Chris Caruso

Training for first marathon in Cologne, Germany in 1999, German Colleague recommended a HRM. I purchased a Polar Accurex Plus and serial port receiver. Successfully achieved the target time of under 4 hrs (3:54). But the real success was the INDY 1/2 Marathon in 2000-2002. Previous PR was 1:47. Used HRM Polar Advisor SW for first time in 2000. I achieved 1:37 in 2000 and it was my EASIEST Indy Mini-Marathon ever! In 2001 I dropped even further to 1:31 and just missed the TOP 500 Medal, which is a big deal at INDY! (Commemorates the INDY 500 Auto Race) So I made up my mind to achieve a TOP 500 and with Polar HRM and Polar Advisor, I was confident I could do it!So in 2002, with slight tweak to Polar Advisor HRM program, achieved 1:28:08 and 367th place! (out of 35,000 runners!). I am convinced I could not have done this without the Accurex Plus or Polar Advisor!Even better, my dear running friend Jim, who actually got me into running in 1997, watched my successes but was afraid the Polar Advisor training program was too soft/easy. He was convinced that if he ran that schedule, he would not only lose time but fail to finish. He watched me continue to set new PRs each year at every race I ran!After my Top 500 Finish, I was able to finally convince him to try the Polar Advisor program with me and we took him from his previous PR of 1:47 (he had actually gotten worse times in 2000 - 2002 while I was continually improving with a lower impact training program!) to a 1:36 in 2003! He was shocked at the finish and after high fives and man hugs, he said "I have never had such an easy finish in my life".Since the, I have introduced at least 5 or 6 other serious runners to the program and HRM training in general, and all have successfully achieved new PRs!Thank you POLAR!Chris CarusoHenderson, NVPS: At 49 years old now, just set my PR for full marathon in Las Vegas last December at 3:14! Of course the Polar HRM and Polar Advisor led the way.