Course planner feature suggestion

DrSilverthorn

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.

mich heller

@DrSilverthorn
time predictions would be very useful - second that

a propos notes for course points - this is already available, at least in Suunto mobile app. you can specify type of point, add name and custom description. it’s missing in web planner iirc

Horizontal_2

@DrSilverthorn There are some ways to experiment. What I do:

I import the race gpx-file
I add waypoints on the route where there is something important.
in the title I say something like for an aid station “church - 1300 - Warm food”
I make a custom sports mode where I designate one datafield for ETA of next route point.

That way I’ll see it during the race. I’m not sure how many characters the title may be to be shown on your watch. There are some effects you don’t want:

If they change the route due to heavy weather, you have to work out aid stations again.
the hill guide change when you zoom in. Instead of showing only one climb, it shows the route till the next waypoint.
If you use the description, it won’t be shown on your watch.

I haven’t test this during a race yet, only in training. Hope to test this in may

DrSilverthorn

@mich-heller yes, the problem is that the description isn’t visible on the watch.

DrSilverthorn

@Horizontal_2 I don’t see any characters for the title of the waypoint on my watch (Vertical 2). So maybe Suunto needs to expose this in a data field. And create another one with the predicted time. They would still need to add the time limit metadata for the waypoint though.

mich heller

@DrSilverthorn weird. i used description field for detailed instructions for where the trail goes and i’m pretty sure i saw them during run

Horizontal_2

@mich-heller you did? Weird. Couldn’t get that right. I’ll try again.

Does is pop up or do you see the description elsewhere?

mich heller

@Horizontal_2
AFAIR description was visible only on notification about approaching waypoint

sky-runner

@DrSilverthorn I thought of an interesting way Suunto could show details of an upcoming waypoint without having drastic changes in the watch UI or having to have an additional data screen.

With Climb Guidance v2, the function of the elevation profile already includes showing upcoming waypoints. There are already multiple levels of zoom:

the entire route
up to 3 upcoming waypoints
up to 2 upcoming waypoints
up to the upcoming waypoint

For the reference here is the picture of what I am describing:
alt text

Imagine if there was an additional “zoom level” that “zooms” into the upcoming waypoint alone - without the profile but with all the details - the name, the description, remaining distance, and potentially ETA/ETE, etc

Also, speaking about the climb guidance v2 screen above, as was discussed in https://forum.suunto.com/topic/13601/climb-guidance-2.0-issue-not-all-zoom-levels-are-available-at-the-end-of-the-route-see-picture, it would be great to accompany the distance shown there with the waypoint name that corresponds to that distance. That way, by zooming in and out it would be easy to review multiple upcoming waypoints with distances to them.

DrSilverthorn

@sky-runner this could work. Maybe the degree to which you prefer one solution vs another is tied to how obsessively you’re watching the info I think I’d prefer the configurability of a data field option, which would probably involve fewer button presses.

@mich-heller now that you mention this, I may have seen it flash up on the screen. But it was very quick and easy to miss.