Journal Entry 5:

Well, lets see. Had a fairly good run yesterday. Not great in terms of the end goal but pretty good for now.
Currently in the great debate of which heart rate watch to get. It is a tough choice, because I am not a super athlete, but I don't want a piece of crap either....anyhoos, thinking middle range vibe, waterproof one I can use in the pool as well...makes sense I guess. Also really hate the classic "water resistant vs waterproof" saga. what an irritation. You never know what you can do with either, can you swim? cant you swim? just little, not too much? Good thing we have the wonderful world of Wikipedia to come to the rescue. Man don't know what I would do without it. turns out there is an actual table for this kinda thing very interesting, check it out:

Water resistance rating Suitability Remarks


Water Resistant or 30 m Suitable for everyday use. Splash/rain resistant. NOT suitable for swimming, snorkeling, water related work and fishing. NOT suitable for diving.

Water Resistant 50 m Suitable for swimming, white water rafting, non-snorkeling water related work, and fishing. NOT suitable for diving.

Water Resistant 100 m Suitable for recreational surfing, swimming, snorkeling, sailing and water sports. NOT suitable for diving.

Water Resistant 200 m Suitable for professional marine activity and serious surface water sports. NOT suitable for diving.

Diver's 100 m Minimum ISO standard (ISO 6425) for scuba diving at depths NOT suitable for saturation diving. Diver's 100 m and 150 m watches are generally old(er) watches.

Diver's 200 m or 300 m Suitable for scuba diving at depths NOT suitable for saturation diving. Typical ratings for contemporary diver's watches.

Diver's 300+ m for mixed-gas diving Suitable for saturation diving (helium enriched environment). Watches designed for mixed-gas diving will have the DIVER’S WATCH L M FOR MIXED-GAS DIVING additional marking to point this out.

You learn something new everyday huh. Now back to the exercise watches -you basically have 2 brands: Polar, the most commonly accepted, and Garmin coming thick and fast into the market. (There is another brand called Suunta, but not much has been said about that in this country, and there is another new local brand, but I seriously wouldn't trust a R600 fitness watch when they normally go from R900 up in every other brand - but your choice I guess -cheap o...)
 
I am leaning toward a Garmin, I really like their innovation and their style is slightly better. I also already have a Garmin Nuvi, and I get discount from my medical aid, so maybe the choice was already made for me.... ;-)
 
What I can tell you, is that if you are looking to purchase one of these types of items, be very careful in your selection, some don't come with the foot pod, or cadence for bikes, which basically eliminates half the functions you need until you pay R600 extra for that missing item. Also make sure of the functions on your watch, you don't need one for R4500.00, when there is a model that does virtually the exact same thing for R2500.00, but on the other scale  the bottom of the range hardly do anything.....
 
Here are some links to classic brands:
 
http://www.nivo.co.za/#c/mobile/gps/garmin~forerunner
http://www.garmin.co.za/products.php?categoryid=13&subcategoryid=10
http://www.capeunionmart.co.za/get_it/category/default.php?pg=2&fk_category_id=107
 
So that is that debate over. I have gone for the Garmin forerunner 60 bundle, so it comes with the foot pod for distance and speed etc, as well as the additional usb port for wireless transmission to the pc. Good stuff, I am sure you are bored already. PS: Water proof is exactly the same as water resistant in the watch world so don't be fooled!!!!
 
otherwise all is well. Feeling positive still no booze, and looking forward to a really chilled weekend with loads of studying and running!!!!
 
cheers y'all!!!
 
Gedi out