Back to Garmin235 for running/bye Nike app

[Long Run Nick]

Well after 450 miles(10 weeks) of running with the AW2 and putting up with the wonkyness of the Nike+ running app my AW watch will become just my smart watch. Between slow downloads, to missing maps, lap pace sometimes and finally today it stopped at my 6.5 mile mark of a steady effort 8 mile tempo run. Just disappeared. Found it after my run in the workout circles. No record of the run on Nike. Well, to be fair, I started the run again and it reflected the last mile and 1/2.
Many of the runs I have run with both my Garmin and the AW2. Have been pretty impressed with wrist HR comparison and distance. AW always a little generous. The touch screen is a pain and not showing lap pace while showing the actual pace which on most running watches is a joke.
The Nike app introduced me to other running apps besides Garmin. Tried Run Gap,Strava and fell in love with Smash Run. Like it so much bought the Pro version($59.00). By signing up I got a free subscription to Pro which I sent to my running daughter(52) who runs Trail ultras- all 105 pounds of her!
I am awaiting the arrival of my Stryd Power Meter running foot pod, which will be accepted by my Pro version of Smash Run.
Thanks for letting me share. Hey, keep running. Nick

 

[PatrickNSF]

Tried Run Gap,Strava and fell in love with Smash Run. Like it so much bought the Pro version($59.00). By signing up I got a free subscription to Pro which I sent to my running daughter(52) who runs Trail ultras- all 105 pounds of her!

Nick, I've been looking at SmashRun also (and Gyroscope for iOS). How do you get the additional free subscription when signing up?

As for running, I go back and forth between my AW and my Garmin. I wish they integrated better because I don't want to run with both. I've had about a 50% success rate with Nike+ runs recording correctly.

 

[Long Run Nick]

Nick, I've been looking at SmashRun also (and Gyroscope for iOS). How do you get the additional free subscription when signing up?

As for running, I go back and forth between my AW and my Garmin. I wish they integrated better because I don't want to run with both. I've had about a 50% success rate with Nike+ runs recording correctly.

When you hit the button to upgrade to Pro they provide the info, you list the person's email and yours. Also they have an area to write a little note. Neat. I think by focusing on Garmin and Smash Run my thirst for data will be quenched. Will delete Strava,Run Gap and Nike+. I had stopped looking at the circles, got rid of the stand up reminders. They are good for folks who need a nudge to get moving, my issue over the years is often moving too much
I wish there were more runners on the forum, but I realize this about the AW. I had hope when members saw a 73 year old fart knocking out 40-50 mile weeks of running they would get the urge to do more than the 30 minute deal. Nick

 

[PatrickNSF]

When you hit the button to upgrade to Pro they provide the info, you list the person's email and yours. Also they have an area to write a little note. Neat. I think by focusing on Garmin and Smash Run my thirst for data will be quenched. Will delete Strava,Run Gap and Nike+. I had stopped looking at the circles, got rid of the stand up reminders. They are good for folks who need a nudge to get moving, my issue over the years is often moving too much
I wish there were more runners on the forum, but I realize this about the AW. I had hope when members saw a 73 year old fart knocking out 40-50 mile weeks of running they would get the urge to do more than the 30 minute deal. Nick

I'm just the opposite with the activity circles. I run 40-60 miles a week, and train for two marathons a year, but I like the activity circles and breathe prompts. I can easily run for 2 hours and then sit straight for 6, which everything I've read seems to indicate is not healthy. Having the prompts to stand and breathe are great for me.

That's part of the reason why I keep trying to make the AW work for my routine runs.

 

[Long Run Nick]

I'm just the opposite with the activity circles. I run 40-60 miles a week, and train for two marathons a year, but I like the activity circles and breathe prompts. I can easily run for 2 hours and then sit straight for 6, which everything I've read seems to indicate is not healthy. Having the prompts to stand and breathe are great for me.

That's part of the reason why I keep trying to make the AW work for my routine runs.

Gotcha. We have a dog and I walk her 3-4x a day as well as being a guy who believes in a body in motion tends to stay in motion. I often meditate when I run and breathing reminders are most of the time part of me.

 

[avkam]

I had my first crash during run today (3.1.1). Watch just went off. This has never happened with OS 3.0-3.1.
AWS2/42mm

 

[xDKP]

I must say for me the Nike effort on the Apple Watch has been a pretty big disappointment - I run with the build in workout app and think that's pretty great - to be able to run with my AW S2 on and nothing more and still be able to hear music and track the run is a massive win for me.

 

[BarracksSi]

Haven't bothered using the Nike app myself very much. It crashed, or just plain quit, a couple times before we got back home, and Apple's own Workout app is enough for me. Guess that's why I still use the AW (and haven't used my Garmin in months).

