Related

Garmin Connect PR Detection Issue Since February 2026

Ironjen

I have been in an ongoing conversation with a Garmin agent for over a month, and haven't yet gotten a definitive answer on this issue:

I have had a Garmin FootPod (the SDM4 - Garmin Model #010-11092-00 since 2008, and have been using it for treadmill pace and distance data ever since.  I have used it with a Forerunner 305 (2008-2010), a Forerunner 310XT (2010-2021), a Fēnix 6S Pro (2021 - 2024), a Fēnix 6S Pro Sapphire (2024-2026), and a Fēnix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar (since December 2025).

Since switching from the Fēnix 6S Pro Sapphire, to the Fēnix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar, Garmin Connect has stopped automatically detecting new Running PRs.

My most recent auto detected PR was a 10K PR in September 2025 during this treadmill activity on my home treadmill.  It was recorded using the Fēnix 6S Pro Sapphire, the Garmin FootPod transmitting pace/distance, and a HRM Pro Plus transmitting HR and running dynamics.  Here is the activity: https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/20250192935

In February 2026, I recorded a run on the same treadmill with the Fēnix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar, the Garmin FootPod transmitting pace/distance, and the HRM Pro Plus transmitting HR and running dynamics.  Here is that activity: https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/21951970251

When I saved the September run, Garmin Connect automatically detected that I had set a 10k PR of 59:37 at an average pace of 9:37/mile. I accepted the PR.

When I saved the February run, Garmin Connect did not detect a new PR, despite me having achieved a new 10k PR of 57:36 with an average pace of 9:16/mile during that run.  I manually set the PR, and contacted Garmin Customer Service to see if they could help figure out the issue.  Both the agent I spoke with and technical staff that he elevated the ticket to reported back that it should have counted as a PR and been detected automatically in Garmin Connect when I saved the activity.  The agent asked me to keep in touch with him via email if the problem persisted.

On April 8, I set both a Half Marathon and 10k PR during a long run on the same treadmill with the Fēnix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar, the Garmin FootPod transmitting pace/distance, and a HRM Pro Plus transmitting HR and running dynamics.  Again, Garmin Connect did not detect the new PRs when I saved the activity.  Here is that activity: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/22459352892  Again, I manually extracted the PRs and set them both manually.

I emailed the agent with the activity links and described the issue again.  He replied a bit later that some of the people he talked to at Garmin suspect that the FootPod may have been removed from the acceptable devices that can contribute to automatically detected PRs in Garmin Connect, but none of them could confirm that.  They were basing this speculation off of the fact that the Garmin Support Page for " What Criteria Determines a Personal Record in Garmin Connect?" has been recently updated.

It used to say as recently as February 2026:

  • Indoor and outdoor activities can qualify for PRs as long as the Garmin device is recording distance, using the watch's internal sensors in the case of a treadmill run.

It now says:

  • Indoor and outdoor activities can qualify for PRs as long as the Garmin device is recording distance. If you are recording an indoor run, distance must be recorded through either the watch or a compatible HRM.

When it said, "using the watch's internal sensors," it still obviously recorded PRs where the data recorded by the watch came from external sensors like the FootPod or PR, because that is where all of my older treadmill PRs came from.

I have treadmill PRs in Garmin Connect dating back to February 2024, and all of them were recorded with the pace/distance data coming from the Garmin FootPod to either the Fēnix 6 S Pro or the Fēnix 6S Pro Sapphire, and they all autodetected from activities exceeding the distance of the PR in Garmin Connect.  It wasn't until I started using the Fēnix &X Pro Sapphire Solar that my PRs stopped auto detecting in Garmin Connect, requiring me to manually extract the PR from a longer workout and add it as a PR manually.

This has been absolutely most incredibly frustrating mystery, and both the Garmin agent and I are baffled by.

Anyone here have any answers?

  • 0

    We understand how frustrating these situations are. Our team is currently reviewing this report, and you will receive an email once we have any updated information.

  • 0

    First of all, are you aware that you can assign the record manually?

    Ironjen said:
    When I saved the February run, Garmin Connect did not detect a new PR

    Garmin Connect does not detect run records (except of the longest distance PR). It is the device that does it. To make sure, the new watch has your old records, in order to be able detecting new ones, be sure to send your current record table to the watch - see the button "Send to Device" on the page https://connect.garmin.com/app/personal-records 

    BTW, I see something weird on your activities - they list Tacx Neo 2T as being connected. That's a bit strange at a Treadmill Run activity. Did not you originally record it as Indoor Cycling, and changed to Treadmill only later? Or do you have the treadmill connected to the watch, and it is mistakenly identified as a Tacx device?

