The question I get asked the most by friends and acquaintances goes something like this: my Forerunner shows heart rate data in little tiny numbers. How do I get it bigger? Or: I only see time, distance and pace — how do I show calories? Since we’re all about options, most Garmin fitness devices let you customize multiple training screens with a variety of data fields. Choose fewer fields if you want the numbers bigger — more fields if you want to see more data on one screen. All you have to do is find your way to the main menu and then go through the settings submenus until you get to data fields or training pages. Best of all, you can set the screen up like you want for one workout and then change things up for another. Last night, my workout called for 800m repeats at the track, so I set up one of my FR60 screens to show lap pace and lap time so I could check my stats at a glance and make sure I was on track for my goal. If you want to customize screens on your Forerunner 405 or Edge 705, Jake will show you the way. If you have an FR60, I’ll take you through the steps. Check out the videos below.

Over the weekend I went for a ride on my time trial (TT) bike for the first time since racing in Dallas last October. The black Beyond Fabrications frame is the same bike I rode in 2007 when I won Amateur Worlds in Germany, but I’ve made a few key upgrades to it. Most recently, I added an SRM Dura-Ace powermeter, which uses ANT+ wireless technology to pair seamlessly with my Garmin Edge 705. On my road bike I’d been using a Quarq CinQo powermeter for about a year and a half, and I was excited to see how the SRM’s performance would compare.

My Edge 705 display is set to show seven data fields (out of a possible on the main page: Lap Split, Heart Rate, Power (3s running average), Cadence, Speed, Distance, and Energy (Kilojoules). I use the 3s average because typically power data sampled at higher rates is not steady enough to follow. The Edge 705 also has an option for 10 second averaging, which gives an even better idea of the steady state wattage you’re pushing.  The Energy setting is really nice to look at instead of distance as a measure of how hard I have worked. A Kilojoule (KJ) is power multiplied by time. So if you push one thousand watts (kilowatt) for one second, you’ll produce 1KJ of energy. Or – if you’re human – you may produce a KJ by pedaling 125 watts for 8 seconds, or 200 watts for 5 seconds… you get the idea. To help you conceptualize, a kilowatt hour – like the ones you pay for every month on your electricity bill – is equal to 3,600 Kilojoules. In my three-hour, 55 mile ride on Saturday I produced just under 2,000 KJ (connecting your trainer to a power generator will not save you much money). A few weeks ago, however, I rode three hours and covered only 50 miles of pavement, but produced 2500 KJ of energy because the terrain was significantly more difficult, the weather was worse, and somehow the downhill sections still required pedaling.

Back to my first impressions of the SRM powermeter.  Without a calibrated ergometer to test both powermeters side-by-side, I can’t make a claim for which is more accurate, but judging by how they perform during rides on a computrainer, both seem to provide data precise enough for me to rely on it during my training and racing. The big difference between my two units is the quality of the crank that the powermeter is mounted to. The Shimano Dura-Ace cranks and chain-rings of my SRM are much higher quality than the FSA Team cranks on my early-issue Quarq CinQo. Quarq now sells their product on more reliable crank systems (from SRAM, Specialized, even Rotor). Otherwise, I can’t tell a performance difference – they both work very well.

To learn more about viewing Power data on your Edge 705, check out this video from Garmin’s online learning center.

As Jake and I both near the “heavy load” weeks of marathon training, we occasionally trade stories of training trials and tribulations. Once in awhile there’s a triumph, but sometimes the good stories are as simple as “I made it 12 miles before my knee totally locked up” or “I logged a 50-mile week and only had to ice my foot twice a day!” While I can’t figure out how to make our fitness devices solve some of our woes, I at least use the comments section in Garmin Connect to note how I’m feeling during or after a particular workout. And since history bears repeating, going back and reviewing such notes helps me avoid some pitfalls like overtraining injuries.

My nemesis of late has been the weather. Late last summer, when I was training for a fall marathon and doing 4 a.m. “beat the heat” runs, I had a realization that sent chills up my spine: if I do qualify for Boston, training is going to be … let’s just say somewhere between mind-numbing and insane. And that was before I knew we were in for one of the snowiest, coldest, stinkiest winters on record. I will say such challenges have made me resourceful and maybe even a little more efficient. When my midweek run calls for 12 miles on a Tuesday, I shift into high-gear once I leave work. By the time I’ve picked up kids, delivered them home and changed clothes, I’m way past “warm up” stage and I’m motivated to get out the door and on with the workout.

Earlier this week, Jake told me he needed to log 18 miles on the treadmill. I thought to myself “I’d rather lick the mud from my trail shoes than do 18 on the treadmill.” But I didn’t tell Jake, because I thought he might hold me to one or the other. I didn’t doubt Jake had the fortitude to pull this off — he’s been known to hammer out 21 miles on that lonely race to nowhere. And this time he had a MacGyver-esque solution plan that called for 1 laptop, a couple of speakers, a trashcan and an inspiring movie. His get-up even provided entertainment for folks working out nearby in our TV-free fitness room. Got a boredom-buster or other fix that’s helped you survive setbacks or other insanities of training? We want to hear your comments.  

