The newest heart rate monitor from Garmin, the 310xt, is designed specifically for the multi-sport athlete. This models upgrades include a GPS-enabled trainer that is water-resistant to 50m, tracks bike and run data and sends it tirelessly to your computer.  To meet my distinct needs, I opted to purchase  the cadence and distance sensor for my triathlon bike in addition to the watch/ heart rate strap.

Now I have to say – this watch is basically a small computer so don’t expect to simply strap the heart rate monitor on and go out for a run.  It took me some time to read through the entire manual and to set up the accessories and my preferences online, which differ for each sport (run, bike etc.). As those of you that know me are aware, I’m not the most computer savvy, so others might have an easier time with the setup process than I did.  Nonetheless, I grade the product with an A-/B+ for its “user friendly” appearance.

Once setup, I quickly noticed how awesome this device is.  I initially used it in my apartment for a 90 min bike ride and it was great with measuring all my most important statistics (cadence, speed, heart rate, pace, total miles, even gave me updates of my mile splits!)

The first time I used the GPS was during a skiing day trip to the Pocono’s Camelback Resort. I had no worries that the 20 hour battery life would outlast my endurance on the slopes. When I returned home, I easily uploaded the data to the Garmin website and sent the results to my coach via the Training Peaks software I use for triathlon coaching and my training. In the end, I totaled 10.3 miles across varying terrain in just over 3 hours while burning almost 500 calories (I thought skiing burned more…). My boyfriend, who has never seen  data readouts before on a device like this, pointed out that my heart rate spiked towards the end of the day when a snowboarder almost took me out!

My initial conclusion is that the 310xt is a great training tool to help athletes understand and analyze workouts. It’s not cheap – but well worth the money if you are a serious athlete who wants to look at, log and analyze data from training and racing. In the end, I believe that this device will make me a better athlete.