That was a long time ago and it was a Polar watch with a chest strap. These days I use a Garmin watch, but you could just as well use a Fitbit or an Apple Watch or a heart rate strap and your regular phone. Honestly I don't even look at my watch during a run very much anymore, because I know what various heart rates feel like. The biggest thing for me was to realize that I was just trying to go too fast, and the HRM helped me with that.
Having gone through probably twenty HRM during the last 10 years, my recommandation is now Coospo's products, available on AliExpress or Amazon.
My own experience and the one of many friends using them daily is that they are more durable than every product from the big brands (Garmin, Wahoo, Polar...) while being sold for half or less.
The only reason to go for the big brands is for the gimmick extra features that are useless to 99% of the users
Not OP but I go for daily runs and engage in HIIT exercise and found that the Schosche armband is about as accurate as you can get outside of a chest strap (which I personally find distinctly uncomfortable to wear).
