Who Knew?

Still not running....but planning to do so this weekend, if the weather is nice, or next week if not. But who knew (I bet you all did....it's me who didn't! :-) that a elliptical machine offered such a tough workout?!  I managed 30 minutes, but I have no way of judging the workout in terms of distance (doesn't seem that distance on one of these things is the same as running distance?), but I could tell that my heart rate was up and my legs were tired!  I'm going to try again today, and this time wear the heart rate monitor. 

Speaking of, if anyone has experience with, or recommendations for a good book about, heart rate monitors, let me know - it seems like a helpful tool, but other than calculating my max heart rate and setting the % based on that, I'm not sure I know where to begin! :-)