Heart Rate Chart from Training Log: Here is the heart
rate chart for game CSH5, Florida vs. Team Soutwest.
Click on the chart to see a larger view.
[ Image: Polar Precision Performance Software ]

See more Chicago Showcase exercise data in the
Operation Gadget Photo Gallery.

Two weeks ago I was in Chicago at the Chicago Showcase Hockey Tournament where I officiated nine hockey games in five days. I wore a Polar S625x during each game. The S625x measured my heart rate and calculated the estimated number of calories burned. When I got home from the tournament, I uploaded the exercise data to my computer, and found that I had burned 15,645 calories in 16 hours and 31 minutes of intense exercise. As I said in the article where I guessed at the effort that Tom Danielson expended at the Tour de Georgia, 15,645 calories is the most calories burned I've recorded in any one week in the three years I've been journaling my exercise with Polar Precision Performance Software.

I decided to publish all nine of the charts from the games I worked at the Chicago Showcase because I thought that a number of my fellow officials at the event and regular readers of Operation Gadget would find them interesting.

These charts represent the most basic data you can collect with a Polar S-Series heart rate monitor. The S625x collects heart rate and derives calories burned based on data previously obtained from the Polar Fitness Test. I've turned off the curves that would normally appear for elevation, speed (on the bike or on foot), and cycling cadence. None of these data points are relevant to indoor ice skating.

In order to be able to officiate at high level hockey events like the Chicago Showcase, I need to stay on a fairly intense training program and watch my diet. I think that these heart rate data charts clearly illustrate this. I would have had a great deal of difficulty finishing strongly in the games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday if I hadn't arrived in Chicago in very good physical condition.

I hope the heart rate data charts also illustrate how useful Polar Precision Software is to an athlete who is involved in a serious training program. Runners, cyclists, and multi-sport athletes will get even more out of using a Polar S-Series monitor with Polar Precision Software than I do as a hockey official.