I think it's true that when it comes to technology, we absolutely don't use all the features available to us. There are certain things my phone does that I never use…like Siri! I bought a Garmin Fenix 5s* at the London Marathon Expo last year and I'm pretty sure I don't know everything it can do. But what if some of these things are actually really useful?
In this post, I'll share with you some of the features I like most about my watch and the Garmin Connect app. All instructions I give here and some of the features are based on my Fenix 5s and therefore may vary from watch to watch. And like I said, I bought this watch myself and this is NOT a sponsored post, just something I hope you find useful!
1 Screen setup
Garmin excels at the flexibility of the data and metrics you can view while exercising. Personally, I prefer the same two screens for all my run data and switch between the two depending on the type of run I'm doing.
My first view is what I call the “Overall Run” screen. Here I can see the total time, distance, pace and average pace for my entire run. This is perfect for any type of run where you're aiming for a relatively consistent pace throughout the entire run, such as running. B. a race, a long run, a recovery run, etc.
The second screen I use is what I call the “Last Lap” screen. This is similar, but only shows the above stats for the time and distance traveled since the automatic lap or I ran the activity manually. So this shows me lap time, lap distance, pace and lap pace. This is more suitable for runs where you can have specific target paces for individual laps or groups of laps, such as: E.g. progression runs, intervals, pace, etc. The “last lap” data gives me much better feedback on what's going on and is then not affected by warm-up miles, recovery periods, etc. being factored into the average pace.
Note that one of the reasons I use average pace and don't just look at the “pace” value is that it is not that reliable and can vary greatly from minute to minute – it is also heavily influenced by the accuracy of your GPS. I've had the pace hit 11:10 one minute and 7:50 the next, only to end up at 7:40 min/mile for the entire mile!
2 Intervals and automatic lap
If you're like me, you want to get an update on your pace every mile or kilometer. In this case, the auto lap feature is great – you'll get a buzzer on your watch every time you complete that set distance, telling you how long it took. However, for quick work I just want mine Intervals recorded as laps and not as each mile/kilometer. In the past this meant I would have to go into run settings and turn the device off before a run and then inevitably forget to turn it back on for my next normal run! Ergh.
But there is a trick for that! And I have to thank the genius Ian for that… Set up a workout type with “Running Intervals” and use the default setting with Auto Lap disabled. I really don't know why I never thought of it myself!
To do this, go to Settings > Activities & apps > + Add > Copy activity. Then select “Run,” give it a new name, turn off auto-round, and choose any other screen settings you want. As above, I want to have the screen settings for the entire run AND the screen settings for the final lap.
3 Use your resting heart rate
How many of you look at your resting heart rate (or RHR) and think, “Oh, that’s nice,” and then move on with your day? Thought so… RHR is actually a really good feedback tool for knowing how you should train on a given day.
The idea is that if your relative heart rate increases 5 beats or more from your “normal” you will need more recovery time. This can either be a complete rest day (depending on how you feel and that little thing called “life”) or simply a rest day with a recovery run or some cross training.
For example, my RHR is currently at an average of 52, but it actually increased to 56 bpm the day after hitting a PB 5K time. That was only 4 beats per minute above my average, but my body was also feeling pretty tight, so I took the extra recovery time and just did some stretching that day. The day after my long run my RHR was only 54, so I felt okay to do a CrossFit exercise workshop and a recovery run.
Essentially, you should use your RHR along with other indicators to determine whether and how hard you should train.
4 And heart rate zones…
I think it was quite a revelation to myself and others that my heart rate zones could change so much with just a few changes. I checked my stats after a run and compared them to Ian's results (which I know I shouldn't be doing!) and noticed that while he was in heart rate zones 2, 3 and maybe a little bit in 4, I was spending most of my time in zone 5 without feeling like I was working hard enough to justify it! So I took a quick look at my heart rate settings.
Go to Settings > User Profile > Heart Rate and check your maximum heart rate and LTHR (lactate threshold).
Now there's a really rough formula for determining your maximum heart rate that Garmin uses by default. But in many cases it is simply not correct. For example, the stereotypical age of 220 would give me a maximum heart rate of 188, but I peak at 185 quite regularly in training! In my opinion, the best way to make sure your zones are correct is to do a maximum heart rate test. However, please make sure you are fit and healthy and/or speak to your GP if necessary! I found my maximum heart rate by running a 5K race, going full throttle at the end, then adding 5 beats per minute.
Once you have your Max HR, you can connect it to the watch. With the LTHR this is usually around 90% of your maximum heart rate, so you can now calculate this too. Finally, make sure your zones are “based on” % of maximum heart rate and you’re good to go! Combining these two numbers will make your zones much more accurate for you. I now spend a lot more time in Zones 3 and 4, although not as much in Zone 2 as Ian! However, the snapshot above is from my best 5K time, where I was in the red most of the time – a sign that I was working to the maximum!
5 Training Status – Are you productive?
I particularly like Garmin’s clever “training status” function. If you follow a specific plan, it will aim to achieve many of the states that Garmin recognizes at different stages of the plan. For me, who doesn't follow a specific plan, it's a good indicator of how my training plan affects my fitness and competitive readiness.
Basically, there are 7 different statuses, plus the “No Status” status, which means you have not recorded enough data for Garmin to determine your training effect. The statuses are:
- Productive
- Maintenance
- climax
- Intrusive
- recreation
- Unproductive
- detraining
Below the summary status you will see two individual indicators – “Fitness” and “Stress”. One is based on your Vo2 maximum and the other is based on the amount and effort of sessions you have completed. Arrows appear under each indicator: ⬆️, ➡️ or ⬇️.
When your fitness improves and your workload is consistent or increasing, you are productive. If your exertion decreases and your fitness declines, stop training. However, if your load increases too much, overreach occurs.
You should time your progression and recovery well (e.g. a taper) so that you reach the “peak” phase just before the competition! I'm hoping to stay in the productive/maintenance phase until a week or two before Brighton. At this point, hopefully my taper will come at just the right time for me to realize that magical peak. With both Brighton and London passing away, I'll happily remain in recovery status for a while!
For more information about each status, see this support page.
6 Dynamics Pod
Bonus tip, also because this watch requires an additional purchase… The running dynamics pod* was actually an extra when I bought the watch and I'm really glad I was able to use it. Basically it's an external accelerometer that you attach to the back of your shorts/leggings and it measures a bunch of different things. The data you get is your ground contact time (the time you spend with your feet on the ground), balance of ground contact (left to right foot), vertical ratio (distance traveled up and down versus distance traveled forward), and vertical oscillation (distance traveled up and down). You also get color coding compared to elite and average athletes.
While that may seem like a lot, it's great for giving you feedback on your running form, and it's also really interesting to see on longer runs or races, for example, because you can see where you're getting tired or if you're favoring one leg over the other due to muscle tension. Also, I recently discovered (accidentally) that you can actually see these on the watch in an instant and not just after the fact in the app. This could be ideal if you're testing running exercises or activation exercises as part of your warm-up that you hope will improve your running form.
If you like things a little geeky, then the Dynamics Pod is for you!
Your tips?
That's why I've shared with you my screen settings, how to program an interval training type to avoid unnecessary mistakes with automatic laps, what you can get from your heart rate data, and how to determine if your training is productive and your running style is efficient. If you're going to focus on new parts of your watch on your next run, what will they be? Did you learn something new from this post?
This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Garmin. All products in this post were purchased by myself. However, this post contains affiliate links (marked with an *). If you purchase the products through these links, I receive a small commission which helps fund the maintenance of my website!
