Running App for Intervals

Hi, I'm looking for some specific feature or workaround on my fenix 5 plus to facilitate running intervals (on the track).

When running on the track I often do a certain number of intervals (10x400m) with a preset start/departure time (means the time between the start of each of the 400m intervals) so the faster I go, the longer the recovery before the next interval and opposite. Now I have the datafields showing the time of the last interval and the up-counting time of the present interval next to each other and have to do the maths myself to know when the recovery is over and I have to get going again.

There is a similar feature in lap-swimming mode where the LAP button switches to a pause/recovery page showing information regarding the last interval and the whole activity so far. In particular there is this up-counting timer with the cumulated time of the last interval and the pause so far.

This kind of app-setup and/or at least a datafield showing this kind of timer would be very useful also when running. The app approach would allow to differentiate between the actual intervals and the pauses between them and not counting the pauses as intervals (maybe with the option to switch off GPS during pauses and/or to decide whether the pauses should count on the overall timer or not with effect on the average pace). The datafield should be rather easy to implement.

Is there any way to address this issue or some kind of workaround?

Thanks and kind regards, Francis

0 fgigon over 4 years ago in reply to Nikeow

I never heard of these backyard ultras before but the concept is exactly the same. Just with shorter distance/timing however. Your example with the 400m is correct. The goal would be to chose a realistic time like the 3 min and then run the 10x400m at a steady pace till the last interval. Up to now i used the LAP button like this. I start my activity and do some warm-up laps, when i start the first 400m i hit LAP, when i finish the 400m i hit LAP again and recover (so at that point I am already in Interval No. 3 on my watch), to time myself for the next 400m i had the "last lap time" datafield (=this would be the last 400m i did) and the "lap time" datafield (=this would be the recovery phase I'm in) next to each other and waited till together they would be 3min, then hit LAP again an go for the second 400m, and so on...

At the end of my workout I would therefore have the double number of LAP (at least, maybe one more for warmup and cool-down each), with the "real" laps im interested in (the 400m) as well as the recovery-laps in between.

Of course i could also only hit LAP at the beginning of the 400m and after 3min (and recovery completed) when i go on again. This would create 10 x 3min laps, but would mess up the stats as i wouldnt be able to see how long the 400m took me.

The countdown timer you mentioned would be an easy way to know when to start the next intervall. I will also try to configure a datafield with Flowstate's Appbuilder5, showing the cumulated time of last and current lap.

To avoid having the recovery time as separate laps, or not be considered at all as part of your activity, a completely different concept of a running app would be needed, i guess. This would have to be similar to the pool swimming app on my fenix, where hitting the LAP button toggles between activitiy and pause. In pauses nothing is recorded, apart from the total time of the whole activity.

0 fgigon over 4 years ago in reply to AllanOlesen67

AllanOlesen67 said:
Have you looked at Flowstate's Appbuilder5?

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/fd690281-9c22-4fee-a81e-3b7f39aa67c5#0

Thanks for the advice regarding Flowstate's Appbuilder5. I installed it and built a datafield using the formula "lastlap(laptime)+laptime" and it works perfectly well. No alarm yet (but thats fine, im looking constantly at the watch anyways during recovery) and i still need to push the LAP key myself (and so for each recovery an additional separate lap is created).

Would be nice if garmin offered to different types of running apps however. One with constant logging and lap/splits functionality when your always on the move (also for intervals when your doing active recovery=slower running), and one for backyard ultra-style intervalls where the recovery is not relevant at all (or just its duration an HR-recovery) and GPS would not be needed at all.

0 Nikeow over 4 years ago in reply to fgigon

fgigon I have added a countdown timer (user configurable) that will reset itself and restart when it reaches zero. (it will also beep and vibrate at 0)

With regards to what you suggested, this is doable but only if it's an APP instead of datafield. When you pause an activity within a data field, Developers don't have access to the screen - hence the screen will default to the "save/resume/discard" dialog box.

anyways - take a look at the app if you're interested. It's not a free CIQ field tho, so that may likely already be a turn off.

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/6531e1a1-eede-419e-ac39-4a5093b371e8

0 fgigon over 4 years ago in reply to Nikeow

thanks a lot! i just downloaded and installed the 367RunFields datafield on my watch and will check it out (in particular the timer you added) in the next few days!

0 Nikeow over 4 years ago in reply to fgigon

I was thinking about this "recovery as separate lap or not part of activity" portion and realised that what you're suggesting may not be possible. (on the pool swimming lap, I would believe thaten tho passing the lap button toggles between activity and pause, the entire session is still uploaded. Eg: you swam 10min and then spent the rest of the 50mins in a pause state and then you end the session. Uploaded would still be a 60min session.

0 fgigon over 4 years ago in reply to Nikeow

thats true, the pauses in pool-swimming are considered as part of the whole activity (so the overall activity timer continues):

sorry it's in German.. So 58:14 was the time I actually spent swimming, an 1:14:24 was the time between hitting START and STOP (so there would be about 15 min of pausing), the 20 sec to 1:14:44 is the time between hitting STOP and actually saving the activity (so the time spent while the activity as a whole was paused).

When using the running app, the only way to pause is hitting STOP when finishing a intervall and starting recovery. I found out today, that in this pause menu there is a LAP option, but didnt have the time yet to figure out how it works. Obviously in this approach the pauses would not count as activity time. So applied to your example: you run 10min and then spend 50mins in pause state (activity paused) and then you end the session, the activity time (Zeit in the pic above) would be 10min, as well as the Time in motion. The "Verstrichene Zeit" would be 60min.

And obviously there is no possibility to display any timer while the app is paused...

0 Nikeow over 4 years ago in reply to fgigon

fgigon can you try to PM me? I tried but either I'm utterly stupid or I can't get this dang software to work to do the pM. I type in your name and click on it then nothing happens....!!

I wanna pick your brains