Planning your runs with the Garmin Connect app
Everyone who is enduring a journey towards being fit and staying fit keeps track of the performance of one’s activities. Gadgets play a significant role in helping us track things meticulously. As in, you may want to run with speed no slower than 6 min/km or not faster than 7min/km; gadgets track this for you.
New age gadgets we own are super powerful and feature-rich. A tiny sensor sitting somewhere on our body can accurately track almost every movement.
I have been using the Garmin watch as my running companion for almost three years now. And I am amazed at how thoughtful (and intrusive) they have been in building this device. It has helped me immensely and, at the same time, freaks me out as well. But good things take precedence.
Garmin allows you to plan your workout using Garmin Connect app and then sync it up with the device, which can be executed as your workout.
Let’s say your routine is to do
- a warmup run for 1 km in HR Zone 1.
- Then you would progress into Easy, i.e. HR Zone 2, for another km before getting into
- an Aerobic run for a few kilometres.
The usual way is to decide and then keep looking at the watch periodically to check where we stand. Usually, we are good at this as our body generates appropriate signals. These signals come at the very edge of the physical limit for most of us. There’s also a way to leverage the Garmin device for this. It allows you to create a workout exactly as you wish and execute it with machine precision.Needless to say, one must follow what the machine is configured to suggest. When we move out of bounds, it notifies us through vibration or buzz.
Find out the workout menu on your Garmin connect mobile app to set such a workout. Typically you would find it in the “More” section. Create a workout of your choice from the workouts section. Here’s an example of how we can create a running workout which I have described above.
Sequence of activities is — Create > select step > configure it > come back > configure all steps > Save the workout.
Configuring the step
It’s a 3 step process
- Select a type of the step
- Define the duration of the step
- Define the intensity target for the step
In the running activity, you can configure a step as
- Warmup
- Run
- Recover
- Rest
- Cool Down
- Other
Select one of the five options provided and configure it for the duration. e.g.in our case warmup run is 1 km; hence we would choose the Duration type as “Distance” and the duration as 1 km. You could set the duration by five ways
- Time
- Distance
- Lap Button Press
- Calories
Our first step is a warmup step. And I have set up Duration Type as Distance and Duration as 1 km. In this stage of configuring the intensity, we would select the target type as Heart Rate Zone and HR zone as Zone 1. This means we will warm up for 1 km, and our heart rate is expected to be in HR zone 1.
Garmin registers this, and during the activity, when HR is moving out of bounds, it warns you through sound and vibration notification.
There are potentially four types of intensity configuration along with 5th option of no target
- Heart Rate Zone
- Cadence
- Pace
- Custom Heart Rate
Garmin also helps you set up the loops for longer runs. Let’s you would want to take a breather after every 4 km. You could set up a 30-second recovery walk after every 4 km. Use Add repeat option on the first screen for setting up the loops.
I hope this relatively lesser-used feature will help you structure your workouts and make running more enjoyable. To me, it helps immensely in staying on course to achieve pre-set routine and be disciplined.
When we say create a workout, Garmin, by default, creates a workout with three steps; Warmup — Run — Cooldown. Most of us who are super confident of our abilities eliminate the warmup and cooldown, not to mention that’s the most common cause of injuries and stagnated performance.
Disclaimer: All screens are only for the illustrative purpose of setting up the routine. These are not the routines I follow and do not constitute advice for running.
