battery exchange. So, I use the F4 for a HRM and occasionally use my DH's stopwatch to do split timing if I am running laps or something.

Emily

[Jo-n-NY]

Grog, Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!!! The Chrono mode on the watch is perfect and exactly what I was looking for. I switched the display around so the lap time is nice a big and I can see it at a glance.

This is better than the timer because as KSH mentioned, there is no way to be able to hear it. I really do not mind glancing at the watch for intervals.

Thanks Emily, I now fully agree.

~ JoAnn

[Grog]

Grog, Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!!! The Chrono mode on the watch is perfect and exactly what I was looking for. I switched the display around so the lap time is nice a big and I can see it at a glance.

This is better than the timer because as KSH mentioned, there is no way to be able to hear it. I really do not mind glancing at the watch for intervals.

Hey Jo, I'm glad it's working for you.

I am forcing myself to not look at the display too much when I'm running intervals. "Is this ever going to end?" I sometimes ask after 2 minutes in a 10-minute tempo segment!! So I tell myself: ok no looking at the watch until I pass that tree or for at least three blocks or...

*sigh*

[KSH]

Hey Jo, I'm glad it's working for you.

I am forcing myself to not look at the display too much when I'm running intervals. "Is this ever going to end?" I sometimes ask after 2 minutes in a 10-minute tempo segment!! So I tell myself: ok no looking at the watch until I pass that tree or for at least three blocks or...

*sigh*

HA! Yea, I watch the time too closely as well. I've gotten it down to an art form. Once I start my 2 minute run section, I always check my watch exactly after a minute.