41 days of using Stryd. I have been curious in the first 30 days and has explored all functions on the Powercentre App, online browser and device. Today, I will share 3 things that I've explored that has enhanced my user experiences and it may be new to you as a user like me. If you missed the Unboxing and Setup, you can read it here.
Tips 1: You can reschedule your workout plan
We are all busy with our live and has different priorities. Some unplanned races or just because you felt like to delay or bring forward some section of the planned running. This happened to me as I needed to run a longer distance last week to clock in a Virtual Race (Ironman Triathlon), which I swapped with a run from the next workout. Here is how you can do it.
On your Powercentre App on phone (it's easier to do it from phone), scroll to the dates you want to reschedule. In my case, I want to swap the Saturday Oct 23 Day 5 Easy with Sunday Oct 24 Day 6 Long Run. Select the workout you want to reschedule. In my case, Day 6.
Next, click on the three dots and you see a whole list of options. You can see the Reschedule option. Click on it. (photo showed Day 5, but I actually did on Day 6, no differences if you choose to do on either one, just do not delete them)
It will bring you to the Calendar. You see that I did this (highlighted) on October 22. I choose to move Day 6 (Oct 24) To October 23.
Once you managed to do it, the rescheduled workout will show up in the day you choose. In this case, Oct 23. the Day 5 (original) still stays there, and next you need to repeat the process to move it to your next favored date. In my case, i swapped both days.
Once successfully repeating it on both, you get your new Schedule. You can of course rename the workout by repeating the three-dots>edit
Tips 2: You can change your training duration and/or distance (and many other things)
As my intent of swapping these two runs was so I could run a 10km on Saturday Oct 23. However, the default workout stated a 40mins long run (long by a 5km plan standard). You can change the distance by clicking on the three-dots and choose edit. You will come to this page, and scroll down to find another "edit" option.
You will get another sub-menu/options where you can further customise your workout. In my case, maintaining to the intend and purpose - to change the distance to 10km. Click on the Distance (8.14km, auto calculated based on Stryd algorithm)
Clicking on Distance will show you these option. Distance and Duration. Select Distance and adjust to the distance you need/want. This includes the units of measurement. I keep to Metric (thank you), and as I am not running on track, choosing KM is correct (aka choose meter or m if you are running around a 400m track)
You can ignore or leave the duration untouched, and press save.
The final edit will show the Day 5: Long Run to be 10km. Note that I've not change the Day 5:Easy (original) to Day 6: Easy. Yes, some work to be done, but this is also part of the experience of using a new device to learn and master the function and capabilities.
Then you go to your Device, in this case my Fenix 6 ProSolar, and sync it on the Stryd App. My Day 5: Long Run will show up, and the distance is marked as 10.00
Yes, there are some bugs on the user interface of the distance, as it's noted as "duration". It has no impact on the outcome of the run workout.
Tips 3: You can make Stryd the (full) default Pace and Distance recorder, even in GPS mode.
Admit it, this is actually one of the reason you wanted a Stryd, right? So you can get accurate distance, pace from your run. I've been running with the Stryd having the reported distance and pace based from the Satellite my Garmin reports. It is accurate. Any inaccuracies is really due to other factors which we can't control (like heavy cloud, buildings, under the shade of roof or trees). So when Khairul Munir (one of my go to person for all things running) mentioned you can actually make Stryd the default Pace and Distance recorder, with or without GPS (without = indoor on treadmill), I had a light-bulb moment. How come I did not think of it???
Here is how. First, go to your device and scroll to your Sensor.
Then search for the Stryd unit. In this case, it is noted as FP-7071 (ANT+) and FP-Stryd (BLE). Typically on the device, it will link on ANT+ (at least for me, all the time).
Next scroll down and you will find "Speed" and "Distance" in the option. Click on Speed
And you get three options - Off, Indoor and Always. By default, it is set to Indoor (aka indoor no GPS signals). Select ALWAYS.