The answer is a resounding YES — Garmin Connect loves Mac and PC users equally. This is true whether your device supports wireless uploads (such as Forerunner 310XT, Forerunner 405 or FR60) or uses a USB connection (Edge series, outdoor handhelds and Forerunner 205/305 models). For wireless devices, you’ll need the Mac version of Garmin ANT Agent. For USB devices, download the Mac version of Garmin Communicator Plug-in. Happy data logging to all of our Mac users out there!

Garmin bloggers Peg and Jake team up on more tales from the trails:

PEG: After two months of snow, ice and otherwise unfriendly running conditions, who wouldn’t be game for more of the same at a trail race promising “rocky, rooty, hilly bridle trails and single-track trails”? It had been two years since Jake and I did Psycho Wyco, put on by the KC Trail Nerds, and it was high time for a second run at it.

JAKE: Technically, it was our third run at it, because we did sneak out there in December for a practice session. I’d like to think that we were following in the footsteps of elite distance runners like Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor, who recon a course before they race it, but it’s hard to do thorough research when you’re laughing and talking the whole time – while trying not to slip and fall. Yet it must have done some good, because our December loop seemed shorter and easier than it did two years ago, so logic would suggest that race day would be a breeze. A very stiff, cold breeze. 

PEG: Too bad that cold breeze wasn’t enough to turn the sloshy trail into something more of a solid state. When we hit the bridle trail early in the race, it was already a thick, oatmealy texture due to the 100+ runners who started a little earlier for their 20- or 30-mile jaunt. Since we’d started near the back of the pack, Jake and I did our best to weave through runners and hounds early on. After about 20 minutes of dodging bodies, branches and boulders, I was breathless and my Forerunner 405 reminded me that my heart rate was already averaging 155. Looking back to our race in Garmin Connect, it was no wonder that second mile felt worse than mile 20 in a marathon — we’d climbed more than 350 feet.

JAKE: It’s not the 350-foot climb in brownie batter that jarred me – until later – it’s looking at my tracklog on Garmin Connect and seeing how, from the 2.75-mark to the 3.5-mile mark, we actually only progressed 10 feet. That’s why people love (and loathe) trail running – you can run around in circles, tackling ankle-breaking switchbacks, only to come back to the opposite side of the aid station you saw long before. And all of it can get pretty disorienting, which is why it’s nice to know that our Forerunners could lead us back to start – or a warm vehicle – if necessary. But because the KC Trail Nerds marked the path so nicely, I only relied on the GPS in my Forerunner 310XT to track distance, pace, elevation and auto-lapped splits (I guess that’s still asking it to do a lot).

PEG: Lest you label Jake and me members of the Techno Trail Nerd subgroup, let me just say we weren’t alone with our data-logging devices. Check out this photo of the start. It’s as if the race director yelled “ready, set, start your Forerunners …”  Love seeing that many of our fitness devices at races and I’m sure the 30 other Garmin folks racing that day took note as well. We had runners representing many faces of Garmin — from the lone 50kers in our group, engineers Kurt and Jon, to a few from industrial design who perfect the look and feel of our devices to Tom, hardware engineer who makes sure our fitness devices are as rugged as any mud-loving trail nerd would desire. Top participation honors go to Garmin’s product support folks for having several runners there … and a camera to document our clean start.

JAKE: Too bad they weren’t there to catch my dirty finish. While heading out on my own for a precarious finishing kick – speed isn’t smart without traction – I deftly descended a slippery hill and hopped the trickling water at the bottom. I just kept assuming there would be some firm ground for a landing. Instead, a hungry patch of mud swallowed my leg, choked on my shoe and only spit out my socked foot. So there I was, stopped in midstride on one leg, trying to unearth my stuck shoe. When those efforts proved futile, I buried my socked foot in the sludge, freed the shoe (now filled to the brim with mud) and returned it to its proper place on my foot. A quarter-mile of squishy strides later, I crossed the finish line, but not before catching one of the passersby who had wished me well in the quicksand by saying, “At least you have a good story to tell.” As if I’ve ever had a shortage of those.

PEG: Jake promised we’d keep it clean, but blogging integrity must prevail. We finished this race stinky, sloppy and starving. And that was after just one loop. Hats and mud-caked shoes off to the folks who stuck it out for a second or third loop. Read about the first-place finisher in the 50k, who posted a time of 4 hours, 15 minutes. And stay tuned for Jake and Peg’s next excellent adventure. We’re planning to Rock the Parkway right here in KC on March 27. Join us!