New Gadget! Hooray!

So my watch finally died a month ago. The metal strap was broken, it slowed down all the time, and best of all, it turned my skin green around my wrist and made my skin very, very, itchy. I called it my "Itchy Watch".

So I decided if I was going to get another watch, why not get one that will last me more than a year? And then I thought, why not get one that can double as a Heart Rate Monitor? And even after that, I thought, not another one of those crap-ass Timex HRMs. I had 2 in the past few years, they both broke down, and were impossible to fix. Now I have a data collection thingy for watches they no longer make. Suck.

So I decided that I was going to splurge. I was going to splurge on a watch that I have had my eye on for a while. I placed the order on Amazon.ca, after price checking and comparing all over the interwebs. I really wanted to buy mine from Mountain Equipment Co-op, because they are awesomesauce, but they were easily a hundred dollars more than I paid for the online order, including shipping, taxes and duties. Sorry MEC.

ANYWAY. I placed my order on Friday, they shipped it Monday, and I got it Wednesday. Hooray for gadgets with a quick shipping time! It wasn't a terribly heavy box, and this is what greeted me when I opened the package. Another box! So then I opened the second box, hoping perhaps, for a third box?

No third box, but a neato warning that said any problems I have with the HRM watch should be directed back at Polar. And if any problems come up, you can rest assured I will cheerfully bitch into the phone. But I kinda hope I just don't have any problems. Anyhoodles...

It's a pretty easy little watch to set up. The monitor detaches from the chest strap so that a) you can wipe down the chest strap post-workout, and b) save some battery life by not having it connected. So I put it on, followed the setup directions, and followed the "Fit Test" which is basically you lying down and not moving for 5 minutes. Although I dreaded that it would come up "dreadfully unfit", that was all in my head. I am simply at the bottom range for "Average".

The watch then computed a training program based on my goal of improving my fitness score, and presto - I have a plan which involves a gadget. Those are ALWAYS my favourite. Now I put on the chest strap, press one button on the watch, workout, do THIS:

And then I get to see how long I worked out for, how many minutes I spent in 1 of 3 zones, and how many minutes in each zone I left left for my weekly goal. We'll see how this goes, won't we kids?