mode ULTRA RUN

I'm just registering my interesting in Robi's question. I expected that "Lap + Rest" would record a lap and the time for the "lap"/rest, but zero distance. Is there a mode that works like this?

i was reseaching the use of the ultra mode in the forums and found this in the f6:

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-6-series/269687/back-lap-button-doesn-t-stop-anymore-gps-on-ultra-run-mode#pifragment-1292=3

the workaround seems to be to use "elapsed time" field instead of timer and to really pause and resume with start stop.

Thanks, Daniel. I saw that too and I need to try it before I knock it. It does seem that would be useful DURING the activity, but I would think the TIMER result and not ELAPSED TIME would be total time recorded for the activity. From a Garmin FAQ:

• Time/Timer: Includes time moving and time not moving as long as the timer was running (if Auto Pause is turned on this will prevent time not moving from being included in this detail).

• Elapsed Time: Includes all time from the initial starting of the timer and when the activity is saved.

Example use case, a 'last person standing' race such as Big's Backyard Ultra, where a 4.167 mile loop starts every hour (so 100 miles every 24 hours) with the goal to complete as many as possible before quitting or timing out on a loop. You can finish in 35 minutes and get 25 minutes of 'rest' or 59 minutes and essentially have to line up for the next loop and keep going. If I'm training for one of these and I do exactly 24 loops in exactly 24 hours, I want the total activity time to be 24 hours, not 24 hours minus my rest periods (which I expect the PAUSE WORKAROUND would give), but using ULTRA RUN mode with rest 'laps', I think the total activity time would be exactly 24 hours, but give extra distance milling around and GPS drift between loops (100 miles plus that unwanted slop). I'll test the pause workaround and see how the total time gets recorded, but if that doesn't work (under reports total activity time), any thoughts on a workaround for this?

Hi Adam,

unfortunately i have no other idea and am by no means an expert on this. I am currently training for an 8h run - format, for that i have considered using aforementioned settings - at least with the elapsed time i would be able to see how much of the 8h is still remaining. You are right thought, that timer and pace would both just be considering moving time, not (i hope short ;) ) aid station breaks.

At a backyard format you kind of need the clock running anyway so to see when to toe the line, right?

They somehow seem to be working on the feature on alpha 11.17:Improved Ultra Run Auto Rest settings to increase performance of the feature. https://forums.garmin.com/beta-program/fenix-7-series/f/announcements/319312/alpha-version-11-17

No idea what that is supposed to mean though, i d not have the alpha installed.

DanielM said:

the workaround seems to be to use "elapsed time" field instead of timer and to really pause and resume with start stop.

The risk of really pausing and resuming is that it is very easy to forget to resume, which would result in a lost distance. As someone who use the lap in the ultra mode in races, I forgot to exit the rest timer about half of the times I was using it. To me the main appeal is that it doesn't actually stop recording.

silentvoyager

Thanks for your reply - have you experienced added distance because of ‘jumpy’ gps at aid stations? I guess I will just test both settings in training runs. 
If I may add one more question: what data fields/ pages do you recommend for ultra runs - anything special with this mode?

No, I have never experienced jumpy GPS when stopped at aid station or stopped for any other reason. My understanding is that modern watches use accelerometer to know when you are stopped so that the distance stops increasing. Occasionally I experience what you have described in your comment but that is fairly rare. However I should add that I haven't used the Ultra mode since May 2022 when I ran my last 100k. Perhaps something has changed since then.

silentvoyager thanks for the reply! Do you remember what setting you have/ had for the lap button? lap+rest or only rest? i will try if any of these settings will make a difference.