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Garmin Foot Pod and Speed Source (Read 1827 times)

Julia1971


    I tried looking this question up on the interwebs but wasn't sure I found the right answer, so I thought I'd ask...

     

    I'm using a Garmin 610 and I want to use my foot pod to measure my time/distance/speed on the treadmill.  It's been calibrated.

     

    Now, if I'm about to start my treadmill workout.  Instead of letting it search for satellites, I tell it I want indoor use.  Do I also have to change the speed source in the foot pod setting to footpod or is this enough?  Currently, that field reads GPS so I'm confused.

     

    Thanks!


    Maggie & Molly

      I am definately not technically sound but I could not get my footpod to work consistently until I shut off my gps - then it worked fine.  I just hit start and it works.

       "It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop."
      Wisdom of Confucius

      HF 4363

        I believe that if a foot pod is detected and the GPS is turned off by answering that you are inddors, your Garmin will use the foot pod to collect data. You can also tell it to use the foot pod for speed source while outside with GPS on and it will use the foot pod for instant speed and pace only. The distance splits and total will use the GPS functions. Thats the way my 310xt works anyway.

         

        The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff

         

        2014 Goals:

         

        Stay healthy

        Enjoy life

         

        stadjak


        Interval Junkie --Nobby

          I tried looking this question up on the interwebs but wasn't sure I found the right answer, so I thought I'd ask...

           

          I'm using a Garmin 610 and I want to use my foot pod to measure my time/distance/speed on the treadmill.  It's been calibrated.

           

          Now, if I'm about to start my treadmill workout.  Instead of letting it search for satellites, I tell it I want indoor use.  Do I also have to change the speed source in the foot pod setting to footpod or is this enough?  Currently, that field reads GPS so I'm confused.

           

          Thanks!

           

          Did this for the first time this weekend on the mill.  Garmin 610.  Set to GPS mode by default.  Footpod detected.  Select "Indoors" so it stops looking for satellites.  Start run -- mileage and speed were picked up by the footpod.

           

          I've only looked at the watch data -- haven't downloaded the run to Garmin Connect yet to look at it.

           

          So, you shouldn't have to do anything and it will just work: it did for me.

          2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

          Julia1971


            Thanks everyone!  These responses make me feel better about not needing the extra step.


            Maggie & Molly

              Did this for the first time this weekend on the mill.  Garmin 610.  Set to GPS mode by default.  Footpod detected.  Select "Indoors" so it stops looking for satellites.  Start run -- mileage and speed were picked up by the footpod.

               

              I've only looked at the watch data -- haven't downloaded the run to Garmin Connect yet to look at it.

               

              So, you shouldn't have to do anything and it will just work: it did for me.

               I feel like a gps fool but where is the place that you selected "indoors"  I just tried to find it and can't.  shutting off my gps works but if I can leave it on and do that I would be happier.

               "It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop."
              Wisdom of Confucius

              HF 4363

              Julia1971


                 I feel like a gps fool but where is the place that you selected "indoors"  I just tried to find it and can't.  shutting off my gps works but if I can leave it on and do that I would be happier.

                 

                What model do you have?  For the 610, when you start your workout, it'll start looking for satellites.  If you tap the screen before it acquires one, it'll ask if you want to use it indoors.  (Or, you can wait for it to give up looking to give you the prompt).  You can then tap yes/no.  For the 305, I think you might have to wait for the watch to give up searching and then it'll ask if you want to use it indoors and the yes/no options appear above the buttons.  Does this make sense?  I'm not sure about other models.

                  For the 305, you hold down mode, even while it's searching, and the option will pop up to put it in indoor mode.

                  "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." 
                  Emil Zatopek


                  Maggie & Molly

                    I have the 405.    I'll try tomorrow when it starts looking for the sat. 

                     "It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop."
                    Wisdom of Confucius

                    HF 4363

                    WhoDatRunner


                    Will Crew for Beer

                      I have the 405.    I'll try tomorrow when it starts looking for the sat. 

                      For the 405 you press GPS on the bezel until it gives you the menu, then select GPS and tap to turn it off.

                       

                      I haven't had much luck in getting a consistent reading from my footpod. It seems to vary a lot depending on my pace.

                      Rule number one of a gunfight, bring a gun. Rule number two of a gunfight, bring friends with guns.


                      Maggie & Molly

                        For the 405 you press GPS on the bezel until it gives you the menu, then select GPS and tap to turn it off.

                         

                        I haven't had much luck in getting a consistent reading from my footpod. It seems to vary a lot depending on my pace.

                         thanks. 

                         "It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop."
                        Wisdom of Confucius

                        HF 4363

                          Not to commander this post, but I didn't want to start a new thread for a subject that already existed.

