Watch display data

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 Herdwickmatt 04 Jun 2020

I’m new to this running watch malarkey but what info do you have displayed when you run?

anyone recommend a good app for garmin 735?

In reply to Herdwickmatt:

I set up my Garmin with run time, distance and average pace on the first screen and very rarely look at other screens.

Pace is important to me on a lot of my runs. I always use average pace, the other option (current pace?) I don't find at all helpful as most of my routes undulate a lot and pace jumps around. Could be useful if you were on a flat run or track run.

 SouthernSteve 04 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

As mountain.martin says: pace, time and distance on the first screen and I usually have lap statistics on the second and elevation information on the third. There is a good zones HR screen you can use if you are training that way. You can set up km or mile laps with specific information displayed briefly at that moment. If you are running a 5 mile race, you can set 4 mile laps for instance so you can give you're all for the final stretch. 

The thing to avoid is the auto change function which moves between the different screens and will always be wrong. 

Sometimes it is nice just to show the time of day and see how you did after the event.

Have fun.

Post edited at 19:41
 SouthernSteve 04 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

re: App

I would just use Garmin Connect. It's good for most things - you can share to STRAVA if you want the social aspect with limited functionality for free.

 dread-i 04 Jun 2020
In reply to mountain.martin:

>I always use average pace, the other option (current pace?)

I find with average, if I'm going up hill a lot and doing distance, the average can be a bit depressing. I find current pace good for pushing it. You try hard, you see the number change, then next time you look, you can see if you're maintaining that pace. For hill reps, I just use the HR screen. I don't care about time or climb, just 'is my heart going to explode'.

 steelbru 04 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

When you say app, do you mean a Connect IQ app to load on to the watch, or an app for your phone to analyse watch data afterwards ?

Main screen : HR, Distance, Timer, Current Pace, Lap Pace, Average Pace

2nd screen : HR, Lap Distance, Lap Time, Lap Pace

3rd screen : map

4th screen : Current Elevation, OS Co-ordinates, Total Ascent

5th screen : Time of day, battery %age

OP Herdwickmatt 04 Jun 2020
In reply to steelbru:

Sorry Connect IQ app for looking at data on the watch

 PPP 04 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Take a look at single run field, that's what I used to use. 

On Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, I just have a single 6-field screen that comes with the watch. 

Road running: HR, current pace, average pace, lap pace, timer, distance. There's second page with elevation and lap statistics, but unless I am running hilly roads, I don't tend to watch it. 

Trail running: HR, distance, lap pace, timer, elevation gauge (ascend/descend), time of day. The last one is an artefact of winter training, where knowing how much daylight is left becomes a bit more important. Secondary page contains battery, average pace, timer, etc. Sometimes I just display map when I am following a route I am not familiar. That seems to drain battery though. 

If I am doing intervals, I load a workout so that I can stay in the set pace zone and it beeps like crazy if I am out of range. 

For short (5-10K) races I might set a distance/time target and it gives me an estimated finish time and time ahead/behind. 

This might sound organised, but honestly, it doesn't matter and I barely look at it during a run as most of the training runs are done off RPE (Rate of Perceived Effort). 

 PPP 04 Jun 2020
In reply to mountain.martin:

> Pace is important to me on a lot of my runs. I always use average pace, the other option (current pace?) I don't find at all helpful as most of my routes undulate a lot and pace jumps around. Could be useful if you were on a flat run or track run.

Lap/average paces are more relatable in that case. Mine is set to auto-lap every mile, but it can be 2 min/mi difference if it happens to auto-lap right before a steep uphill or downhill.

 steelbru 04 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

THe only thing I've added to my Fenix 6 is a widget to show the OS grid reference. You can get it as a data field by default, but if you're just out and about and not recording an activity then this widget shows you your location in OS format

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/07b03259-24c8-4828-b949-2e48ef04a2c5

 Run_Ross_Run 05 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Beers earned 

and

Beers earned 

 tlouth7 05 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

1st screen: Pace

2nd screen: HR

3rd screen: Time and Distance

I do long runs so quite enjoy the mental challenge of calculating average pace from time and distance. Unfortunately I am finding the wrist HR on my new 235 to be utterly useless so may need to rethink this.

 Dark-Cloud 05 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

I'm on Fenix 5 but pretty similar to the 735 i think, my main display is Distance, Timer, Pace, although as most of my runs are fell Pace is pretty useless, Would be better swapping with climb rate or total ascent.

