Garmin 310XT/FootPod/Treadmill ?

bkcomiskey

I am starting the OS soon and will be doing almost all run training on a treadmill in my basement.  I calibrated the footpod with the 310XT when I got it last August.  

I am thinking of relying on the footpod/Garmin 310XT pace/distance for training for a few reasons:

1) Consistency (i.e. closer to outdoor measurement since calibrated outdoors).  

2) Easy upload to WKO+

Any issues with doing this?

 

William Jenks

The only trick will be the calibration. Unfortunately, with the treadmill, there's no real way of knowing whether the thing is accurate. After all, who's to say the readout on the treadmill is accurate? (Precise, yes...accurate, who knows!) At least it will be consistent, though, and that's almost as good. I have had good (stable) results with the Garmin footpod, except that it needs recalibration whenever I move it, change shoes, etc. but I run on a marked indoor track a lot more than on a treadmill, so I have the ability to keep a very accurate eye on it.

gilliatt

Brian-
I tried it last season didn't have much luck getting steady numbers out of it. A lot do, I couldn't. Good luck.

Chris G

 I calibrated mine outside and always got consistent results with it after that.  I trust the footpod over the readings on the treadmill.  Go for it.

David R

When I travel I usually have to run on a treadmill.  I travel alomst every week. Which means I am on a different treadmill each time.  I quit trying to match up the 310 pace with the treadmill pace exactly.  I have found the 310 pace is usually within 15 seconds of the treadmill pace.  Which one is the most acurate? I have no idea and decided last OS when I started using pace, not to worry about it.  I am close enough and if I don't feel like I am not pushing hard enough I just speed up the treadmill until it feels right.  As long as you calibrate it outside and are pretty consistent with your stride it's pretty accurate. 

William Jenks

Oh, I don't think you should expect the 310 and the treadmill to read closer than to within a few percent; that was part of my point. However, with any luck, whatever discrepancy there is will be consistent from day to day.

mancona

I hae the same results as others and even though my footpod (calibrated outside) and the treadmill don't match exactly, I do get consistant readings as long as I stick with the same shoes.

I noticed it is pretty close to accurate at the pace I calibrated it at but the further I get from that pace the more off it gets. In other words, I typically run about a 7:00 mile to calibrate it. At 7:00 the treadmill and footpod are very close, but as I turn the treadmill up, it gets furhter off. I.E. at 6:30 pace they are 5" apart, but at 6:00 pace they at 15" + off.

Christian Rabbat

I agree with Chris G - I calibrated my footpod outside, and it seems to be accurate on the treadmill. I adjust the treadmill speed to hit the correct zones according to the garmin. I haven't found that there is huge varitation between the treadmils that I have used (n=3) approx 0.1-0.2 mph @ 8.8 mph threshold pace.

bkcomiskey

 Great advice.  Thanks guys.

mkmiec

Posted By Matt Ancona on 30 Nov 2010 08:45 AM



I noticed it is pretty close to accurate at the pace I calibrated it at but the further I get from that pace the more off it gets. 

I have found the same thing.  My solution is to calibrate it at the speed at which I am going to do most of my running.

In general I do (think) that I get pretty solid readings, within 1-3% of what the treadmill readout says.  

mgraffeo

I do the same as others have pointed out, and rely on the garmin. Its great because it downloads straight into WKO, and gives you some consistency when you travel a lot.

Just one point to make, there is a way to see how accurate your treadmill's display is. I forget exactly right now, but you set it to a particular speed, run on it, and time how long it takes to make 10 revolutions. Do it at 2 speeds (two easy ones are recommended in the Daniels book) and you know how close the display is to accurate. A while back i made up a spreadsheet to do this. Have to go see if i still have that...

mgraffeo

Of course, you also need to measure the belt length...

kurshing

I have a question...I am considering getting the footpod and training inside starting in a few weeks. However...I have a bit of complex in that I am now running 6/mile in z4 and I feel like that just looks silly on the treadmill. Anyone have that same feeling?

