Randomramblings

Why do you need to monitor your heart rate anyway? Does it contribute to your health or performance? If the answer is yes, go get a new one now. You've mentioned you had problems before, but will knowing your exact heart rate really help to prevent/solve them?

I have always thought about running as a kind of an activity you don't need any hi-tech equipment for. I try to stay away from technology as much as I can. With an attitude like that you can even save some money. :)

Marko - I monitor my heart rate closely because this was the only indication (in the past) that I had iron deficiency. It seems to affect me more than it does others (other women) - you can see that from my high heart rates. I run very slowly, but still have quite high heart frequency and it does get better (=lower) with time, but it is a very slow process. Because I donate blood twice every year I do feel the need to also monitor my heart rate in order to see what's happening with my heart/iron. The only other way is to get my blood checked, but I don't want to give more blood that I already do. :)

I don't feel bad in general, it's only with sports like running, where I get really high heart rates in no time. I do agree you don't need any/much high-tech equipment and I don't really spend much on running, either. All my running attire was bought on a sale, so it was really cheap and my trainers weren't that expensive either, considering that they were bought off-peak season. :)

I'm still considering buying a new HR monitor. I want to buy the cheapset one that also shows the time along with the pulse rate, but beacuse of my iron deficiency, I want to buy something that will work correctly.

It's enjoyable to read about you sporting and I wish you a continuous progress to running heaven. Partly since you've inspired me many times and partly because it's interesting to hear what he has to say on your subject, I'd like to type out a piece from France Cokan's "Eno življenje je premalo" (DEBORA, Ljubljana, 2003, p. 277):

Tek je spretnost, ki se brusi iz dneva v dan. Nadziranje telesa med tekom je pomembno: ali je glava pokonci, so ramena sproščena, je hrbet zravnan? Ali se odrivam z rokami? Ali "tečem z zadnjico", se pravi, ali čutim, kako se krčijo gluteusi, ki vlečejo stegno nazaj? Ali se na koncu koraka posebej odrinem s stopalom? Potem se pregled vrne h glavi in znova začne.
Pri teku nam dajeta štoparica in treninški dnevnik mnogo zadovoljstva, ko napredujemo iz tedna v teden, najbolj hitro v začetku - zato je najbolje začeti pisati dnevnik takoj. Merjenje srčnega utripa lahko precej pomaga. Če tečete en kilometer npr. pri pulzu 140 in izmerite čas, bo čez mesec dni pri istem tempu čas krajši. Hura!
Sam uporabljam monitor, ki zapiska, če se mi pulz zniža pod 150, tako da se potem podvizam, dokler ne utihne. Tempo tu in tam še pospešujem, dokler pri 160 ne zabrni zgornji alarm. Ti vrednosti sem seveda izbral le za svoje potrebe. (Za tiste mlade bralce, ki bi se jim vrednosti zdeli prenizki glede na to, da zagovarjam intenzivnost: glede na leta je moj najvišji srčni utrip trenutno 168.) Monitor je zame predvsem koristen kot bič. Mislim pa, da glede koristnosti utripomerov malo pretiravajo. Tri svetovne rekorde za starostni razred sem postavil, še preden sem ga kupil.

Na koncu omenja rekorde na havajskih "Ironmanih" od leta 1987 naprej. Kmalu bo dopolnil 77 let in šel na letošnjo havajsko tekmo.
Moja zgodba: monitorja ne rabim in ga za enkrat niti ne mislim (z izjemo LM si ne merim niti časa, razdalje). Enkrat sem enega dobil za rojstni dan in bil šokiran nad njegovo ceno. Z darovalcem in prejemnikom smo se zmenili (sprva bilo kar neprijetno), da naj gre nekomu, ki ga je vesel in ga bo uporabljal. Po mojem so predragi.

Bye

Bo, thanks for this excerpt! Made me think of mz own running. :)

I admire Cokan, and I got to know his life by way of your blog. I intend to read this book of his, if only to proove myself what a human (even at his age!) can do. It's really inspiring.

Yes, the HR monitors are quite expensive. However, I do intend to buy the cheapest one that does the trick for me, besides prices on e-bay are about 50% of the prices you pay in a regular shop. I'm still not certain, but I will keep you updated whatever I decide.

You have a nice day, too.

You may enjoy it. Cokan is a doctor, an internist and he talks about his work, studying at the university (in Ljubljana), which he took seriously, but never lost a cunning sense of humor and touch for keeping things interesting, filled with sporting and free-minding experiences. The first part of the book also covers his moving to the States. The second part is about him taking sport very seriously, chiefly 3-athlon (which contains out beloved running), desecting also from his professional point of view, but all very down to earth and accessible. I can tell you that his Slovene is much re-improved from the first edition publication (2000), :) but the language is bettered by Branko Gradišnik.

So, which is the latest edition? I see my library only carries the 2000 edition.

Made mistakes! The edition is only one, the first one (2000), but there are more printings (mine is third from 2002). The text should be the same in all the books.

I think that the book is again in print (maybe for the 5th time, I am not sure***) and that Cokan has plans to translate it in English for there is great demand. Which is kind of funny, don't you think, since he's almost American and he speaks English better than Slovene. Translating in reverse order would seem more natural, but I guess he really misses Slovenia a lot as it's clear from the first part of the book, and he sort of dedicated the book to Slovene readers ... He comes back every year for a couple of weeks.

*** The publisher's site just says that the book is sold. (Some thoughts by Gradišnik are also there.)

Since the text is the same and the book sold out, I'm just going to borrow my copy from the library and see if I like it. (I probably will. :)

But he was born a Slovenian and despite the fact (or because of the fact) that the lived abroad, he wanted to let his people know what he did in this time and I'm very glad to see he decided to write a book for Slovenian market first.

I will read HP. I kid you not.

Great! Please, read it in English. Even GRadišnik agreees that the first 5 books weren't translated properly. :)

:)