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Does Garmin diss 80-20 Slow Running Technique by Matt Fitzgerald?

Every time I check my Garmin Connect "Training Status" after a long, slow run (long for me, meaning 7-8 miles; slow meaning adding 60-90 seconds to my mile pace compared to what it knows is my "non-slow run" pace), it gives me an orange-colored "Non-Productive" grade/evaluation I never get on my faster runs.

Is there something in the Garmin Connect algorithm that devalues the purported benefits of "slow" runs"? It is a little disheartening knowing that for example, even though I set a record for distance today of 8.2 miles, the run was "Non-productive" according to Garmin. Waahh!

A little tongue-in-cheek, but still ...

BTW - I couldn't get my post to take initially, got that same error message about "Position 9" and whatnot, had to give it a "dummy message" as above, sorry …

0 Nighthawk700 over 6 years ago

I have the opposite problem. Most of my slow runs keep me "Maintaining" or "Productive", but when I do the at pace run, I'm told it was non-productive (thinking I'm over-doing myself).

0 Notne over 6 years ago

I have the opposite problem. Most of my slow runs keep me "Maintaining" or "Productive", but when I do the at pace run, I'm told it was non-productive (thinking I'm over-doing myself).

Wow. I guess it's a black box that we'll never know more about.

In the absence of more info, I guess I'll ignore it when it says I'm running too slowly, and bask in it's congratulations when it says nice things to me!

0 Notne over 6 years ago

Along the same vein, I noticed that my "slow run" Garmin "Performance" level is always horrible when it gives it about 10 minutes into the run, like (-)1 or (-)2, … unlike my fast runs, when it is usually (+)2 or so.

It's almost like Garmin has a bias against slow runs in my case? Nighthawk700 - have you happened to notice any difference in the Garmin's Performance Level between your slow runs and normal/fast runs?

0 Nighthawk700 over 6 years ago

To be honest, I don't normally pay much attention to the Performance Level. Usually I start off with a +1 or 2, and end in a 0 or negative number, with any run, slow or fast.

0 Makkas-CIQ over 6 years ago

From my experience the algorithm behind training status appears kind of simple to me.
For example:
"unproductive" = VO2 max value dropped + training load increased
For a lot of people (what I have read) VO2 max drops at slow long runs, while it increases in faster runs.

0 Notne over 6 years ago

From my experience the algorithm behind training status appears kind of simple to me.
For example:
"unproductive" = VO2 max value dropped + training load increased
For a lot of people (what I have read) VO2 max drops at slow long runs, while it increases in faster runs.

Interesting. I always thought Garmin stayed away from calculating VO2 max unless the pace or HR was intense enough to get near the last one calculated, unlikely on a "slow run", at least for me.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Here is some information I found on how training status and a bunch of other metrics are calculated: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/runningscience/

0 Notne over 6 years ago

Here is some information I found on how training status and a bunch of other metrics are calculated: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/runningscience/

Awesome! Bookmarked - thanks PaulDN81!