News One of Garmin's oldest metrics needs a serious revamp

[AC News]

Garmin watches can tell you so much about how fast and fit you are. Now, imagine it could tell you exactly when your body gets too tired to keep running. That's exactly what Garmin's "Performance Condition" metric SHOULD do, but it doesn't.

One of Garmin's oldest metrics needs a serious revamp : Read more

 

[The1Metallian]

I have the Venu 2 and all its metrics are ****. What can they reliably tell me how fast and fit I am?

I can die if, to make it all more aggravating, I have some BS metric pop up on the screen in the middle of a run!
For starters, the HR monitor is extremely inaccurate so how can the watch tell me anything reliable? My watch sometimes tells me that my HR reached 180 during easy runs, it tells me to relax because I'm stressed when I'm not, it doesn't tell me to relax when I'm on the verge of smashing everything around me, it congratulates me for reaching my stairs goal when I'm driving, on my last half marathon it was measuring each mile short, so in the end it counted a full minute short of me actually crossing the 13.1 marker.

I've been craving a Forerunner 965 but I wonder if I should. What are the advantages? Terrible metrics to tell me that I'm tired?

How about we trust how we feel, to knowhow we are performing?

 

[MaryAZ70]

I have the Venu 2 and all its metrics are ****. What can they reliably tell me how fast and fit I am?

I can die if, to make it all more aggravating, I have some BS metric pop up on the screen in the middle of a run!
For starters, the HR monitor is extremely inaccurate so how can the watch tell me anything reliable? My watch sometimes tells me that my HR reached 180 during easy runs, it tells me to relax because I'm stressed when I'm not, it doesn't tell me to relax when I'm on the verge of smashing everything around me, it congratulates me for reaching my stairs goal when I'm driving, on my last half marathon it was measuring each mile short, so in the end it counted a full minute short of me actually crossing the 13.1 marker.

I've been craving a Forerunner 965 but I wonder if I should. What are the advantages? Terrible metrics to tell me that I'm tired?

How about we trust how we feel, to knowhow we are performing?

Sounds like you got a defective watch - definitely return that one.

 

[Michael L Hicks]

I have the Venu 2 and all its metrics are ****. What can they reliably tell me how fast and fit I am?

I can die if, to make it all more aggravating, I have some BS metric pop up on the screen in the middle of a run!
For starters, the HR monitor is extremely inaccurate so how can the watch tell me anything reliable? My watch sometimes tells me that my HR reached 180 during easy runs, it tells me to relax because I'm stressed when I'm not, it doesn't tell me to relax when I'm on the verge of smashing everything around me, it congratulates me for reaching my stairs goal when I'm driving, on my last half marathon it was measuring each mile short, so in the end it counted a full minute short of me actually crossing the 13.1 marker.

I've been craving a Forerunner 965 but I wonder if I should. What are the advantages? Terrible metrics to tell me that I'm tired?

How about we trust how we feel, to knowhow we are performing?

So I do wonder if the heart rate issue is because of a defective model, but I can speak to some of the other stuff. I personally have experienced the same "are you stressed" message whenever I'm out in the world, and it does seem a little over-sensitive and annoying. I've been meaning to disable it on mine.
As for measuring short, this is actually fairly common for races because the measured distance only matches if you're cutting every corner, I usually finish half marathons at 13.2 or 13.3 miles regardless of the brand. If you get a new Garmin with dual-frequency that could help though (Venu 2 is GPS only).
The good thing about the Forerunner 965 is that it tells you what kind of run you should be doing, balancing between casual low-HR runs, high aerobic runs, and anaerobic runs. If you keep a balanced training load, it'll help you improve, I've gone from 46 to 49.6 VO2 Max in the last four months or so. But if you're not interested in following a training plan and just want something to track your running metrics, you could probably find something more affordable, Garmin or otherwise. You could also invest in a HR arm strap to give you better data than your watch!