A while back I borrowed Gine’s Polar heart rate monitor. It was interesting to see how my heart rate affected my training, so I decided to get my own heart rate monitor.

I’m now the proud owner of a Polar CS300 Cycling Computer, “the optimum choice for a cyclist who also enjoys other cardio sports”. Among the features are

• Wireless Polar CS speed sensor - New advanced sensor measuring the cycling speed.
• Cycling Energy Output - Tracks the cycling workload as kcal/h and kcal/km.
• Estimated Time of Arrival - Enables you to foresee the time of arrival based on your cycling speed.
• SpeedPointer - Indicates the relation between current speed and average speed.
• ZonePointer - Makes it easy to stay in your target zone.
• Polar OwnCal - Counts and displays calorie expenditure.
• Polar OwnCode - Prevents cross-talk from other heart rate monitors.
• Polar OwnZone - Determines personal heart rate limits for a training session.

And quite a few other bells and whistles. I took the CS300 for its first real test today on my third trip of the season to Sognsvann. So far it looks like it’s able to do everything the ad promises and more. It will, for instance, start to beep to inform you that you’re out of your zone. I have no idea what that means, but it’s probably a good thing to stay in the zone. Staying in your zone is always a good thing.

I think I have to read more about training and exercise theory.