Anyway, we went jumping this past weekend and had a blast. My second jump was even better than the first. It was still a tandem jump, but I got to take control. I started the initial jump out of the plane. I controlled the free fall turns and dives. I pulled the cord to deploy the canopy. And I took control of the steering toggles until just before landing. So cool.
But I also discovered something else cool. A new use for my Garmin 910XT GPS watch with heart rate monitor! The graphs below pulled from Strava show the elevation data on top (a clear rise into the sky in the plane and then the sudden drop) and a speed and heart rate graph on the bottom. Look at the heart rate explosion as we step out of the airplane!
I don't think this offers any value whatsoever from a fitness perspective, but it is a tremendous visual to have from my skydive. And I'm always happy to have another fun use for the Garmin watch. Even though I bought it used at a very good price (shortly after the 920XT was released and eBay was flooded with the old model,) it was still a very expensive piece of gear and not entirely compulsory.
If I have one spending weakness, it's technology. Whether it's a new phone (Android, of course), an interesting tablet or something to improve exercise; I'm drawn to it. Staying up on technology makes me feel younger. It's a weakness in my pursuit of fitness on the cheap. I've been mostly winning this battle, but the 910XT was a definite luxury. However, I continue to find new and interesting uses for the watch; each which makes the purchase feel a little less guilt-laden. And it truly is a marvelous device for dissecting my workouts; whether in the pool or ocean, on the bike, on the run, or even doing CrossFit.
So, I wasn't cheap when I bought the watch. But at least it offered one really cool visual when I hopped out of a perfectly good airplane!
No comments:
Post a Comment