Polar RS800SD Heart Rate Monitor

The Polar RS800SD heart rate monitor is a top-spec advanced heart rate monitor with speed, distance and cadence measurements for serious runners. It is in fact the Polar RS800 heart rate monitor plus the Polar S3 Stride Sensor. You attach the Stride Sensor to one of your running shoes. The Stride Sensor then measures speed, distance and cadence while you are running and sends the information to the wrist watch.

Important Note: The Polar RS800SD has been superceded. Its replacement is the Polar RS800CX RUN. The Polar RS800CX RUN adds the following functionalities: It works with the optional Polar Speed Sensor W.I.N.D. and optional Polar Cadence Sensor W.I.N.D. for cyclists, and it has support for tracking when used in conjunction with the optional G3 GPS Sensor.

If you are engaged in various outdoor multisport activities such as running, cycling, hiking, kayaking, cross-country skiing, and inline skating, you may also want to consider the Polar RS800G3 system, which comes with the Polar G3 GPS Sensor.

To save space, the common features that the Polar RS800 and the Polar RS800SD heart rate monitors have in common will not be repeated here. Please refer to the RS800 page for information about the common features.

The additional functionalities of the Polar RS800SD heart rate monitor are presented below:

• Polar S3 Stride Sensor W.I.N.D.: You attach it to your running shoe to measure speed, distance, cadence and stride length.
• You can choose to set training limits on your speed/pace. When you run too fast or too slow, you get to hear a beep to remind you to slow down or speed up, respectively.
• On Polar RS800, you can set a timer to beep (after an elapsed period of time) if you need to change into another target zone. On Polar RS800SD, you can set a distance to beep (after a distance traversed) when you want to change zone. You can now do a speed/pace based zoned exercise. See the next bullet point.
• You can define (up to) three speed/pace zones in a single session. You can, if you wish, use three distances to define how far you are going to train in each speed/pace zone and to remind you to change zone.
• When you exercise without pre-set target zones, you can use ZoneLock to lock in a speed/pace zone around your current speed/pace.
• While running, you can have various views of your progress including your current speed/pace, distance and cadence.
• When running laps, you will be able to see not just time for the last lap, but also the distance and the average speed/pace for the lap
• AutoLap function: You can get the Polar RS800SD to record laps automatically, for example, every mile. Remember: It is a distance sensor so it knows when to record laps.
• You can choose how you display how fast you are running on your wrist watch: You can choose speed which dispalys mph (miles per hour) or km/h. You can choose pace which displays min/mi (minute per mile) or min/km. Most runners think intuitively in terms of pace. They say: I am going to do 6 minute mile for the 10K. I plan to do 7 minute mile for the marathon etc. So this is a great convenience for you as a runner.
• Additional short summary (when exercise is paused): Distance covered, max speed/pace, average speed/pace
• Additional full summary (File) info: Limits of pace/speed zone(s), max pace/speed, average pace/speed, distance covered, Running Index, cadence - max, average, average stride length. For each lap, you can now view the average pace/speed of the lap, the end pace/speed of the lap, the lap distance and the distance from the start to the end of the lap, cadence, stride length.
• Additional Weekly File info: Total distance you have run for the week
• Additional cumulative statistic: Total distance run since last reset

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The simple addition of a Polar S3 Stride Sensor introduces many additional functionalities to the feature set of the Polar RS800. Remember that:

Polar RS800SD = Polar RS800 + Polar S3 Stride Sensor

Distance runners are often keen to know what their pace is (was) at various stages of their race. The Polar RS800SD heart rate monitor gives them just that information. And if the AutoLap feature is switched on, this is even done automatically. Furthermore, this running computer lets you know about your cadence (i.e. number of times the foot with the sensor hits the ground per minute) and your stride length.

Running Index: This index measures how good you are as a runner. It is a measure of your aerobic fitness (VO2 Max) and exercise economy. You get the Running Index as a number at the end of each run if you wear your foot pod. This number is stored and you can compare numbers from successive runs to see if you have improved as a runner.

Summary

The Polar RS800SD heart rate monitor is the most advanced running monitor system that Polar offers. The S3 Stride Sensor enhances greatly the capabilities of the RS800.

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Useful Information

Not sure which heart rate monitor is right for you? Take a look at the Which Heart Rate Monitor page.