Lap Splits on the Track

subscriber

Today was the first time I did a track session by myself as usually I go with my club and therefore the session is coached and also laps paced by the more experienced runners in the group.

Now what I realised today was that I don`t know how to use my garmin to to give me lap splits.. Let me explain.

I did my first lap today in 1.25 and hit the lap button, the watch calls out "Lap 1, 1.25sec", the timer continues to run while I take 60 secs rest before beginning my second lap in 1.25, again I hit the Lap button and it calls out "Lap 2, 3.50 secs" so on , so forth as I do my laps.... But what I realise after 4 or 5 laps that I have lost count of the timer between the rest period and the interval/lap times.

Is there a better method for getting lap splits without this mess? Setting up an Interval advanced workout maybe??

conavitzky

Stop the watch at end of interval and reset on recovery. Start again at next interval. Count recovery time in your head. Thats what I do anyways.

BeepBeep67

What Garmin do you have?

subscriber

305 BeepBeep

pconn062

Simple, just use a stopwatch, you don't need a garmin on a track, that's the beauty of it. Record lap time with stopwatch, reset, time recovery, reset, time next lap.

ronnie085

I might not be understanding the question right, but if you set one of the screens to 'lap time' all you'll see is the time since you last pressed the lap button

Krusty_Clown

ronnie085 wrote: »

I might not be understanding the question right, but if you set one of the screens to 'lap time' all you'll see is the time since you last pressed the lap button

Yep, that's what I do. Set one field to Time - Lap, and just hit the lap button at the start and end of every split. It also means your stats are accurately recorded for posterity (though the distance/pace fields will be meaningless). You could create an advanced workout, but to be honest, it's over-complicating the situation. It means you are using your Garmin as a very expensive stop-watch, but why re-invent something that works perfectly?

On the subject of counting how many reps you've done, I always lose count too. Drop a pebble for each rep or something.

Gringo78

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yep, that's what I do. Set one field to Time - Lap, and just hit the lap button at the start and end of every split. It also means your stats are accurately recorded for posterity (though the distance/pace fields will be meaningless). You could create an advanced workout, but to be honest, it's over-complicating the situation. It means you are using your Garmin as a very expensive stop-watch, but why re-invent something that works perfectly?

On the subject of counting how many reps you've done, I always lose count too. Drop a pebble for each rep or something.

I also set a field to Lap - Average pace which is handy for pacing the lap correctly.

As regards counting laps - I turn off autolap, I reset the 305 so that the first fast lap I do will be Lap 1. When you hit the lap button after completing the recovery it will show Lap 2,4,6,8 etc - the number of fast laps you have already completed is thus the number displayed divided by 2. I always find its easier to do the maths at the end of the recovery lap rather than the end of the fast lap! Sometimes even dividing by 2 can be difficult after 400m eyeballs out.

tunguska

pconn062 wrote: »

Simple, just use a stopwatch, you don't need a garmin on a track, that's the beauty of it. Record lap time with stopwatch, reset, time recovery, reset, time next lap.

Theres no need for a garmin on the track, I found that its counter productive. The distances are way off. If You do a mile then the garmin will beep long before you have done an actual mile on the track. So you'll end up thinking you're going faster than you are in reality. And it loses some distance every 400m.
Best bet is to get into lane 1 and use a plain old stop watch.

clear thinking

I use a cheap casio, reps x cycle gives total time of the session so that way you get the right number of reps in - eg 16*400 in a 2 minute cycle in 32 minutes

I found with the garmin that stop /start is good for checking your performance afterwards, but a bit of a pain during the session.

So for lap times i usually add up the variable around 80, eg 78 =-2, 81 = +1, its a good way to stay focused and consistent but took a bit of practise.

menoscemo

I use the garmin but use it as a stopwatch for track sessions.

Set the time field to 'time-lap' That way after each lap the time field goes back to 0. Simply press 'start' at the start and end of the session. Press 'lap' at the end of each rep and the start of each new one.

Since time goes back to zero at the end of each new 'lap' you can measure your rest time accurately and also pace yourself off the 100m/200m lines etc.

