DJ Menges

Breaking my leg in two places was the best thing that could have happened. It was a wake-up call to recover, rebuild, and return to being a runner. I got serious about training, increasing my running mileage and racing in local 5K's. My method? Run as hard as possible.The method backfired on me after a Thanksgiving Day 5K: almost immediately after the race I felt terrible with flu-like symptoms. What had I done wrong? Overtain? How? I wondered how I could train smarter and thought of heart monitors, but remembered a guy saying, "You don't need that. Just run harder." But I felt like I was missing something. So I bought a Polar RS300X. The difference in training was radical: using the device, I realized how much I'd been overtraining. It spurred me to find additional areas where I could improve my training: diet, form, etc.This year, I ran a half-marathon—first one in 25 years. And thanks to smarter training, I rocked it, finishing at 1:41. Thanks, Polar, and see you out there!