I have worn my HRM during marathons so that I can download the splits and learn something for the next race. But, I have never tried wearing it during a tri. Do you? Do use it to modify pace, or just capture your HR and splits? Any problems with Polar 720i in the swim?
I race with my S710i all the time. I was bummed out last Sunday when my speed sensor got bumped and didn’t work for my race. I really like being able to download and analyze my race. During the race, I don’t nescessarily modify how I am racing based on the numbers I see. I usually just confirm how I feel, or note my HR in relation to how I feel.
No problem with the water, although the altitude readings are obviously incorrect. Correcting them in the software takes a little time also.
I have been using my s510 for 1.5 years. I use it for road races(running) and for the tris I have done this year. It works great, and I have had no problems.(It is tricky to get the wetsuit off with the HRM on though. You have to take off the HRM, pull off your sleeve, then put the HRM back on.)
I swim 3 times a week with the HRM, and it has never failed.
I do use it for pacing, mostly to make sure I don’t go too hard. I find in road races that I almost always go out too fast, but in tris it is really useful. I can stay in one range for the bike another for the run, and see if I am going to hard, or(rarely) not hard enough.
In one particular race, I found it to be most useful. Since I’m new to tri, I am still working out pacing. I was passing a lot of people on the run, but not feeling great, when this young woman passed me(okay, fine, she was a hottie) going a good thirty seconds faster than me. Let me clarify, I wasn’t being lecherous, but she was the ONLY person who passed me on the run.(Yes, I know, I need to work on my swim and my bike.) I didn’t think I could stay with her, but I looked at the HRM, saw that I was only around 145, and sped up. I stuck with her until the final hill, when she dropped me with ease.
So I think they are great for pacing. I have been told that after a while you don’t need them anymore, but I like using mine. It gives me more numbers to obsess about.
I wore mine for the first time in a 1/2IM in June specifically for the bike. I wanted to make sure I stayed aerobic and it worked perfectly leaving me really fresh for the run.
I will wear it from now on although in sprints I won’t really pay much attention to it other than to see how high the numbers go.
I also race with my S710i all the time. For shorter races it’s nice to download and study afterwards, but I don’t rely on it for pacing. For 1/2 IM and IM I use it religiously to pace.
As others have said, you’ll get wierd altitude data during the swim, but it can be corrected afterwards. One thing that I do that makes transitions a little easier, is to get some commercial Velcro ä and put it on the handlebar mount and on the back of the watch. In T1 I just take the watch off my wrist and slap it into the mount without having to take the time to fasten the strap. This way I can also pull it out really easily as I’m approaching T2 and put it on my wrist as I’m about to get off the bike.