Ignore pace and distance. As has been said on a track the garmin might measuer each lap anywhere between 0.22 and 0.28 miles. garmins don't do well on bends.

subscriber

Thanks Lads,

Ill experiment with the "time lap" field on the Garmin later this week.. If its not working out ill resort to a simple stopwatch.

subscriber

Just to add another question as well.. How would most of you approach interval workouts on the road, with an advanced interval workout id imagine??

So for example, 10 min WP, and then 5 x 1km @ 5km Race Pace with 2mins recovery between each, and 10min CD. Advanced interval workout best way to go??

ASIMON0V

subscriber wrote: »

Just to add another question as well.. How would most of you approach interval workouts on the road, with an advanced interval workout id imagine??

So for example, 10 min WP, and then 5 x 1km @ 5km Race Pace with 2mins recovery between each, and 10min CD. Advanced interval workout best way to go??

i don't thing so; the most simple way is to have two fields displayed - lap pace and lap time - and lap your way through the workout.

Krusty_Clown

subscriber wrote: »

Just to add another question as well.. How would most of you approach interval workouts on the road,with an advanced interval workout id imagine??

So for example, 10 min WP, and then 5 x 1km @ 5km Race Pace with 2mins recovery between each, and 10min CD. Advanced interval workout best way to go??

Personally, I'd go with the advanced workout in this instance. I'd create it in Garmin Connect or training centre and transfer it over. Associate a pace with the intervals to track wether you need to speed up or slow down.

ASIMON0V

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Personally, I'd go with the advanced workout in this instance. I'd create it in Garmin Connect or training centre and transfer it over. Associate a pace with the intervals to track wether you need to speed up or slow down.

Might that not just over complicate things? You know your pace, you know your intervals and recoveries. Less chance of things going wrong?

Krusty_Clown

ASIMON0V wrote: »

Might that not just over complicate things? You know your pace, you know your intervals and recoveries. Less chance of things going wrong?

If you're not used to it, then yes, there's a chance that things can wrong. With a bit of practice though, it's a very simple process and with some types of workouts (e.g. Jack Daniels) it can greatly simplify things as you don't need to keep count of reps, or remember what pace you are supposed to be running a particular segment at. Everyone is built differently though. During a tough workout, I struggle to count to 10 (reps) while others are probably painfully aware of how many reps they have completed. Some folks might not like being instructed what to do by their watches. I surrender to the machines..

ASIMON0V

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

If you're not used to it, then yes, there's a chance that things can wrong. With a bit of practice though, it's a very simple process and with some types of workouts (e.g. Jack Daniels) it can greatly simplify things as you don't need to keep count of reps, or remember what pace you are supposed to be running a particular segment at. Everyone is built differently though. During a tough workout, I struggle to count to 10 (reps) while others are probably painfully aware of how many reps they have completed. Some folks might not like being instructed what to do by their watches. I surrender to the machines..

Oh sh1t - I've just realised I'm a Luddite. I just move my wedding ring from finger to finger to count reps - like an abacus.

subscriber

Not so bad, went out for a short interval session last night just to test the meathod.

I set two fields, one for pace and the other for time-lap, i also had the watch set to auto alarm for every km rep but this was more of a backround setting rather than a field view.

Worked perfectly imo and very easy to follow.

Started with a 10 min WU, a hit the lap button, and began first rep @4min/km before hitting lap button again to take 2 mins rest and repeat, anyway workout went like a charm and every time i hit the lap button the timer reset to zero. Very easy to keep tract of everything i felt. Just counted repts in my head..

May need to adapt to another meathod when running on the tract and covering more reps.

Krusty_Clown

subscriber wrote: »

May need to adapt to another meathod when running on the tract and covering more reps.

Running on the track is the same principle; just disregard lap pace. Yesterday I was doing 1k reps in 3:20 (so that's 1:20 per lap, and 40 seconds per 200m). So every 200m you can check your time against where you should be and adjust as necessary. At the end of each interval or recovery, hit the lap button. Easy-peesey.

The numbers aren't always as perfectly rounded, so in those instances (or where I'm doing a 20 minute tempo session) I'll write/print out the splits on a piece of paper.