Garmin Foot Pod - calibrate? how/why...
I am now the proud owner of a garmin footpod so that I can more easily track my treadmill runs in wko plus. I stuck it on my shoe and ran on the treadmill this morning. The pace it showed was a bit faster than the treadmill at speeds faster than 7:00 but slightly slower at slower speeds, like showing 8:14 when the TM was at 8:00.
Anyone else notice a difference in readings [I am not sure "accuracy" should be used] at different paces?
Would calibrating the thing using an 800 meter course have any effect on this?
Should I even care as it is pretty close right out of the box and does not really matter than much anyhow?
Doesn't it seem kinda stupid that it will not self calibrate when using it outside with GPS?
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1) yes. After calibration, my pod is quite accurate between Z2 and Z5, but off a bit at Z1 (high)
2) when I calibrated, it had the option of 800 meters or 0.5 miles. As long as what you picked matches the track, you should be good.
3) only if you feel the need to be uber-geeky about what ends up in WKO (and yes, I feel that need, so my answer would be yes)
4) absolutely. The only plausible answer I can come up with to why is that maybe the GPS accuracy isn't good enough to do it only over 0.5 miles. But it feels like it should be an option.
I calibrated mine with GPS (I have a 310XT). It gave me the option of either GPS calibration or doing it on a track. After calibrating it has been pretty accurate. I ran my indoor 5K TT with on it on the University indoor track and it measured out at 3.18 miles for the 5K. On the treadmill, it registered 7.30 miles for my 1 hour run on Sunday vs the treadmill reading of 7.38 miles. Overall I think pretty reasonable.
FWIW, I have found the cadence to be the most valuable part of having the foot pod. My cadence used to be great when I would count my steps for 30 seconds because I was focusing on it. The foot pod allows me (when WKO works right) to look at cadence for an entire run and see when I got lazy.
Matt - how do you set WKO to pick up the cadence from the footpod? I get the cadence in Garmin TC, but can't figure out how to get it to show up in WKO+. I am sure it is ridiculously easy ;-).
Sorry to hijack your thread Chris!
310xt can be calibrated with GPS. What I ended up doing was .5 mi calibration on the treadmill. I did have a z1 to z4 difference, but I just tweaked the calibration manually over the next few runs and it is spot on now (assuming the treadmill is accurate) and I'm not noticing the z1 to z4 difference. I agree with Matt re: the cadence. I've started wearing the footpod outside just to get the cadence.
Well ... in WKO 2.2 it works perfect via the direct download or import from GTC.
In WKO 3.0 it doesn't work for me (but works for Tom Glynn). The cadence shows up in GTC and in the TCX file I export but WKO doesn't import it. I have posted over at Training Peaks forums about this, but they don't seem to care as they have not replied to my post or the few others that have posted in the last few weeks.
When I run on the treadmill, my results are surprising similar. My running and biking cadences are also almost identical, with most of my activity around 84-87 rpm.
I haven't had any import problems with the data into WKO, either 2.2 or 3.0. I have a slightly older version of GTC than Matt, but everything else seems similar. Not sure why others are having problems.
I use 2.2, but when I import my run this is what I get - it seems like I should be able to find a way to see the run cadence on both the graph and the summary. I am sure it is very simple, but I don't find the training peaks "user's manual" very simple and haven't been able to figure out how to add the cadence info so that I can see it. Maybe it's just me that's simple
I don't think it's a problem w/ the info not being there as much as I don't know how to tell WKO I want it included in the charts, graphs, etc. For that same lap Garmin TC tells me my cadence was 84.
Lap 4 (0:04:30.79):
Duration: 4:31
Work: n/a
rTSS: 7.5 (0.983)
NGP: 8:51 (181.8 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: 4.66%
Distance: 0.5 mi
Elevation Gain: 28 ft
Elevation Loss: 27 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (1 ft)
Min Max Avg
Heart Rate: 154 161 159 bpm
Speed: 4.3 7.8 6.6 mph
Pace 7:40 13:48 9:05 min/mi
Altitude: 964 978 971 ft
Matt,
Just ordered a footpod for my 310xt as I like to keep track of my cadence with running 94-96/min and get tired of counting. Can the footpod keep track in realtime display on the Garmin or only after download?
Doesn't matter much as it's on the way but I thought I'd ask.
Vince
I use mine with a 305 and it can show real time cadence, lap average cadence, or average cadence all during the run. I personally have my FR set to auto lap every mile and show lap average pace and cadance as they are more valuable to me than the real time data that isn't always real time.
Cool. I will dial it in this weekend with all my spare time.
Vince
Robin,
I get cadence data on the bike and run automatically. No need to tell WKO. Not sure it is possible anyway. Do you get the data on the bike but not the run?
tom
tom
Tom -
Yes, get cadence on the bike and it shows automatically when I download from PT. Good to know that maybe it's not my lack of computer savy
Thanks!
I have posted to the TP forum twice about this issue and I did a search and at least 4 other people have posted about it as well and they have not responded yet. So I don't think it is anything you are doing wrong.
Interestingly some of the people posting stated it worked with the first build of wko 3.0 and now does not work with the latest build. I never tried it with the first build so I don't know if it would have worked for me.
Tom seems to be one of the luckly ones as it works for him with the newest wko build. I'm tempted to uninstall GTC and install theprevious version to see if I cna get it to work since that is what Tom is running, however I need the latest version to support the edge 500.
I'm getting by just fine with checking the cadence data in GTC before exporting it as everything else is coming through fine in wko.
Thanks Matt - Sounds like were in the same boat then except that I am running 2.2. I haven't upgraded to 3.0 since I don't have any of the newer gadgets that really require it. Except mayb this footpod!