Prepping for a 60k trail race and advice for an activity setup

Former Member over 7 years ago

Just upgraded from a Forerunner 210 to a Fenix 5x. Talk about worlds apart. I bought the watch specifically because I'm doing The Grand Traverse (60k trail race) this September. From what I can figure out the maximum time for the race is 12 or 13 hours. I should be well under that, but you never know.

I really like being able to track all different activities on one device. I have noticed that there about 1001 different ways to configure any given activity. I've done some Googling and really haven't found anything that talk about tracking options on battery life. I get that turning off the 'activity metric' will help from an every day stand point. I'm really focus on getting the most battery for my buck when in an activity.

I'm using my current Trial Run activity as a base line.

Data Screens - The stock ones plus two custom
Alerts - Distance 2.5mi / Time 45min
Metronome - off
Maps - didn't change / use sys setting - yes
Routing - didn't change
Auto Lab - 1mi
Auto Pause - off
Auto Climb - off
3D Speed/Distance - off
Lap Key - off
Auto Scroll - off
Segment Alerts - on - no clue what this does
GPS - Normal
Power Save Timeout - Normal
Background/Accent Color - didn't change

My in activity backlight settings are:

Keys - On
Alerts - On
Gesture - Off
Timeout - 8 seconds
Brightness - 50%

Here goes with the questions .....

Will copying an activity still allow Garmin Connect to track it correctly. For example: if I copy 'Trail Run' to 'Trail Race' will it show up correctly in the Garmin ecosystem?

I don't really train to my heart rate, but its nice to know what it is. I do you the daily heart rate and heart rate during my activities. I was thinking of turning off for the race. How much does turning off the HR really buy you?

I've been putzing with the Courses function and its pretty nice. I can see the elevations profile and progress. This is really nice on hill repeats where I would normally loose count. The ETA is normally pretty close. The turn notification is nice when I'm not 100% with a new route. Overall its pretty darn cool. If I'm already using the GPS tracking, how much of a battery penalty does adding course navigation have?

I'm planning to leave my GPS setting set to Normal for the race because I got a GPS for ... well ... the GPS. I don't think GLONAS would really help that much on a trail race going over high alpine terrain. The manual doesn't explain what UltraTrac is, but I assume its a lower sampling rate and there for less accurate. Does this sound reasonable?

What other settings can I look at that may impact battery life?

0 mcalista over 7 years ago

Backlight is one of the biggest user controllable factors in battery life. Each 10% of backlight uses approx. 1.5% battery per hour. I would recommend turning the backlight down to 20% (or even 10%), and perhaps have the trigger settings During Activity set to After Sunset rather than On.

If it was an event over alpine terrain, no way would I turn the course navigation off. In those conditions, I definitely want to know I am following the correct route. While there are some extra calculations involved, the big power drain is having the GPS chip active, following the course and turns is minor. However, if you are just following the GPS breadcrumb trail, then you may want to turn off mapping (not having to render maps saves considerable processor effort and battery).

Ultratrac does sample less frequently, but the exact duration varies - it will sample less frequently if the compass and gyrosopes suggest you are heading in a straight direction, and more frequently to confirm a turn if they suggest a change in direction. I agree with keeping it on normal.

0 tmk2 over 7 years ago

Will copying an activity still allow Garmin Connect to track it correctly. For example: if I copy 'Trail Run' to 'Trail Race' will it show up correctly in the Garmin ecosystem?

Yes. A copy of "trail run" will show as "trail run" in Garmin Connect.

I don't really train to my heart rate, but its nice to know what it is. I do you the daily heart rate and heart rate during my activities. I was thinking of turning off for the race. How much does turning off the HR really buy you?

The optical HRM in the F5 is very power-efficient. I would not expect any significant savings on a 12h race.

If I'm already using the GPS tracking, how much of a battery penalty does adding course navigation have?

Never done it on the F5, but on other Garmin watches course navigation does not impose any significant battery power penalty. And course navigation being a very useful thing in a long trail race, I'd definitely leave it on.

I'm planning to leave my GPS setting set to Normal

Very good.

I don't think GLONAS would really help that much on a trail race going over high alpine terrain.

Indeed, cases where GLONASS makes any difference are quite rare, and contrary to some of the above discussed aspects, GLONASS has a significant impact on battery life. I always keep it off for my ultra trail races.

The manual doesn't explain what UltraTrac is, but I assume its a lower sampling rate and there for less accurate. Does this sound reasonable?

Your understanding is more or less correct. I'd strongly advise against using ultratrac for a 12h race.

What other settings can I look at that may impact battery life?

I'd reconsider your backlight settings. Depending on how often you use the buttons, it might reduce battery life. For battery saving I keep my backlight always off, and turn it on manually with the "power on/off" button whenever backlight is necessary. And major portion of the race probably will be in daylight anyway.

Another thing to consider would be giving up on custom IQ datafields, as the IQ virtual machine is power-hungry.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

My experience is that there is a huge batterysave when in alpine terrain if you set compass to off when using map screen due to unstable speed from GPS going up the mountain. It prevents the map from flickering around every armswing..

I turn the compass on, only when I need to look around me

best regards
Stig Erik

0 maeltj over 7 years ago

I use the trail activity default.
When on trail race, switch off backlight, no need it on daylight, by night I use a headlamp so, needless for me that backlight.
No sounds, alarms, etc
No Glonass
No maps or navigation, on trail race you just follow sings, arrows, other runners, etc
No activity monitor.
Always use heart rate.
Never use ultra trac, I prefer 1 sec by default.
Up to 14 hours on a race with this setup and 25% battery remaining.
I always carry cable and a usb battery, just in case. You never know if you have to navigate, you will need more battery.

0 tmk2 over 7 years ago

No maps or navigation, on trail race you just follow sings, arrows, other runners, etc

On very long ultra races you sometimes run just by yourself, without anyone else within the reach of eyesight, and there is no one to follow. Some races have very sparsely marked routes, so it is not difficult to get lost especially when you're exhausted, both physically and mentally. I agree that a detailed topo map is an overkill, I do however use course navigation whenever possible.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Another thing to consider would be giving up on custom IQ datafields, as the IQ virtual machine is power-hungry.

Very interesting. I had no idea the IQ fields ran in a mini VM within the OS. I just assumed they were running the same as the OEM fields. I'll start with only using 1 IQ field. I'll also take a hard look at the data I use and see about using the OEM data fields. Does adding additional pages with OEM data fields impact battery life?

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

My experience is that there is a huge batterysave when in alpine terrain if you set compass to off when using map screen due to unstable speed from GPS going up the mountain. It prevents the map from flickering around every armswing..

I turn the compass on, only when I need to look around me

best regards
Stig Erik

I follow what you are saying, but I'm not finding any 'compass' option on my watch. Under the Map settings I did find that option to use Track Up or North. Is this the option you are referring to?

0 TrippyZ over 7 years ago

I recommend that you get some long runs in as preparation!:D

0 tmk2 over 7 years ago

I'll start with only using 1 IQ field.

The best way would be to give a try before the race. It might be that the power cost will not be that significant, and if you have some favourite IQ datafields that you find useful, then the tradeoff might be worth considering.

Does adding additional pages with OEM data fields impact battery life?

I almost never use IQ datafields, but I have some activity profiles with a lot of built-in datafields, and I never noticed any impact on battery.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I recommend that you get some long runs in as preparation!:D

I hear that and altitude training. There is still snow on a lot of the high trails. Runs over 10k feet may have to wait until next month.