Stop outdoor run at distance??

[Julien]

It is actually VERY simple to understand. When you put in distance or calories you are setting a goal and not an absolute stoping point. If you set your goal at 5 miles and you run 5.5 miles then you hit 110% of your goal (a GREAT motivator). If you only make 4.5 miles then you only got 90% (another motivator to try harder next time). Apple is not about to change this since it is a great motivator to meet or exceed a preset goal.

Stoping while you are still running (or whatever Workout you are doing) doesn't jive with common expectations. While the OP may have a specific reason for this it is not a 'normal' way for a workout recorder to work. If you are still working out you should still be getting credit. If you want it to stop recording then you STOP working out (or running).

 

[Night Spring]

If you set your goal at 5 miles and you run 5.5 miles then you hit 110% of your goal (a GREAT motivator).

This reminds me --- If you set a goal in the Workout App, then once the workout is recorded in the Activity app, it shows what percentage of the goal you achieved.

 

[Julien]

This reminds me --- If you set a goal in the Workout App, then once the workout is recorded in the Activity app, it shows what percentage of the goal you achieved.

Yes, I only use Open (I need demotivating ) but I have a couple of Share friends that set goals and I see the percentage of a Workout they completed.

EDIT: Coincidence just now one of them completed a Workout.

 

[Resqu2]

I never quite figured out just what I'm supposed to do if a specified-distance run ends and I'm still a couple miles from home. Uber?

In all my prior running I keep running until I get back to where I started. I'd hate to not "get credit" for the final mile or two.

For me I set a 3.1 mile run and it lets me know I'm half way done I turn around and run back to my truck. It's a rails to trails setup and we have lots of 5K races there that are timed. I want to know my 5k times so I can tell if I'm improving or getting worse lol.

 

[deeddawg]

For me I set a 3.1 mile run and it lets me know I'm half way done I turn around and run back to my truck. It's a rails to trails setup and we have lots of 5K races there that are timed. I want to know my 5k times so I can tell if I'm improving or getting worse lol.

My post was tongue in cheek, particularly since I prefer to run loops rather than out-and-backs.

Speaking for myself, my race times over the years always tend to be a fair bit faster than my training runs. Tapering ahead of the race and the energy / adrenaline of the race atmosphere both serve to create a pretty good differential. Even when doing speed/tempo runs.

 

[dgreening]

I think there is a possible solution to getting this to stop when you are done. There is an option for Running Auto Pause - this will stop the time when you stop moving. This does only work for running indoors or outdoors, I was hoping it would work for cycling but it doesn't. So I was thinking when you reach your goal you can then stop and the time will stop while you save your session. Just a thought.

 

[Resqu2]

I think there is a possible solution to getting this to stop when you are done. There is an option for Running Auto Pause - this will stop the time when you stop moving. This does only work for running indoors or outdoors, I was hoping it would work for cycling but it doesn't. So I was thinking when you reach your goal you can then stop and the time will stop while you save your session. Just a thought.

Going to try this on my 5K run tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Long Run Nick]

My post was tongue in cheek, particularly since I prefer to run loops rather than out-and-backs.

Speaking for myself, my race times over the years always tend to be a fair bit faster than my training runs. Tapering ahead of the race and the energy / adrenaline of the race atmosphere both serve to create a pretty good differential. Even when doing speed/tempo runs.

Can the old coach chime in? What has worked for me and a lot of coachable runners over the years is to run 85-90+% of your runs at 2-3 minutes SLOWER than 5K race pace. If you run by HR, get professionally tested to get close to safely figuring out your Max HR. With that, run a lot of runs 65-70% of that max. Forget the 220-age formula. Works for less than about 30% of people.
I attribute my 40 years 6 months of recording my runs(85,6xxmiles and counting) and 524 races including 19'marathons and 27 ultra runs to following the above guidelines. I am most proud of the runners I worked with who still run. They might not have been the fastest or naturally gifted, but they are still running. Hopefully that is your goal. At 73, it still works for me. Nick

 

[Matth3w]

I never quite figured out just what I'm supposed to do if a specified-distance run ends and I'm still a couple miles from home. Uber?

