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

Interesting comments about using auto-lap in some situations. What happens to the Time ahead/behind calculation if you hit the button when passing a marker say 15 seconds after the auto-lap triggered? Isn't it going to cancel the calculation made with the latest auto-lap and go back to the previous autolap ? I guess that you could find yourself in a situation where you're not going to get the "corrected" Time ahead/behind for a while and then get a big adjustment, like what happened to Mickelin01 ?

I think I'd rather not use auto-lap in a race even without 1km markers or if I'm pacing and would rely on the smoothed instant pace from my calibrated footpod.

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

good point, as it would've taken the correction only at the next lap, fixed it in the new release. :)

Released Peter's (Race) Pacer v3.3 & Peter's Pacer The App v1.3:
* ignore autolap distance corrections
* corrected initial screen settings for fenix 5, fenix 5x, fenix 5s & fenix chronos.
* fixed the layout for fenix chronos to accomodate for the new system fonts
* fixed pace calculation from target finish time so that it's also correct for people using miles as their distance unit

webvan over 7 years ago

Thanks for the update, would that change anything to the way it works in training? Not sure why but I was under the impression that it corrected itself sometimes with autolap. Maybe different sources for the distance calculation?

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

It's the same code. In the Connect IQ API there isn't a real way to differentiate between a manual button lap press and an autolap, it just says there has been a lap request, if the adjusted distance is within 1 meter of a multitude of the lapsize I assume there was an autolap and in that case do not trigger a distance correction... of course it's important if you use autolap to set the lapSize of Peter's (Race) Pacer to the same length as the autolap size.

TomasMelbourne over 7 years ago

I've downloaded v3.2 a week or so ago and tried it for a couple of runs to practise for my upcoming marathon in May. All looks fine on my Fenix 5x.

In order to update to the new v3.3, do I need to delete the old 3.2 first, or should I just download and install over it?

Cheers,
Tomas

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

When you download the new version it will automatically overwrite the old version (when synchronizing to the watch).

TomasMelbourne over 7 years ago

When you download the new version it will automatically overwrite the old version (when synchronizing to the watch).

great. Many thanks Peter.

razmichael over 7 years ago

Feature Request

Hi Peter,
I've played with the data field and run a couple of races with it - very impressed with how well it works (on F3)! The only thing that is really stopping me from using it more (and donating) is that the screen has too much detail for my old eyes! During a race the only thing I really want on the one screen is whether I am behind or ahead (in large font), and (smaller) distance & time. I can always add screens with other data fields but I really prefer a simple, easy to read 'at a glance' screen. An example is the "Race Pacer" (I don't actually use this) where they offer a very 'busy' version and a minimal version.
Just something to consider
- other than that really great job with the data field and how well it works.

peterdedecker over 7 years ago

Glad you like the field Michael.

It's a rather big 'feature request' as it's a completely new data field request where I have to define for each watch a new layout, but I'll take it into consideration as I can see it's value, but it's not on top of my list as I want to finish off some other things first.

razmichael over 7 years ago

Thanks Peter - fully understand the complexity and competing priorities!