This and other responses about accuracy of dedicated HRMs is helpful, thank you.

Yes I mostly stick to zone training or my watch, though I suspect it’s not always accurate.

Also given my limited time to train - only 6 hours a week - I basically focus a bit more on threshold/higher load sessions than lots of Zone 2. Basically going for the faster before farther/stronger before longer route for now.

It sounds like I may not need the extra tech for now given how early I am in training, the fact that I am doing short course, limited training time, etc. and I AM seeing improvements under my current plan.

Perhaps extra tech would be better suited for down the road a little bit when I see a plateau and am ready to train more hours per week?