In all my prior running I keep running until I get back to where I started. I'd hate to not "get credit" for the final mile or two.

Then just do an open run with no goal set.

It comes down to different goals, which is why there are different options (calories, distance, time, etc).

For me I don't need any credit. I set a goal and go for it, and it's usually a competition either virtually or at least trying to beat my previous time. In my experience with working out, open ended goals (i.e. - going until you're tired) ends up with people ending early. Psychologically, people are less likely to push themselves if there is an open-ended goal. For example, this morning I did 100 weighted strict wide-arm pull-ups before I started my workout. If I had just gone until I was tired, I probably would have stopped at like 50 or something. Instead I had a pre-set goal of 100, and was less likely to stop until I reached that.

I'm not even sure I can understand your first point. Why would you need to Uber home? If "getting credit" was so important, a) just set an open-ended goal (quick start), or b) start a second workout once it ends. The watch tells you your workout is over so you are frozen in place?
[doublepost=1479448844][/doublepost]

It is actually VERY simple to understand. When you put in distance or calories you are setting a goal and not an absolute stoping point. If you set your goal at 5 miles and you run 5.5 miles then you hit 110% of your goal (a GREAT motivator). If you only make 4.5 miles then you only got 90% (another motivator to try harder next time). Apple is not about to change this since it is a great motivator to meet or exceed a preset goal.

Stoping while you are still running (or whatever Workout you are doing) doesn't jive with common expectations. While the OP may have a specific reason for this it is not a 'normal' way for a workout recorder to work. If you are still working out you should still be getting credit. If you want it to stop recording then you STOP working out (or running).

That's actually a normal thing. If you put in a distance to some sort of cardio equipment, rower, tread, etc. When you hit that goal it shuts the machine off. If you turn on a treadmill and tell it to go for 30:00 it shuts off (or depending on settings might start a cool down period at slower pace) automatically.

As for the motivator thing, I can't imagine relying on a watch to do that for me, but I'm probably in the minority. I know I'm going to hit 100% every time, so I don't need some 90% motivator. Also, I argue that if you are hitting 110% consistently, you're not setting the bar high enough for your workouts. I don't always max out my workout, as I might run a few miles before or after a workout with the intent of getting my heart rate up or just burning some calories, but if you're into the run as the workout itself and you always set the goal for 2 miles and run 3 then why is your goal not to run 3 miles faster, or two miles faster? My mentality is not about racking up "experience points" which is what this seems like. Feel good things to give you extra %.

Always be better. You track that by going faster or pushing yourself further, but those numbers are skewed because it doesn't auto stop.

Take the rower. My record for the concept2 in the heavyweight category for my age is 1:27.7 for 500m. It puts me somewhere up in the 37th out of 295 (https://log.concept2.com/rankings/2017/rower/500?age=30-39&weight=H&status=verified). Every tenth of a second counts. Which is why you set the distance to 500m and it shuts down. If you do an open row and try to compete, it will keep counting for several seconds/meters after you finish. The difference between 37th and 29th is a second. Every tenth counts.

 

[Julien]

...That's actually a normal thing. If you put in a distance to some sort of cardio equipment, rower, tread, etc. When you hit that goal it shuts the machine off. If you turn on a treadmill and tell it to go for 30:00 it shuts off (or depending on settings might start a cool down period at slower pace) automatically.....

Apples and oranges (or is it oranges and Apple's ). A machine is an absolute and not a relative recording device so when it cuts off (or goes into cool down) you MUST comply. A fitness tracker like the Watch is ....well a fitness tracker/recorder and if you are still working out it is expected to keep monitoring/recording. I have used and owned dozens of fitness watches over the years and to the best of my knowledge (I have never really tried/looked for this so may be wrong) none have offered a hard stop option in recording your workout while you were still working out.