 

[3lionsbecks]

When you hit the button to upgrade to Pro they provide the info, you list the person's email and yours. Also they have an area to write a little note. Neat. I think by focusing on Garmin and Smash Run my thirst for data will be quenched. Will delete Strava,Run Gap and Nike+. I had stopped looking at the circles, got rid of the stand up reminders. They are good for folks who need a nudge to get moving, my issue over the years is often moving too much
I wish there were more runners on the forum, but I realize this about the AW. I had hope when members saw a 73 year old fart knocking out 40-50 mile weeks of running they would get the urge to do more than the 30 minute deal. Nick

To be fair, for most runners the features of the Nike app or exercise app is more than enough. All I need is over all distance and pace. KM splits are nice as well which are also given in the app. Heart rate is a bonus but I never cared much about it.

Even when I trained for Boston that is all I used. Unless you are an elite runner you really don't need anything more.

Speed workouts are easily done with time and pace.

I'm not sure what more you really need.

 

[PatrickNSF]

I'm not sure what more you really need.

1. Lap pace and/or average pace instead of the inaccurate current pace.
2. Pause using buttons.
3. Screen lock.

Otherwise, it works for most of my runs.

 

[3lionsbecks]

1. Lap pace and/or average pace instead of the inaccurate current pace.
2. Pause using buttons.
3. Screen lock.

Fair enough but figuring out average pace is extremely easy since she gives you an update each KM. So the math is pretty simple. But I agree for some they may want that. (You can also tell your pace just by paying attention to your distance and time.... what did they ever do before smart watches were invented!)

You can pause by swiping the screen. It's really not an issue

You can lock the screen by pressing the water symbol *edit: you can't do this directly from the Nike app so that doesn't work to lock out the screen. My mistake

 

[PatrickNSF]

Fair enough but figuring out average pace is extremely easy since she gives you an update each KM. So the math is pretty simple. But I agree for some they may want that. (You can also tell your pace just by paying attention to your distance and time.... what did they ever do before smart watches were invented!)

You can pause by swiping the screen. It's really not an issue

You can lock the screen by pressing the water symbol

Agree about calculating pace, but there's no excuse not to have it appear on the watch while running. Even your most basic watches do this.

Disagree about pausing by swiping the screen. Although it's possible, it's extremely difficult to do with sweaty fingers, or running in the rain.

Although you can lock the screen while using Apple's Workout app, I haven't found a way to do this while using the Nike (or other apps). I don't think the main control panel is available in most apps.

 

[BarracksSi]

You can pause the Workout app with both buttons. The Nike app doesn't support this?

 

[3lionsbecks]

Agree about calculating pace, but there's no excuse not to have it appear on the watch while running. Even your most basic watches do this.

Disagree about pausing by swiping the screen. Although it's possible, it's extremely difficult to do with sweaty fingers, or running in the rain.

Although you can lock the screen while using Apple's Workout app, I haven't found a way to do this while using the Nike (or other apps). I don't think the main control panel is available in most apps.

I agree that you can't swipe up to bring up the main control panel in the Nike app. I assumed you could but I was wrong

 

[Bob190]

I agree that you can't swipe up to bring up the main control panel in the Nike app. I assumed you could but I was wrong

You can pause the Nike Run Club app by double tapping the screen. Works great every time for me. It then brings up the screen where you can end the run or resume the run. It really doesn't matter if your hands are sweaty when you double tap the screen. You can also use auto-pause.

Also, you can get voice updates as frequently as every 1/4 mile so it is pretty easy as others have said to do that math on your pace for the split.

I have done over 30 runs with the Series 2 watch (without phone) and the NRC and never had a crash or any other issue. I have been able to sync all but one of my runs to Strava via RunGap.

Personally, no other app for the Series 2 is anywhere near as integrated into the OS as the NRC app. Plus Nike does a good job post-processing the run to get rid of noise on both the GPS track and the HR data.

Maybe I am the exception, but I think it works pretty well, and I know from my interaction with Nike Support, that some additional enhancements are on the way.

 

[gsucyclist]

I would use the Nike+ app if they would let me customize the info I see on the screen like you can on the Workout app. I don't want to see my pace as that is really no use to me because it fluctuates way to much. I want to be able to view my average pace per mile while I'm running and not at the end of the mile and not the average pace overall

 

[PatrickNSF]

You can pause the Nike Run Club app by double tapping the screen. Works great every time for me. It then brings up the screen where you can end the run or resume the run. It really doesn't matter if your hands are sweaty when you double tap the screen. You can also use auto-pause.

Also, you can get voice updates as frequently as every 1/4 mile so it is pretty easy as others have said to do that math on your pace for the split.

I have done over 30 runs with the Series 2 watch (without phone) and the NRC and never had a crash or any other issue. I have been able to sync all but one of my runs to Strava via RunGap.

