Timex Ironman Race Trainer Heart Rate Monitor

The Timex Ironman Race Trainer heart rate monitor is an intermediate/advanced heart rate monitor. It has several additional functionalities over the Timex Ironman Road Trainer. This Timex heart monitor also has four variants, two full-sized and two mid-sized models, each with different colors and trims. Their numeric designations are T5K217 (Full Size), T5K216 (Full Size), T5K218 (Mid Size) and T5K219 (Mid Size).

The main features of the Timex Ironman Race Trainer heart rate monitor are:

Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring
Manual Heart Rate Training Zone with Audio Alerts (when exercising heart rate goes above or below the zone)
Based on your maximum heart rate (which you input), the HRM automatically calculates 5 target heart rate zones. You can choose which one you want to train in a particular session.
You can change the watch display so that the 2 rows show different combinations of training data
Heart rate can be displayed as BPM or % of Max HR
100 hour stop watch to time exercise duration
Store lap and split time. Lap time is elapsed time for one lap. Split time is total elapsed time from the start. You can store up to 50 laps in total. It also records the average heart rate per lap.
5 segment interval timer (repeatable up to 99 times). Each segment can be set to a different heart rate zone.
100 hour countdown timer (stop, repeat or switch to chrono mode)
Recovery heart rate timer (30 secs, 1, 2, 5, 10 minutes)
It can store training data for 10 workout sessions. A given session can be locked so that its data does not get deleted accidentally.
The following session data can be reviewed: total duration, time in target zone, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, minimum heart rate, calories burnt, average lap, best lap, lap recall (time and average heart rate for each lap) or interval recall (time and average heart rate for each interval), recovery heart rate
Basic time and date keeping, 2 time zones, 3 separate alarms with these options: daily, weekdays, weekends or once a week
Backlight
Wireless heart rate monitor composed of a digital chest strap transmitter and a wrist watch receiver
Water resistant (chest belt up to 30m, wrist watch up to 100m). However, do not press any buttons under water.
User-replaceable Battery
Compatible with Data Recorder and Data Recorder 2 (both optional extras). The Data Recorder records workout data which can then uploaded to a computer and displayed as graphs.
Compatible with Data Xchanger USB device (optional)

The features printed in bold are found in the Race Trainer model but not in the preceding Road Trainer model. So these are the differences between the two models.

The addition of a 5 segment interval timer in the Timex Ironman Race Trainer model is a great enhancement. You can set segment 1 to be 5 minutes, segment 2 to be 20 minutes and segment 3 to be 5 minutes so that segment 1 corresponds to the warm up phase, segment 2 the main training phase and segment 3 the cool down phase. You can set the heart rate zone in segment 1 to be, say, 50% to 60% of max HR, whereas in segment 2 it can be 80 to 90% of max HR and so on to suit your training needs for each segment. Furthermore the whole sequence can be repeated. This 5 segment interval timer means that your training incorporates a detailed time and effort guidance. It is almost as if there is a real coach next to you guiding your training.

The other important addition is the ability to save 10 workout sessions. The previous Road Trainer model can only save 1 workout session, so this is a great improvement for those who would like to review and compare how they did in the previous sessions.

The countdown and recovery timers are also enhanced to make them even more useful for the users. The countdown timer, when set to chrono, switches on the stop watch as soon as the timer fires.

The Timex Ironman Race Trainer supports the optional Data Xchanger USB device. It is a two way communication device between the wrist watch and a PC. With this device, you can wirelessly upload your workouts directly to a PC. You can customize your heart rate monitor settings directly on the PC, and transfer your data to a training log powered by TrainingPeaks.

Summary

The Timex Ironman Race Trainer has considerable enhancements over the Road Trainer model. The combination of stop watch, the 5 segment interval timer, countdown timer, recovery timer, multi-session memory and digital transmission makes this a very comprehensive heart rate monitor. It also provides an optional PC upload facility for those who want to analyse the results of their training in more detail.

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