While YOU may want this feature it would seem counterintuitive to most every user to have the Watch arbitrary STOP recording when then have succeeded in surpassed their goal and are now WORKING hard on extra credit. "Where is my extra credit??????" would be the first thing they would say and they would be disappointed.

Also even if you find an App that will cut off in a predetermined distance like 5K what about inaccuracies in measurements? Almost ½ the time it would cut off before you reach 5K and can easily be off by 100M or more (same for over).

 

[deeddawg]

I'm not even sure I can understand your first point. Why would you need to Uber home? If "getting credit" was so important, a) just set an open-ended goal (quick start), or b) start a second workout once it ends. The watch tells you your workout is over so you are frozen in place?

Mmmm... someone woke up on the super-serious side of the bed this morning.

As I stated elsewhere:

My post was tongue in cheek, particularly since I prefer to run loops rather than out-and-backs.

Back to your points. If I wish to do a five mile run I choose a route that's a bit over five miles. If I wish to do a three mile run I choose a route that's a bit over three miles. Or eight miles or six miles or whatever, it's trivial to add or subtract a bit and develop a suite of options to choose from.

Once I'm past the halfway point I'm committed to the whole distance, so no worries about slacking off on the distance goal -- I'm going to cover the distance unless I stop and call someone to come pick me up, which I've never done.

If I want to see how I'm doing in terms of progress I look at prior runs on the same route. I Strava makes this very easy as it automatically identifies other runs on the same route as the one you're looking at and displays a graph of times for that route. Also, if I ran a 3.5 mile route and need to see my time at some point prior to the end of the run that's easy to do on several services such as Strava, Garmin Connect, or Nike's website.

I don't believe Apple's activity app allows exporting the gps data; that creates limitations in what you can see and do and is why I don't use that. Perhaps this is why you feel the need for the app to establish a distance demarcation for you?

I just don't get the point of having the watch cease an activity and save the run at a designated distance. Run the distance it takes to get back home. To gauge improvement, compare runs of the same route. Just my opinion, you of course can run your runs however you want.

 

[BarracksSi]

I just don't get the point of having the watch cease an activity and save the run at a designated distance.

The closest to this end result with my Garmin came when I'd set a workout with a distance goal (usually a half-mile sprint for the CFT when I was in the Marines). I'd hit Start, and it'd beep a countdown to begin the run, and then stop recording at half a mile.

(Once I learned where a good half-mile stretch was, I sometimes used my G-Shock instead)

Hmm -- OP, can you run a workout and then use the chronograph face to record your time? Once you know a given distance on a particular path, you could use any old stopwatch for the time. Or are you looking for automatic recording and/or Strava-like sharing?

 

[Matth3w]

The latter really. It's fine, I think it's a feature that should be included, but it's not so I'll figure it out.

Again, to deed, if you're going to run a different distance than you intend, be it over or under, that's the purpose of an open/quick start. Literally the only difference between all of the modes seems to be is that it buzzes when you hit that goal and when you're halfway there and allows people to be proud of themselves for over/under a goal. That's almost useless to me. I just think there should be a feature to stop recording. Frankly it sounds like one small piece of code.

If time = goaltime and option.stopworkout = true
Then pause workout
Else keep time
End if

I recognize that not everyone wants that, just like not everyone wants the watch to make an audible noise or a myriad of other small options. But this is designed to replace and be the best selling fitness watch. And in my mind that's an option you want on a fitness watch.

Several people in just a small forum and small subsample of the population think it should be there, so imagine how many of the masses...

 

[BarracksSi]

I'll also reiterate what I said earlier -- there's nothing stopping anyone (which includes everyone here) from writing an app to do it.

 

[Matth3w]

Lack of knowledge for this guy <~~~

 

[BarracksSi]

Lack of knowledge for this guy <~~~

<~~~~ Same here, but I took some classes and started a new career.

I mean, some iOS apps SUCK, so it's not like every developer is a genius. :-D