Healthy Heart Rate: Timex 5F011 Bodylink BUNDLED WITH 5G751 Data Recorder 2 Review

First, this has completely taken my training to a whole new level. I'm a medium distance runner training now for a half marathon. After using the speed & distance & heart rate monitor many times, I've started to get very familiar with where my heart rate should be if I'm going to have enough left to go the distance. And being able to see my pace in real time pushes me to make sure that I have *just* enough left, and not a bit more. My improvements in speed have been dramatic.

In terms of the actual product and features, I'd rate this as very good. The speed & distance GPS unit is extremely accurate. It takes a bit longer than I'd like (about a minute) to lock on to the satellites, but that's not a real problem, just a minor annoyance. Also, once, I fell after twisting my ankle. I stopped the chrono while I walked it off, then started it again when I started running. All of a sudden, though, I was doing 2' 55" miles. Needless to say, something was wrong. I stopped and started the chrono a couple more times, but still got similar readings. It wasn't until I stopped and restarted the GPS 45 minutes (and an alleged 15 miles) later that my pace started reading something realistic. That's only happened once.

The heart rate monitor works fantastically. I got a couple of spikey readings (240 bpm down to 0bpm back up to 240bpm) the first time I used it right at the very beginning. But I suspect that had more to do with the fact that I was still adjusting it on my chest since I had never used one before and wasnt' yet quite comfortable with it. Other than that one first time, though, it has given extremely accurate readings and has been invaluable in helping me keep myself at a pace that my body can sustain.

The data recorder has worked flawlessly except that it's a bit annoying that the data recorder and the chrono in the watch need to be started and stopped separately. At first this kind of bothered me, but having used it now for a month, I realize it makes very little difference if the data on the recorder is for a run that is for three seconds longer or shorter than what my watch reads. For training purposes, this has made no difference at all to me.

The worst part of the whole package is the timex trainer software. I suspect that in the HRM and S&D data over the course of a training run, there's a lot that I could learn about when my body starts to fatigue, how soon that occurs, and how that point changes as my condition improves etc. etc. I say that I "suspect" because there's no way I'll ever be able to find out using the training software. The graph it produces of an individual run is miniscule to begin with and cannot be resized. Also the scale cannot be altered. After all I'm not really interested in knowing much about what happens in the heart rate 0-160 zone, as I never run in that zone. I'd like to be able to set the HRM scale to 165-185 and the speed zone to... well, I'm not saying :-) Because only by doing that will the small differences in heart rate over a run appear large enough to see with clarity. I suspect the only way I'll be able to use that kind of data is by exporting it to excel. I've done that, but am not yet handy enough with it to see the kind of data that I really need in the way I want to.

In a nutshell, I highly recommend this product for anyone who wants to get a handle on what their body is capable of, and to improve it as well. It works excellently and I'm planning on keeping mine on when I run in the actual half marathon this april.

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Product Description:
The newest Timex Bodylink "3D" GPS Speed and Distance plus Heart Rate Monitor System BUNDLED WITH the 5G751 DATA RECORDER 2 !!! Now you can track your altitude with "vertical speed" (ascent and decent rates) in addition to SPEED, DISTANCE and HEART RATE -- ZONE ALERTS allow you to set the watch to alert you when you are faster or slower than your defined speed or pace limits -- DISTANCE ALERTS will alert you when you have travelled a set distance -- HANDS FREE OPERATION can be set to start, stop and take splits automatically based upon Distance, Speed or Time -- TARGET ZONES can be preset to notify you when your heart rate is not in your desired zone -- Many other heart rate monitoring features. Bike Mount Included. Water Resistant to 50 meters.