Repeat it for the Distance, and for good luck, repeat the whole process for FP-Stryd as well!
As long as you set all to ALWAYS, the Stryd will then take over all distance and pace reporting to your device. Now, the curiousity in you will be asking - what is Cal. Factor. Well, it is the calibration factor when the unit leaves the factory. I suggest you do not do anything to this, as Stryd is already accurate out of the box. If you you choose to do it, the process to "recalibrate" Stryd is pretty complex and involve quite a process and access to a 400m certified track... Leave.It.Alone.
I hope the above 3-things help you enjoy your devices more. Stay tuned for more tips, as I become more familiar with the device and it's capabilities, it's shortcoming and even if this will really help you to improve.
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OK. Now we are done with the 3-things you can do, are you ready to go down the rabbit hole with me if the last tip (Always On) is worth your trouble?
Is there really a big differences???
If you ever wondered how this impacted your running distances pre-Stryd, wonder no more as I am here to help debunk any myth, if any. As I upload all my runs to Strava, and we all know Strava has the ability to "correct distance and elevation" based on map, I will demonstrate this on both pre-Stryd and post-Stryd, and post-Always-Stryd (aka set the Stryd to default the pace and distance lah). Also, bear in mind the distances and coverage below is in the same loop (where I stay) in the same running direction (counter clockwise), at noon (rain or shine).
First, here is how you can access this Strava feature. It is free. At your activity page in Strava, click on the three-dots at the bottom, next to the Edit (pen/pencil) button. This also work on App, but I prefer on Desktop as I can also correct the elevation.
You can see all the other options you can do on Strava Desktop magic Three-Dots button. When you click on the Correct Distance (or Elevation), you get a prompt that looked like this.
The overriding of the GPS distance from Strava I believe is based on the map elevation that Strava contains. So, it is also only as accurate (with correction to your path, in case of GPS drift) as what the base data the device report. So, rule of thumb... only do this if you believe your GPS drift can be corrected on Strava and it be meaningful for you. Keyword: meaningful. Do not worry if you decided it was a bad idea after pressing the Correct Distance (or elevation), you can revert.
First, the pre-Stryd distance uncorrected (6.03), and corrected (6.11). The differences is 0.08/6.11 = 1.31%.
Next post-Stryd. Uncorrected 6.03 and corrected 6.07. The differences is 0.04/6.07 = 0.66%. Wow. Almost half of 1.3% pre-Stryd!
Lastly, today's run, uncorrected 5.0, corrected 5.04km. The differences is 0.04/5.04 = 0.79%. A mere 0.1% differences when compared.
Of course the accurate comparison would be against a 6km total..so.... I took the 1.51 (uncorrected) distance i ran before the 5km, which was corrected to 1.52. So a total of 5.0+1.51 = 6.51 uncorrected to a 5.04+1.52 = 6.56. So, the differences is 0.05/6.56 = 0.76%. Still differences of 0.1% - highly acceptable.
In a quick conclusion, pre-Stryd and post-Stryd distance has differences, but is the 1.3% based on one data point. Very small and almost not significant especially when we are running outdoor with all the other factors that will impact it. I would not be worried about the elevation as well - as barometric pressure and accuracy differs from device to device. Unless the distance reported by the device/s and the elevation is significant in magnitude, I say just go and enjoy the run and cycle - life is too short to worry if you could PB a segment just because the distance is longer/shorter by 0.04km or by 4m as an amateur athlete or as a beginner.
Then, the differences post-Stryd and post-ALWAYS-Stryd is minimal and doesn't impact the overall outcome of your run. Obviously with more data points and distances, this will mean less of an important metric to be concerned about - and if you are really hard up about running the accurate distance down to the 0.01km, perhaps what we need is a metal measuring tape that is also certified to be accurate - that could actually be cheaper than having a Garmin and Stryd combined together. 😉
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