Personally, no other app for the Series 2 is anywhere near as integrated into the OS as the NRC app. Plus Nike does a good job post-processing the run to get rid of noise on both the GPS track and the HR data.

Maybe I am the exception, but I think it works pretty well, and I know from my interaction with Nike Support, that some additional enhancements are on the way.

Double tapping is a good tip. Thanks for pointing that out. It didn't work for me running in the light rain today, but I can see it being useful otherwise. I still think an option to lock the screen is necessary. I had long sleeves on today and the screen swiped to the stop/pause screen twice. And I've had two workouts end early this way.

I also lost my GPS route today somewhere between the run syncing from the watch (recorded without the phone) to the phone. It was strange because I took note of the distance and route on the watch before saving it, but it got lost when the run made it to the phone. All of the other data was intact, including the distance and average pace.

Despite finding areas where the Nike+ experience needs to be improved, I still believe it has potential. I'd also consider the Strava update when it's released next year. I'm still holding onto my Garmin, but would love to be able to simplify and move solely to the Apple Watch.

 

[PatrickNSF]

Nike+ app updated this evening –
https://9to5mac.com/2016/12/15/nike-run-club-iphone-app-update-apple-watch/

 

[Long Run Nick]

Nike+ app updated this evening –
https://9to5mac.com/2016/12/15/nike-run-club-iphone-app-update-apple-watch/

Let us know your thoughts on the "improvements". I noted the missing maps in Run history showed up. The run I "lost" on Wednesday is still lost.
My Stryd Power Running foot pod ships today. That reinforces my return to Garmin because there is an IQ app and data field that will show power numbers on my watch as I run.
I was an early adopter to HR metrics back when there were a lot of skeptics. Will see if power stuff works for me.
Hope you have checked out Smash Run. Nick

 

[PatrickNSF]

Let us know your thoughts on the "improvements". I noted the missing maps in Run history showed up. The run I "lost" on Wednesday is still lost.
My Stryd Power Running foot pod ships today. That reinforces my return to Garmin because there is an IQ app and data field that will show power numbers on my watch as I run.
I was an early adopter to HR metrics back when there were a lot of skeptics. Will see if power stuff works for me.
Hope you have checked out Smash Run. Nick

I have my long run today, so I'm planning to test it out. I've also been running this week with my Garmin (sans strap) in my running belt as a backup. I have Nike+ syncing to SmashRun, but I'm still evaluating it. It's a little "busy" for me, but has potential.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of Stryd pods.

 

[Phil A.]

I got myself a Garmin 235 last week after one too many failures of apps on my watch (I tried loads of them and they were unreliable). I don't like using the built in app as it traps your data and doesn't provide enough info: in only a casual runner (I run between 3 and 5km a day with the odd 10k thrown in), so don't need loads of data but I really enjoy seeing all the graphs, stats, etc and will spend ages analysing data from my runs to see where I can improve.

When I got the Garmin I intended to just use it when running but in the last week, it hasn't been off my wrist and my Apple Watch hasn't been on it - the notifications work well enough for me and I am loving the amount of activity and sleep data (and how it's presented on the connect site)

 

[Long Run Nick]

I have been running with Garmin watches since their first one- the 101. Have had my 235 for 13 months with over 2,500 miles running. I think it has worked best for me than previous models, too many to mention. I really like my AW2 Nike as a smart watch, not as a go to running watch. Nick

 

[MBHockey]

Can the 235 store music for playback over bluetooth earbuds? Honestly, it seems to be the one feature the AW has over better-suited running watches that is preventing me from making the jump. I'm tired of the poor Runkeeper experience on the AW S2, and the built-in Workout app is still laughably limited.

 

[Phil A.]

Can the 235 store music for playback over bluetooth earbuds? Honestly, it seems to be the one feature the AW has over better-suited running watches that is preventing me from making the jump. I'm tired of the poor Runkeeper experience on the AW S2, and the built-in Workout app is still laughably limited.

No, it doesn't - it doesn't bother me as I always take my phone with me but I can understand it could be an issue for those who prefer not to.

I believe Tom-Tom do a running watch that will store music but I have no idea how good it is as a running watch.

I guess you could always get an iPod nano to carry your music and there are also some Bluetooth headphones with music storage built in but it gets a bit expensive that way

 

[3lionsbecks]

No, it doesn't - it doesn't bother me as I always take my phone with me but I can understand it could be an issue for those who prefer not to.

I believe Tom-Tom do a running watch that will store music but I have no idea how good it is as a running watch.

I guess you could always get an iPod nano to carry your music and there are also some Bluetooth headphones with music storage built in but it gets a bit expensive that way

How the heck could you carry an iPhone with you on a run. That's crazy they are huge.

I used to take a shuffle with me but I hated the cords so much. I also used a Garmin 205 up until my Apple Watch. The 205 was more than enough for running or cycling.