Data field: Flexirunner

I made a custom data field for myself, and then I found out I had to upload it to the store to be able to use settings in the Android GC app. So this thread is to support that, any questions/problems/comments, etc., let me know.

Flexirunner

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ce1e0b46-7c83-4ddb-9d48-c93edadabe3d

Flexirunner is (yet another) all-in-one data field, for use in a single field layout. It is designed for running, with a native look and feel.
It shows time, distance, number of laps, heart rate, pace, and cadence. It also measures running economy (http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Running_Economy), and records this and energy expenditure (https://www.firstbeat.com/en/science-and-physiology/energy-expenditure/) into the FIT file, for later display on Garmin Connect.

Please see the page in the Connect IQ app store (above) for the list of features and screenshots (to avoid re-posting the same thing here).

I have tested this field with my FR235, but it should perform identically on the FR230, FR630, FR735XT. Since version 5, Flexirunner is now also compatible with FR920XT, Fenix 3 & HR & Chronos, vivoactive & HR!
Since development is primarily focused on me having an FR235, the layout is currently most optimized for the semi-round watches.

Donations
If you use & like this data field and you're feeling generous, donations are gratefully accepted (but not obliged) here (give what you feel!): https://www.paypal.me/imgrant

Source code
The source code for Flexiruner is freely available on Github: https://github.com/imgrant/FlexiRunner
You can also raise issues there.

Acknowledgements
The Flexirunner icon incorporates elements by Freepik (http://www.freepik.com) from www.flaticon.com, which are licensed by Creative Commons BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Former Member over 8 years ago

Thanks. Looks great and a nice clear display. I'm impressed that you have made the source available.
I would like to make some tweaks to meet my specific needs. So far I am thinking...
1) option to show pace in km/h
2) add a race finish time prediction field
3) add option to show speed/pace averaged over x second period

I haven't programmed for a few years and was familiar with SVN rather than github. I don't want to muck up your existing code or risk breaking anything. When i have made my tweaks can I send them to you for you to consider incorporating? It does seem silly to have to upload projects to the store in order to be able to just use them ourselves?

IMGrant over 8 years ago

Glad you like it!

To contribute code, you can 'fork' the repository on github, and then make changes in your own copy. When you are done, you can submit a 'pull request' to my repo for me to integrate your changes back in.

I'm certainly open to pull requests, however, the biggest problem is memory - the data field already shows peaks of 15.9 kB, of a 16 kB limit. That is, something else would have to go to make way for something like a rolling average pace. Of course, if you can optimise the code further,, that would be very useful!

I had in mind to create another data field, more focussed on races, with a finish time prediction like you suggest. In the meantime I've just been using the finish time feature in my FR235 (where you get an extra data screen).

IMGrant over 8 years ago

P.S. and yes, it's annoying that there's no way to use app settings with a sideloaded app, although I'm glad that some other people appear to have found my field useful, so there is a positive side effect to having to upload to the store. Otherwise I would've had to recompile and put the field on the watch via USB every time I wanted to change the fields!

Former Member over 8 years ago

Thanks for the pointers. Just back from a park run where I used a 5k predictor on a separate screen on my FR235 as you suggest. It made me realise the only 3 fields I care about in a race scenario are the current speed, the predicted finish time and the distance. Maybe the appropriate split pace target would be useful in some situations.

So yes, makes sense therefore to have a training screen and a race screen given the max code size limitations. And keeping it big and clear is the no. 1 priority.

mickrobin over 8 years ago

Great

Used it today on the 235 in my 1st ever marathon (Lisbon). Worked like a charm. Tks for the data field :cool:

IMGrant over 8 years ago

Used it today on the 235 in my 1st ever marathon (Lisbon). Worked like a charm. Tks for the data field :cool:

Nice! Congrats on the marathon! What setup did you use for the fields?

mickrobin over 8 years ago

tks

Nice! Congrats on the marathon! What setup did you use for the fields?

I Used Lap pace and Avg. Pace on the bottom rows.
Then put the current Pace in the middle row changing colour with deviation from Avg Pace. <-- Very useful for me :D

IMGrant over 8 years ago

New release

I've just updated this datafield (version 3.0), now in the store.

Major changes and new features:

Running economy - modelled after the formula in http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Running_Economy this can be displayed instead of cadence
FIT contribution - the economy metrics are recorded into the FIT file, should produce a graph and overall and lap averages when uploaded to Garmin Connect
Dual bpm and HR zone option has been removed - I needed to free up memory to do the economy calculations and realistically I never used the both together option as the font became too small

The colour indicators are also just straight rectangles now, without the curved polygons for the outer fields. Sadly this also used up too much memory.
Ironically part of the reason I originally called this field Flexirunner was because the fields flexed according to the information, e.g. the centre field got wider or thinner depending on whether the pace was above or below 10:00. Doing all this checking values and shuffling around was also using up too much memory. Working with just 16 kB is hard!

I've tested the FIT contribution via sideloading on my FR235 and the MonkeyC utilities, but have yet to go for a run since uploading this new version to the store, so hopefully the FIT contribution stuff works on Garmin Connect as it's supposed to!

mickrobin over 8 years ago

economy

Did a run today . No new pretty graph showed up on garmin Connect. :confused:

IMGrant over 8 years ago

Did a run today . No new pretty graph showed up on garmin Connect. :confused:

Oh no, sad times :( Still haven't tried it myself yet since pushing this version to the store, I will have a try tomorrow.
You can send me the FIT file from the activity if you like, I can verify that the economy metrics were actually recorded.