Data Field: Peter's (Race) Pacer

This is the support Thread for the Data Field Peter's (Race) Pacer.

Setup Guide with pictures: http://starttorun.info/peters-race-pacer/

Download
https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/23ea0301-30c6-4c33-b4ef-63e2b5394e76

Summary
Peter's (Race) Pacer resolves 2 issues for me when I'm running a race:

Before the race starts I want to see the time of the day (How long till the race starts?)
I often pace marathons and it used to be doing mental math all the way, now this is no longer necessary as I can fully depend on the average pace/speed, because this data field allows to correct the distance at the kilometer / mile marker by simply pressing the LAP button

While the data field's primary intent is to race races, you can also use it to run laps around the track, just set the lap distance to 400 meters and press the lap button as you cross the line!...

Intro
In it's full glory this data field uses about 24kb which is too much to run on the older devices. To enable using the data field on older connect IQ devices I've stripped some functionality from these older watches in order to let them operate within the 16kb limit that Connect IQ 1.x allows. (Items marked with (*ciQ2) are only available on the high memory watches (high memory watches are FR735xt, fenix chronos & fenix5 variants))

The data field is fully functional as is, yet donations are encouraged on the watch by a small encouragement text.

Usage
Before starting the race an initial data screen is shown (* cIQ2), this screen shows you the following data

Time of the day
Current heart rate (+ zone indication)
Configured Settings Summary (Change these settings in Garmin Express or in the Garmin Connect Android App)
Battery Percentage Remaining
Gps Signal Strength Indication

After pressing the START button the race timer will start and a new data screen will be shown, this data screen will show you the following information:

top middle configurable field: current heart rate / average pace / average speed / perfect pace / perfect speed (*)
row 1 left configurable field: average pace / average speed / current heart rate / perfect pace / perfect speed
row 1 middle configurable field: speed, smooth speed (5s average), smooth speed (10s average), pace, smooth pace (5s average), smooth pace (10s average)
time ahead / behind
race timer
(adjusted) distance covered (see adjusting distance explanation below)
estimated time of arrival

After Activity in Garmin Connect (*cIQ2)

When you opt to record the ahead Time to the FIT track an extra graphic is shown in Garmin Connect

Perfect Pace / Perfect Speed
This field recalculates as you run and gives you the pace you need to run to arrive at the finish with 0 seconds behind / ahead (eg if you run a 10k race and want to arrive in 1 hour (avg pace=6:00min/km), currently you're at the 7k point in 41:30, which means you're 30 seconds ahead, the perfect pace will thus show the value 6:10 (min/km) as you can run the next 3k 10 seconds slower to still get in time at the finish line)

Distance Adjustment
When you press the LAP button the on screen distance is adjusted to the nearest LAP SIZE (eg 5.31k will be adjusted to 5k if the lap size is 1000 meters).
When you press the LAP button by mistake you have 30 seconds to undo the last correction (just press the LAP button again)

When you miss a mile/kilometer marker, don't worry DO NOT PRESS THE LAP button and wait for the next kilometer/mile marker and press the LAP button there.

Adjusting the distance has no influence on the recorded distance (In Garmin Connect when you come back home you will see the real recorded GPS distance, yet of course you will be able to determine based on the lap marker postions where the LAP markings really were)...

Recommendations

Train with the data field before you race with it so you're used to the layout!
Have a backup second datascreen layout, in case the field crashes you can switch to the native data screen layout
If you have a Connect IQ 1.x device consider the application option to enjoy all features of Peter's (Race) Pacer: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ea97af1f-1e5d-4541-820c-9bd994080d4

Tested on real FR735XT, all other devices were tested in the simulator.

Top Replies

All Replies

webvan over 7 years ago

Working too, as well as Lap Pace in the Top Filed, but I had to uninstall and reinstall, not sure why !

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

(the below image is an export of the recorded ahead time. I use Sporttracks, but this is also consultable on Garmin Connect)

Something I didn't want to keep from people that follow this thread...

Past sunday I had to pace a 3:45 marathon.
While I was already pretty good at pacing at equal effort before I wrote this program it was not uncommon that we arrived at the finish line 2-3 minutes early.
As the app let's me know the expected ETA at any moment in the race it enables me to do a better job. Being no more than 50 seconds ahead at any point in the entire race is pretty amazing if you ask me.
Finish in 3:44:38 just as the watch predicted :)

lmsava over 7 years ago

Hi Peter, the app Pacer app looks great. I've installed it on my Forerunner 235 but I don't get the initial screen before I start a run. Is this something I can resolve in Garmin Connect?

