Has anyone had any issue putting on their heart rate monitor at T1 and have it either a) not couple to your garmin/polar/etc. or b) accidentally couple to someone elses garmin/polar/etc.? If so, what’s the best way to avoid this?
I typically turn on my Forerunner 305 and couple it to my cadence meter pre-race so I don’t have to mess with it until I’m on the bike. I haven’t tried this with the HRM b/c I figured it would uncouple with no readings while I’m on the swim. I’d like to have my HR data for an upcoming 70.3 and just wanted to check what you guys tend to do.
I think I understand your question…here’s what I do and I think it will answer it. I wear my HRM during the entire race so I put it on when I’m setting up transition, turn the GPS on my 405 on before the race, go to the training mode (i.e. chrono), then leave the watch next to my shoes for T2. I dont use it for the bike only the run. You have to have the battery save mode (timeout on the 405) turned off. No issues with tracking anyone elses HR.
I have a 305 also and follow that process. For anything less than a full IM, the 305 has plenty of battery to just sit there idle while you swim. You can use
it or not on the bike.
For an IM, I strapped the 305 on in T1 and left it turned off for most of the bike ( I use an Edge 500 on the bike as my PM display). I turned the 305 on
a few miles out from T2 and it got all synched up for GPS and HR. It picked up my cadence sensor in T2 (remember to click that you are NOT indoors)
and it worked great for the run. HR strap was on since I got dressed in the morning.
If you do get forced to turn it on in the middle of transition with lots of other ANT toys around, there is no need to panic. Once you clear the area and
get some clear road, it will pick up the fact that there is only one device broadcasting and synch to that. You may lose a few minutes of data, but your
watch time will still be accurate.