                           

                          I'm having issues with calibrating my footpod. I'm running on an indoor track (400m) and depending on my pace it can be as much as .25 of a mile off. Should I abandon the foot pod altogether and just go back to counting laps manually. It wouldn't be a big deal, but it totally screws up my pace and total distance. 

                          Julia1971


                            Not to commander this post, but I didn't want to start a new thread for a subject that already existed.

                             

                            I'm having issues with calibrating my footpod. I'm running on an indoor track (400m) and depending on my pace it can be as much as .25 of a mile off. Should I abandon the foot pod altogether and just go back to counting laps manually. It wouldn't be a big deal, but it totally screws up my pace and total distance. 

                             

                            Threadjack away!

                             

                            I would probably abandon if I found it was that far off.  However, I wonder if you could enter your own calibration factor to correct for the mismeasuring.  It was way above my head, but in my quest to find the answer to my speed source question, I found a thread on Runner's World about a post on D.C. Rainmaker's website about using existing Garmin data to figure out what that factor should be.

                            stadjak


                            Interval Junkie --Nobby

                              Isn't a footpod, by the nature of how it does its job, going to be off if when you alter your pace you change your stride length?

                               

                              Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a foot pod merely count how many times your foot hits the ground in a given time-interval.  Then you supply the distance, via GPS or measured track.  With this your watch simply divides strikes/distance to give you your average stride length.  All future distances with the footpod are just strikes times the average you recorded earlier during calibration.

                               

                              It's for someone who knows better to say how pace typically affects stride length, but my uninformed intuition would be that it would make a pretty big difference.

                               

                              I got bought the footpod because I was hoping it would provide "instantaneous pace" information (rather than the average over the last mile).  I'd read this feature somewhere.  Unfortunately, once I began to think my pace affected the footpod's accuracy, I chalked it up as a device deprecated by the GPS.

                               

                              About the only use I feel it serves is 1) recording my cadence  2) allowing me to use the gym's treadmill without the display -- so when my 30mins are up, I don't lose all the data when I furtively reset for another 30mins.

                              2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                                Isn't a footpod, by the nature of how it does its job, going to be off if when you alter your pace you change your stride length?

                                 

                                Please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a foot pod merely count how many times your foot hits the ground in a given time-interval.  Then you supply the distance, via GPS or measured track.  With this your watch simply divides strikes/distance to give you your average stride length.  All future distances with the footpod are just strikes times the average you recorded earlier during calibration.

                                 

                                It's for someone who knows better to say how pace typically affects stride length, but my uninformed intuition would be that it would make a pretty big difference.

                                 

                                I got bought the footpod because I was hoping it would provide "instantaneous pace" information (rather than the average over the last mile).  I'd read this feature somewhere.  Unfortunately, once I began to think my pace affected the footpod's accuracy, I chalked it up as a device deprecated by the GPS.

                                 

                                About the only use I feel it serves is 1) recording my cadence  2) allowing me to use the gym's treadmill without the display -- so when my 30mins are up, I don't lose all the data when I furtively reset for another 30mins.

                                 

                                The foor pod actually has accelarometers built into it that not only uses foot strike data, but the accelaration of the pod between each foot strike to calculate the distance traveled.

                                 

                                I use oned one with an FR60 and have now purchased a 310xt and use it with that. I have noticed that if your pace varies widely, the distance will no longer be correct. I really noticed it when I did a race with it after having calibrated it for most of my daily easy paced runs. The race data was way off.

                                 

                                My typical easy pace workouts would be within a 1-2% or so and was well within my range of acceptable and honestly just as close as GPS.

                                 

                                Just this week on a treadmill workout (thats what I use it for now that I have a 310xt) I swapped out my shoes for a new pair and didn't use the same lace position to clip the foot pod on. I usually use it here: I(XX) (the first teo crossed laces) and when I switched the shoes out I put it here: IX(XX) (the second and third crossed laces) and my pace on the same treadmill was off by about 15 seconds per mile. I've determined that you need to mounted it in the same position if you switch shoes because the distance traveled by the footpod is slightly different.

                                 

                                I think the foot pod works good if you can calibrated it and run right around that calibrated pace . If you plan on running faster, you might want to recalibrate it and come up with some calibration numbers that you can use when you plan on running at a certain pace.

                                 

                                To the OP, try taking the battery out of the foot pod for a minute or two so it can reset itself, then recalibrate it and see if it works better. That is the advice I got from Garmin when my first foot pod started acting funny.

                                 

                                The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff

                                 

                                2014 Goals:

                                 

                                Stay healthy

                                Enjoy life

                                 

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