Liz Lemrise

For me, the polar watch was more than a breakthrough in training practices– it was a breakthrough in my mindset and in my self-confidence as a runner. As far back as middle school, I quit track because I thought I wasn’t a good runner. I picked up running later to prove to myself that I could be a successful runner. Initially, my boyfriend set goals for me I thought were unattainable and I also felt that I was always running short of my potential. Then I purchased a RS200. The polar was so easy to use and had so many fun and useful features that I decided to train based on good research practices. The polar was great for tracking my progress and confirming that I was making real progress - I had difficulty admitting this to myself before I incorporated the polar. The lap splits function was amazing for interval workouts to make sure I was maintaining the correct speed. The heart rate monitor was helpful on recovery days to ensure I was not working too hard or too easily. With the long history of workouts, I could check what I did last week to give myself encouragement for the coming workouts. Since the polar helped me bump up my workouts and look forward to them, it has also helped with weight loss - at 27 I weigh less than I did when I was in high school. With help of my polar I surpassed even those supposedly absurd goals my boyfriend set for me, coming in first in several races. My most guilty pleasure was how much I relished beating my boyfriend by five minutes in the half marathon! I learned that we will never fail until we quit and that with the proper resources to help us train, we can continue to improve in ways that we may never have imagined!A lot of students have asked me about my watch and I tell them that this is one of the most important things I own, bragging about all cool features and things it can do. I feel so proud to wear my grand high tech Polar watch on my petite wrist no matter what my outfit is because I feel like a running rock star!