Then i have other screens to scroll to for Time (as in clock), HR, Altimeter and Compass

As somebody above said the OS Grid IQ app is very useful, i have the Sun and Moon one too 

 Dark-Cloud 05 Jun 2020
In reply to tlouth7:

I find the Fenix wrist HR OK, perhaps not 100% accurate but it gives a pretty good idea, i can't abide chest strap for running, only ever wear a chest strap cycling.

 petemeads 05 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

For ordinary running I have Heart Rate, Lap Pace (based on 1km laps), Timer and Distance fields.

Instantaneous pace is pretty meaningless, after a hundred metres or so Lap Pace is pretty good.

I use a HR strap for running and biking, the wrist-based HR data is OK for walking but my HR strap gives more data about gait and balance between L/R strides or pedal strokes.

Not yet got around to the fancier options on a Fenix6 - it's pretty complicated...

 abcdef 05 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Is cadence not the latest thing to be aware of when running?? My watch main screen just has Time Elapsed, Distance and in largest size the Avg Pace and I never look at anything else (but am wishing I had cadence available.....).

 SouthernSteve 05 Jun 2020
In reply to abcdef:

> Is cadence not the latest thing to be aware of when running?? 

Most watches have cadence recording, if not display (which one have you got?)

However, I am not sure you should look at a watch to try to alter your cadence though. Knowing what you are usually and adding a few steps a minute and then running to a metronome does work to increase cadence over time and definitely will serve your knees well based on my experience.

 Ridge 05 Jun 2020
In reply to abcdef:

> Is cadence not the latest thing to be aware of when running?? My watch main screen just has Time Elapsed, Distance and in largest size the Avg Pace and I never look at anything else (but am wishing I had cadence available.....).

I find my cadence is pretty uniform, regardless of if it's uphill, flat or downhill. Not sure if that tells me anything other than I'm a plodder with no speed in my legs.

Also Pete Meads: Good call about using lap pace rather than instantaneous, mght well change my screens to do that.

 SouthernSteve 06 Jun 2020
In reply to steelbru:

Thanks for posting that – now installed. 

 tlouth7 07 Jun 2020
In reply to petemeads:

> Instantaneous pace is pretty meaningless, after a hundred metres or so Lap Pace is pretty good.

As a counterargument, I want to know how fast I am running now, not how fast I have been running so far. If anything the instantaneous pace is too smoothed for my taste, it takes at least 30 seconds after a change to reach the correct value. For short intervals that is an appreciable portion of the interval at unknown pace.

 petemeads 07 Jun 2020
In reply to tlouth7:

True about pace smoothing - Garmin know instantaneous pace is useless, and I can't imagine it being any use if it was accurate - how often are you going to want to look at your wrist while attempting to sprint an interval? Also, the GPS signal gets bounced off buildings and has to be processed and integrated over some brief period - true instantaneous pace would not work under most practical situations.

Even the Lap Pace setting is useless in some settings, at Victoria park in Leicester the university buildings are tall and shiny, we set off sprinting down a gentle slope and I get a pace approx 6min/km after the first 300m - which corrects to 5min/km after 5 mins or so, despite having slowed down. This doesn't happen when the sky is more open and it is just another thing you have to put up with I'm afraid...

Another thing - do you realise that if you know exactly where you are, you cannot possibly know how fast you are going?

 mbh 07 Jun 2020
In reply to Ridge:

> I find my cadence is pretty uniform, regardless of if it's uphill, flat or downhill. Not sure if that tells me anything other than I'm a plodder with no speed in my legs.

That's what I find, probably for the same reason.

And on lap pace, with a dead watch at the moment, I have been using the Strava app on my iPhone. I find the default lap pace display really helpful in giving me a pace I can aim at. So far, I haven't done that very well, but I am getting a better sense than I had of which paces I feel comfortable at, and which I don't.

A 245 should arrive any day now.

 JamButty 08 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

I've had my 735 for a year now and after being cynical about paying that much for a watch (£10 casios were my bread and butter),  I love it.

I only use it basically though for tracking,  so time,  distance and actual speed are the main ones I refer to.

I still struggle with it for swimming as I get confused with the screen

I've downloaded OS location type app and an altimeter (albeit its not that accurate as a posher watch).

 Alex1 11 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Screen 1: Pace, Distance, Time & HR - Use this for tempo running and racing

Screen 2: Time, HR Zone, Distance - For other runs to keep in the right Aerobic Zone

 Josslad 21 Jun 2020
In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Time, distance, pace and HR.

For road, pace is current as I can generally do something about it.

For trail, pace is average for the opposite reason.


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