I am planning on doing a triathlon. What is the best way to track the actual event on my Vivoactive 3? Do I need to treat it as 3 separate workouts to get the proper metrics for each phase?
There's a Triathlon/Duathlon app in the IQ store. Never tried it. VA3 has no HR or open water for the swimming portion. You may have battery issues if you use GPS. To be perfectly honest, I don't know why you'd want to use a VA3 for a triathlon anyway?
Update: I just noticed this is your 1st post, so I'm going to assume you just got your VA3. If you do activities such as triathlons, do yourself a favor and turn in the VA3 and get a FR735/935 or something in the Fenix series. The VA3 is good at a lot of things, but not great at anything. Definitely not a device for triathlons
Sounds like this is your first tri. If so, I would offer a little different advice from the above 2 "masters." My advice: stick with the VA3 for now and not spend big $ for watch feature that you may only use 1 day of the year.
The VA3 is perfectly capable of being a good trainer for a triathlon.
As for the the tri race day itself, check out what Garmin IQ apps are available for the VA3. I know there was a tri app for the VA and VAHR.
If there is an app, the only think you'll likely be missing is a gps map of your swim (since VA3 does not have an ow swim activity). IMHO, this is not a biggy b/c even the best watches can make mistakes in ow swims.
If you decide you love triathlons, you can then look into a watch that has a built in Tri activity.
The VA3 is perfectly capable of being a good trainer for a triathlon.
And a moped is perfectly capable of being a good trainer for a motocross race. You may be right, but nothing the OP said implies this is his first triathlon. And just because you feel the other watches are "big $" doesn't mean it is for others. You pay for what you want and need. The OP stated he wanted "proper metrics". With the VA3 he'll get the basics. Time, distance, pace/speed and GPS track w/ his run and cycling. What metrics is the VA3 going to provide him with swimming? With the devices we "masters" (you've used that quotation before & still have no idea what it represents) pointed out the metrics the OP will get is ground contact time, gct balance, cadence, stride length, vertical oscillation, vertical ratio, running power, HRV, training status, training load, aerobic and anaerobic training effect, performance conditioning, lactate threshold, recovery time, race predictor, cycling FTP, and open water swimming which includes dist, pace, stroke count/rate, stroke dist, calories and heart rate. You say you're going to test a triathlon app? You haven't trained or done a triathlon with your VA3 and you're going to tell the OP it's perfectly capable?
No need to get bent out of shape, "master" TMK17! But, with all due respect, I think reading comprehension is not your strong suit.
I said the VA3 is perfectly capable for training for triathlons. And, YES, I have used the VA (and other brand watches) before to train for triathlons and it was great. You could also say I'm currently using the VA3 to train for a triathlon.
The fact that OP said "I am planning to do a triathlon" leads me to believe that this is his/her first. Also first post from OP. I could be wrong, but perfectly reasonable assumption on my part.
The fact that OP has the VA3 also leads me to believe that all those metrics you mention would really be overkill at this point. IMHO alot of it is overkill for most of us anyway. BUT... as I said, if the OP really gets into tri's, he/she may want these more advanced metrics.
Your moped/motocross analogy is really piss poor too. I would say this instead -- a Suzuki sv650 is a great all round bike to learn to ride, commute, and even take to the track. However, if you really get into racing, you will likely want a different more advanced/ hp bike. Should I explain who's who in this analogy or do you get it?
Really? Again with your go to comprehension comments? This is the 3rd time you've used it that I'm aware of. You can't think of anything else to say? Yes, you did say train. You also said using on the day of the triathlon, one day out of the year.. In your response you make it your point that you said "train" with it. Are you implying it's OK to train with it but not use it for the event; since you clearly were talking about training and training only? Help me comprehend since there's a contradiction in your two post. And do you really think anyone is buying into your "yes, I have used the VA and other brand watches before to train for triathlons"? All that you posted and you just failed to mention something important as "yeah, I've used this and that and it works fine. I'm currently training with my VA3 now."? Why do you now feel the need to test an app if you've already done hands on? No need to answer. We all know why. As far as my analogy goes? That's spot on. Someone claiming the VA3 is perfectly capable for triathlons (Excuse me. Training for a triathlon) would also be someone who would use a moped to train for a motocross race. My apologies. I have to remember the level I'm addressing.
I also own an vivoactive 3 + a premium chest strap and next summer want to attend on my first triathlon. As I am going to join a short-term triathlon (not more than 2,5 hours of race) I think the battery will be big enough and it is ok for me not to have correct swimming distance+calories+hr for the race. But I would like to use a chest strap which I can put on already before the race (to safe time) and read hr with this strap for bike+run.
No, this strap won´t work. The Swim or TRI Strap have a memory in it. This is needed because the ANT+ connection does not work under water. It might does over some centimeters, but not reliable*. So the straps must synchronize the data at the end of a workout, what the VA3 does not support. This feature is only implemented on more professional watches.
*I´ve read from some people, which used an arm-strap and located it next to the VA1 & 2. It worked more or less well. But in that case you better use the internal hrm.
The HRM-Swim should pair the the VA3 as a normal HR sensor, so should be good for the bike and run leg. I think HerrRiebmann is wrong on this, or he misunderstood the question. The HRM-Swim will not work for the swim leg, though.
One more advice: If you intend to make the swim leg in a triathlon suit or a wetsuit, then the HRM-Tri will be more comfortable. The HRM-Swim is less elastic and less breathable, and is desgined for swimming bare-chested.
