@elbee said in Track Mode:
It’s probably the track isn’t an official athletics track. Trackmode doesn’t make gps more accurate. It just snaps you gpx to what it thinks is the track.
Yeah, understood. I don’t know the precise dimensions of the track. I know that the IAAF permits three non-standard dimensions, including double-bend 400 meter tracks.
I believe (but don’t know for certain) that this track is a double-bend with a 97.256 meter straightaway and inner curves of 102.744 meters. This is the common alternative for tracks that enclose an American football field.
I don’t understand the need for trackmode. I do tracktraining every week at my athletics club. We usually do interval training with intervals between 200 and 800 meters. There are marks all over the track, so knowing the distance is easy. Also, there are tables with times you have to run for each interval, depending on your 5k or 10k time. All you really need is a stopwatch.
If the athlete is using GPS for pace and distance, then the advantage of track mode is getting precise measurements without the GPS wiggle. If your coach assigns 25×400m reps at a specific pace, track mode ensures the recorded pace accurately reflects the execution.
With that said, if you are using a foot pod rather than GPS for pace and distance, such as Stryd, then track mode is unnecessary as the pace and distance will be accurate from the foot pod’s calibration. The GPS track in that case is just a breadcrumb of where you were, but isn’t part of the pace/distance calculation.
Regardless, having the right dimension helps the coach know if you started your kick on the bend (as in the case of 400 meter tracks with 84.39 meter straights) or if you started on the straight. This might be valuable information to have if the track is outdoors and it’s windy.
Sure, it’s nice to have your training recorded and some people might be annoyed if their interval is reported as 420m iso 400. But for your traning is doesn’t make any difference. And even the snap to lane 1 isn’t right. There are other people training or you run in a pack and you cannot always be in the inner lane.
Many days when doing reps on the the track, I’m alone. Usually when I run with a club, it’s long runs on the weekend, not track sessions in the morning/evening (although I know they exist).
