HR Zones and Power Zones are way off

JaysonTatum_0 said:

how is this possible? 

Hard to tell, since you did not post the definition of the Running Power Zones table, and the value of your Threshold Power. The HR Zones and the HR data look credible for a recovery run, so there does not seem to be any problem there. Rather the Power zones are not set adequately.

hi trux, thx for your answer. 

my HR zones also feel very credible if that makes sense, so like whenever I do runs based on HR they are always spot on. and my threshold power says 376W. What exactly do you mean by Running Power Zones table if I may ask? 

JaysonTatum_0 said:

What exactly do you mean by Running Power Zones table if I may ask? 

On your screenshot of the Times in Zones, there is the HR Zone at the top, and the Running Power Zone table at the bottom. The definition of both of them is in Device Settings » User Profile » Heart Rate & Power Zones. If your Threshold Power is 376 W, then the power zones are set far too low. Normally, Zone 3 should end at your TP. Yours ends at 311 W. Reset the zone table, and base it on TP if it is not the case yet.

Oh, now I get it. It is, though. It is not set to "Watts" but to %TP. I´ll add a screenshot to this answer, if that helps. If I switch to Watts, my Zone 3 ends kind of like the way you said. Maybe you can help me out now with the information provided.  

As you can see, the Zone 3 should be 91-100% of your TP of 376 W, but the screenshot of your activity shows the Power Zone 3 of 281-311 W instead. So either the TP was lower at the moment you started the activity, or there is some problem with the Power Zones table. That's why I suggested resetting it.

I see, I see. But the thing is - I haven´t changed those settings ever. And when I first discovered the discrepancy I immediately looked up my power zones, reset them and they've been like this for months now. Plus my TP hasn´t gone up drastically, just a small bit that should never cause this. I have now reset it again and it shows the same percentages - I´ll check back tomorrow as I haven´t been on a run for some days now due to a slightly inflamed achilles. Is there any logical explanation though why it says 91-100% on the table but on the activity screen it´s completely off? I am running with the Epix Pro and a HRM pro, btw. 

JaysonTatum_0 said:

Is there any logical explanation though why it says 91-100% on the table but on the activity screen it´s completely off?

The table from the Connect settings in your screenshot shows zones as they are configured now, while the one in the activity shows the zones at the time the activity was recorded. For example, changing zones in Connect settings now wouldn't affect the zones that are displayed in an old activity.

Ofc since you haven't changed your zones, and your TP hasn't changed that much, both tables should be similar (or identical). But in general, it's possible for the 2 tables to be different, especially if you are comparing an old activity to your current settings.

In your case, this could point to some bug where there's a mismatch between your device settings and the settings in Connect.

Couple of things you could do to double-check:

1) look at zone settings on the watch itself: from the watchface hold UP for the menu, select User Profile > Heart Rate and Power Zones. Double-check that these zones match what are in the Connect settings

2) look at the zones that were recorded in the activity itself using a 3rd party tool (instead of Connect):

- Open https://connect.garmin.com/ in a browser

- Navigate to your activity

- Click on the gear icon in the top right and select Export File (this will download a ZIP file containing the original FIT file)

- Open https://www.fitfileviewer.com/, click Open FIT File, and select the ZIP you downloaded. This will display a ton of information about your FIT file

- Expand the Time in Zones table. Check the column named "power zone high boundary" and make sure that it corresponds to what's displayed in Connect. I'm almost certain that it should match what's displayed in the Connect activity (and not the Connect settings), but it wouldn't hurt to double-check

I am just reading this now. How much can HR and powerr zones differ? because isn´t it nearly impossible to get them identical. I can just assume that for example where I live a long run usually hast around three to four hundred meters of elevation gain and even though I tend to slow down on ascent, I will still need more power. What I mean is in order for them to be identical the environment had to be perfect. And from my experience heart rate doesn´t vary as much as power. I hope this makes sense, it´s getting late lol. 

Hey, sorry I wasn't clear. I wasn't saying I think the time in zones percentages for HR and power should necessarily be exactly the same, if that's what you are suggesting.

I'm saying that if for some reason, you changed your HR zones or power zones in settings (or they changed on their own because they're based on LTHR / FTP%), these changes wouldn't be reflected in old activities. When you look at an old activity, you always see the zones as they were when the activity was saved. My point was that if your zones actually did change dramatically at some point in the past, this would explain why you see a discrepancy.

I know you said your zones didn't change that much, so it's probably not the right explanation in your case.

So what I was saying you could do a couple of double checks to make sure that everything seems to working properly (e.g. that your power zones in the watch settings on the watch itself match what's in the Connect app watch settings). But I don't think it's necessary, as your power zones look correct now, after resetting them as trux suggested.

e.g. Zone 3 is supposed to be 91% - 100% of FTP, and in fact that's what it is now (376-431)

It does look like your time in zones percentages for HR and power are very close now, so it looks like everything is working properly.

What might have happened in the past is that even though your power zone percentages were right, there may have been a bug making the actual numbers in watts incorrect? That's why trux asked you to reset your zones, and it looks like it did the trick.