Course planner feature suggestion
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Some of you are probably aware of Garmin’s new course planner feature. Prior to this, there were some connect IQ apps which did something similar. I used one of them, and I’ve attempted to use the S+ Race Companion app for the same type of thing, but it really doesn’t have the functionality that would make it useful for me.
The course planner feature (https://www.garmin.com/en-US/garmin-technology/maps-for-smartwatches/course-planner/) is essentially a tool to help manage time during long events/excursions. It has the following functions:
- Notes for course points (i.e. additional text metadata added to waypoints in Suunto parlance)
- Ways to assess whether you will get to a particular course point at a specific time
- It may have more than this, but I can’t try it out, so I don’t know exactly.
One issue with the S+ race notes app is that the notes are not tied to a waypoint, rather they’re tied to distance, and sometimes the two are not the same. For example, you may deviate from the planned course, and then the two are not in sync.
I think at a minimum, Suunto could add a datafield that shows a time prediction relative to the desired arrival time at the next waypoint (where the waypoint would correspond to an aid station). Taking the example of an ultramarathon, you would enter a time cutoff in the metadata for a waypoint. The datafield would then show the time delta which would be the difference between your predicted arrival time and the cutoff time for the next aid station. I realize the prediction might be a bit noisy, since there are many factors that would influence the prediction (including the window over which speed is averaged and terrain)
Barring that, a S+ app would also be a reasonable solution - I’m not sure which would be the ‘best’ solution. If an app, it should show time delta as discussed above and notes, at least for the next waypoint or aid station. I think Garmin’s implementation, with reminders, rest breaks and such is maybe a bit more than you need.
