GPX Export Too Large

angelakru said:

I ran a marathon a few days ago and today trying to download my GPX/TCX for this (local backup).

I cannot help you with exporting the GPX file, but I definitely discourage you from using GPX as backup. The only way you can do a real backup of your activity is the default FIT file format (the first export option in GC Web). The GPX file contains only a very limited subset of the data. TCX is not much better, but contains slightly more data. However, the full info is included only in the FIT file format. Additionally, there are no limits for the FIT exports, and even if it fails, you can always create a backup by downloading the FIT file directly from your watch (it can be found in the folder //GARMIN/Activity).

And if you just need to save the GPX track of given activity, then you can use the option "Save as Course" in the menu of the concerned activity, and the export the GPX from the Courses menu. As far as I could test it, it exports without any limitations from there.

angelakru said:

Can't find anything recent on this forum about GPX export issues

There have been several recent complaints about being unable to download activities as GPX and TCX (from the Connect website's UI).

https://forums.garmin.com/apps-software/mobile-apps-web/f/garmin-connect-web/405775/no-tcx-or-gpx-export-for-files-bigger-than-10mb-in-connect-garmin-com/1908119#1908119

I think the only workaround is to use a 3rd party service to convert the file, as you've done. One downside is that different services will include different fields in the GPX export. (iirc, in my testing, I found that runalyze exported more fields than a couple of other sites/apps.)

angelakru said:

Clearly the data is transmitting just fine to 3rd party sites, but I have no idea which format is being used (gotta assume not GPX after this - FIT maybe?).

Yes, it is the original FIT file recorded by the device afaik. You can see this in sites like Strava and runalyze which sync activities from Connect and allow you to download the original FIT. IF I'm not mistaken, this file should be byte-for-byte identical to the FIT file you get from using Export File in Connect, and the FIT file that's available directly from the device's "file system".

It makes sense to use the FIT file for syncing to 3rd party sites since it's guaranteed to have all the original activity data, whereas the GPX export omits some data (even though Garmin uses proprietary extensions to export some data that isn't part of the GPX standard).

It seems that additional metadata is also available through the API, as runalyze is able to retrieve the activity name in Connect (even if you've manually changed it before runalyze syncs the activity), and that isn't in the FIT file.

For some reason that post didn't appear in my search results. Maybe I was too broad and the older ones being more numerous, were just overshadowing any newer results?? Thank you for sharing that one!

I do actually have Runalyze as one of my many 3rd party GC exports for data analysis, I'll pull the GPX from that rather than Strava. And yes, I've noticed that about Runalyze - change activity name in GC, refresh Runalyze, and the updated name appears (I always name my activities, don't like the default)

Edit: after exporting the Runalyze GPX file, it's larger than Strava (5.5MB instead of 5.2), so clearly there is more data in there

No worries!

The forum search is pretty bad. It does help if you click Advanced Search and sort by date instead of relevance.