Just tell Shane you want to switch to RPE and VDOT paces. Problem solved!

Heh. He doesn't have me run by HR anyway, I just use that as a metric [usually to look down and think to myself "that does not strike me as an "ez pace" Hr...."]

Washing has a lot to do with it, the salts and everything that build up corrode the fine electrical wires in the strap. Not to mention they can block the conduction of the pads themselves. There is a reason Garmin instructs you to clean it.

I killed 2 hard straps in a year each. They haven't lasted any longer than the soft ones for me.

I typically get 6 months of excellent HR performance out of a premium Garmin soft strap, 6 more months of "ok" performance, and then it goes to pretty high failure rate after that. I tend to change them after 9 months or so, for the warrantee reasons.

None of the ones I've used has had noticeably more longevity, and the hard strap was definitely overall worse for me in terms of reliably staying in place.

Do THIS^^^^^^^^......+ 1000

Mio Link! Will never go back to using a chest strap.

I've had mine for a month and no issues except one time where the watch didn't pick it up for some reason on a run. The soft strap for me is a lot more comfortable than the old hard one. I did't wear the old was because it was too uncomfortable.

Agreed, there is finally after 30 years an alternative to a chest strap an the Mio Link is so much better anyway, no spikes or worrying about the sensors being wet.

All heart rate straps are an unnecessary encumbrance.

Talking to Garmin, the person I spoke with made the washing a big deal and changing that has at least doubled the life so far of my current strap.