  • 0

    ... checking the metafiles of your activity, I see you used the old discontinued SDM4 Foot Pod for measuring the distance. That's very likely the reason the PR was not detected automatically. According to the documentation, the distance of the activity must be recorded either through the watch, or with a compatible HRM (your HRM-Pro Plus would be fine).

    The older watches either could use the now discontinued foot pod too, or the condition did not exist in that time (I do not remember whether it was always there).

    So I'd tell the case is rather clear. To get your future records detected, enable the distance and pace estimates on your HRM-Pro Plus, instead of using the foot pod. Or, as told previously, assign the records manually.

  • 0 in reply to trux

    Yes. I’ve manually assigned my last two 10k records and my most recent half marathon record. Manually assigning works, but isn’t ideal, since I have to download the .fit file, run it through an analyzer that extracts the fastest segments of the various PR lengths, manually assign the PR, and then adjust the time for the PR, so it isn’t the total time of the workout and is just the time it took to run the PR segment of the activity.

    It is weird, and I know the Tacx Neo 2T is “attached” to the watch. It’s just in the same room as my treadmill, and oddly hooks up to my watch no matter what activity I do in my workout room. These were all recorded as Treadmill Running activities and not charged or edited in any way. I never even record indoor cycling on my watch, since it’s cleaner to just use the Tacx App. When the Tacx hooks up to my watch during a run, it doesn’t provide any data, and isn’t causing an issue other than being in the activity record as an “observer” so to speak… I don’t know what else to call it since it’s not doing anything.

    I noticed that send to device button and did that. I haven’t run a PR since I did that, but am crossing my fingers that it’s the fix I’m looking for.

  • 0 in reply to Ironjen

    Read my second post - I found the culprit

  • 0 in reply to trux

    The HRM pro Plus is honestly super bad at recording pace and distance. And all of my prior PRs that were automatically detected came from that very same FootPod. The only thing I changed was my watch from a Fēnix 6 to 7 series. This is the whole crux of my question

    My Fēnix 7 still pairs with and prioritizes my FootPod for pace/distance, because it’s more accurate than the HRM.

    Garmin can’t confirm if they changed something between September and February that’s causing GC to treat my PRs differently. 

    I am hoping the send to device fixes it, and I can use my antique FootPod until someone pries it off my cold dead foot.

  • 0 in reply to Ironjen

    Also, all of that information about the FootPod etc is in my original post. 

  • 0 in reply to Ironjen
    Ironjen said:
    And all of my prior PRs that were automatically detected came from that very same FootPod. The only thing I changed was my watch from a Fēnix 6 to 7 series

    Fenix 7 was introduced when Foot Pod was already discontinued, so it is not really surprising it lacks the full support for it.

    Ironjen said:
    Also, all of that information about the FootPod etc is in my original post. 

    Possible, but is is a bit too long to read it all Wink

  • 0 in reply to Ironjen

    ... however, it is also possible that Garmin simply changed the conditions recently. I do not remember whether the following condition was in the PR documentation already earlier:

    If you are recording an indoor run, distance must be recorded through either the watch or a compatible HRM.

    Edit: archive.org reveals that there was indeed no such condition in 2021. A note about internal sensors was added in 2022. Fenix 6 was released in 2019, Fenix 7 in 2022

  • 0 in reply to trux

    So you did the textual equivalent of not listening to the person who is talking, because you're too busy forming your response.  You could have saved yourself all the time it took to type your responses by taking the time to read ALL of the relevant information in my post rather than replying with things I had already included in my post and solutions I had already tried.

    But, thanks, I guess.

    And the Fēnix 7 DOES support the FootPod.  It detects it, connects to it, and knows without me doing anything to prioritize it over the HRM for pace/distance data. (because Garmin knows that it's always been the most accurate sensor for indoor running.)  Nowhere does Garmin say that the two devices aren't compatible.

    And just to update, I did a 70:00 indoor run just now where there was a 10K PR segment in the middle, and it didn't automatically populate in Garmin Connect.  I extracts the fastest 10K segment, and manually set the PR. connect.garmin.com/.../22517503340