Thanks

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

thank you for the kind words :)

The 235 only has 16k in datafield modus (which is not enough to enable all functionality of Peter's (Race) Pacer in that mode). The good news is that you can also enjoy all functionality of Peter's (Race) Pacer on your device if you install the "app" version. This can be downloaded here: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ea97af1f-1e5d-4541-820c-9bd994080d4c

ksrao491 over 7 years ago

Hi Peter, I have a question about using auto-lap on the data field version of the pacer. As the auto-lap is based on the GPS distance, it may trigger a distance correction in the pacer if the current distance in the pacer happens to be different than the lap multiple. Now, if the manual lap is also pressed, the pacer would assume that either the manual lap or auto-lap, whichever happens later, to be an instruction to cancel the previous distance adjustment. You state in a previous post that you have fixed this to ignore this if the difference between the auto and manual lap press is within one meter. But in most races there is no lap marker on the ground and it is difficult to ensure that the manual lap is pressed within one meter of the lap distance. So can this cause a cancelation of the distance adjustment whenever manual lap is pressed?
I am planning to use auto-lap and press manual lap only some times, say every 5 km. Do I need to be concerned if I press the manual lap after I have crossed the km marker by a step or two?

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

there are 3 routines the lap button executes:
1/ ignore the button press: the adjusted distance is within 1 meter of the multiple of the lapSize, typically this occurs when the auto-lap event fires
2/ correct the distance upwards/downwards: this is the 'normal' behaviour of the lap button
3/ uncorrect the last distance correction: this routine executes when the lap button is pressed within 30 seconds after event 2/ has occurred.

now to answer your questions:
> As the auto-lap is based on the GPS distance, it may trigger a distance correction in the pacer if the current distance in the pacer happens to be different than the lap multiple
this is not possible, you'll fall into routine 1/ here.

> if the manual lap is also pressed...
If a lap press occurs after event 1/ and the travelled distance since the autolap is still within 1 meter you'll fall into routine 1/ again
If a lap press occurs after event 1/ and the travelled distance since the autolap is bigger than 1 meter you get into routine 2/

> can this cause a cancelation of the distance adjustment whenever manual lap is pressed?
'uncorrections' only happen in routine 3/

> Do I need to be concerned if I press the manual lap after I have crossed the km marker by a step or two?
No :)
You shouldn't be concerned.

But my guess is you won't do that...
When I designed the app I too thought I would be pushing the lap button a lot, but practice learns me that when I race I don't bother to press the lap button if the autolap is within seconds of passing the board marker.

lmsava over 7 years ago

thank you for the kind words :)

The 235 only has 16k in datafield modus (which is not enough to enable all functionality of Peter's (Race) Pacer in that mode). The good news is that you can also enjoy all functionality of Peter's (Race) Pacer on your device if you install the "app" version. This can be downloaded here: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/ea97af1f-1e5d-4541-820c-9bd994080d4c

Wonderful! Thanks Peter, I'll give it a try.

Ratty365 over 7 years ago

Great app, I used it for the first time at the weekend to run a 12k in San Francisco, and it was both accurate and a great motivator. Nice work and thank you!

Two quick questions if I may...

1) This may have already been answered, apologies, but would it be possible to show current lap pace as one of the fields? This would be more useful to me than current pace or speed.

2) This was the longest run I'd done, and yet the achievements on my watch did not record the run as such. Can records (fast/longest etc) done whilst using the app be recorded to the watch's achievement memory?

Thanks again

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

hey Ratty
1) yes this is possible. Lap Pace is an option for the top middle field and row 1 middle field.
You didn't specify if you used the app-version or the datafield-version, but in datafield-version this option is not available if you have an older connect iq v1 device

2) When using the datafield version it updates the records for sure.
When using the app version I'm not sure if it does create records on the watch, I do record it as sport type RUNNING, so it should create records... If it doesn't, it's a bug in the connect iq framework and we'll have to file a bug report. Does the record show on Garmin Connect?

jahnootoko over 7 years ago

Hello Peter,

This one really looks like an amazing app, thanks for programming it. I want to install but I have a Fenix 3 HR. I would like to have the extra functionality but you say you prefer the data field version. So could you please tell me clearly what are the disadvantages of using the app version instead of the data field one? I would just like to make an informed decision to know which one is best for me.

Thanks again!