I DO live in Memphis, TN, and I really can run outside almost all the time...I don't know - should I just suck it up and watch some TV while running this winter?

gilliatt

@Stephen I have the same thing go on, I build throughout an interval (not an EN thing necessarily just how I do biz) so I end up running 10.8-11 mph by the time an interval is over. On top of that I've said many times I look like a baby giraffe when I run (serious there is some youtube vids of me at IMLOU, I look silly not cool at all). I'm just sort of over it though I know I look ridiculous, I just don't care.

mgraffeo

Stephen, if you are going to consider moving to the NY area, you will probably have to make peace with treadmill running at some point. Might as well be now...

mancona

@Stephen - I wouldn't worry one bit about what people think when you are running at a 6:00 mile pace on the treadmill... they're just jealous anyway. Kind of like when I see a guy with a large gut and speedo in the pool. I think he looks rediculous and then the swims significantly faster than me and I just wish I could keep up for a lap.

Also, I've found that running fast on a treadmill is a great way to improve your form. With a mirror and listening to the sound of your footstrikes you can get instant and constant feedback on small changes in your stride.

jamison.gaddy

It does look a little silly, but it seems to draw more questions from others than criticism...so be prepared to field questions from others after a few days of using one on a community treadmill.

Again, so long as the information is consistent the tool becomes useful. I've run in into problems trying to calibrate mine so I've decided to leave mine on the default which is still accurate to 1-2%. Alot of shoes have assymetric laces. I have not been able to consistently reproduce a result while using these shoes. As mentioned above changing your shoes would require you to recalibrate the pod or to be prepared for a change in your data.

Cary Blanco

File this one under: "Problems" I wish I had to deal with.

mcstrangelove

I've considered getting a footpod because the RPE always seems more difficult on a treadmill. No matter what gym I go to or what treadmill I use, any given pace feels at least :30 seconds faster than the readout says.  A 7-minute pace feels more like a 6:30 pace and so on.

Is this typical of treadmills or am I just imagining it?

Scott Alexander

Posted By Mac Caudill on 05 Dec 2010 02:17 PM

I've considered getting a footpod because the RPE always seems more difficult on a treadmill. No matter what gym I go to or what treadmill I use, any given pace feels at least :30 seconds faster than the readout says.  A 7-minute pace feels more like a 6:30 pace and so on.

Is this typical of treadmills or am I just imagining it?

x2 here, Mac. RPE always seems harder inside.



 

jetskr

Posted By Mac Caudill on 05 Dec 2010 02:17 PM

I've considered getting a footpod because the RPE always seems more difficult on a treadmill. No matter what gym I go to or what treadmill I use, any given pace feels at least :30 seconds faster than the readout says.  A 7-minute pace feels more like a 6:30 pace and so on.

Is this typical of treadmills or am I just imagining it?

I think it has to do with the mental pain of being stuck on a treadmill with the occasional feeling of being a hamster.  

redmann

 I'm like the others here...footpod calibrated outside, setting the treadmill to the desired pace, but getting readings Garmin readings that are a bit quicker than the treadmill readout.

At 8.5 mph (7:05 pace) on the treadmill readout shows as a 6:32 pace on my Garmin. I'm hitting all the intervals without a problem so I'm not sure that the Garmin is accurate, although I'm hopeful!

Based on my cadence numbers I think the Garmin pace is fairly close. I'll maintain this until I get back outside since the discrepancy (if any) will remain consistent. 

gilliatt

Sounds like a good plan Martin. I finally did get some resolution to my footpod problems with my 305. I had the bigger older one and bought the new small one. Much better. When I looked at some of the old files I found I was having a lot of cadence dropouts or drop-in-halfs (typically a symptom of low battery in this case it wasn't). 88 would become 44 about every minute for 4-6 seconds. I turned off smart recording, rolled back the software one version well. Not having the cadence issues anymore. I think that is where my accuracy problems were actually rooted.