Syncing Watch running data to Garmin Connect profile

[Jana_CZ]

I need to upload/sync my Watch running data to Garmin. Has anyone tried successfully?

What I need to achieve:
- I’m using the default Watch /Apple app to record my runs (and I want to keep using it for consistency reasons)
- I need a way to sync the data to my Garmin Connect online profile, where my coach can review each run remotely
- most importantly it needs to display the distance, pace throughout the run, HR including the % of time in HR zones

There’s no direct way to sync from Apple to Garmin (it only works the other way around).

As a workaround, I sync my runs from Apple to Strava, then export from Strava and import to Garmin Connect. BUT:
- if using the .taf file (“export original” from Strava), the HR data & time in HR zones are all messed up, see the attachment
- if using the GPX export from Strava, the HR incl. zones looks fine, but then the pace is skewed, pauses not excluded, … so it’s not usable overall.

Is there a better way to manage this? It can be even manual (and if there’s an automated solution and is really perfect, I’m willing to pay a bit, but the results must be better than what I’m now achieving manually).

Thanks! 🙂

 

[sarc]

You could try an app called Run gap.

 

[Jana_CZ]

You could try an app called Run gap.

I did try already - sorry for not mentioning it - but I’m not sure whether it does what I need. The actual syncing is a paid feature - how does an imported run look? Would you have a sample by chance? (To be honest - I want to avoid paying for Rungap only to realize that it does exactly the same job as I already do manually.)

 

[NME42]

You could try an app called Run gap.

Yes, works like a charm. I do this since two years now, no flaws.

 

[Jana_CZ]

Yes, works like a charm. I do this since two years now, no flaws.

That sounds great. Would you please mind showing me a sample run? Mainly I’m wondering about those HR zones and about how it handles pauses / average pace (i.e. whether it’s consistent with the corresponding Apple workout). Thanks in advance! 😊

 

[NME42]

That sounds great. Would you please mind showing me a sample run?

No, sorry. For privacy reasons I am not sharing workouts on the web.
I can tell you though, data is consistent. You can try it with the SwagBag in Rungap and give it back for a refund if you are not happy. You will be happy.

 

[msackey]

I love RunGap. I wish the Swag Bag feature weren’t subscription based. I’m happy to pay a one time fee.

 

[NME42]

That sounds great. Would you please mind showing me a sample run? Mainly I’m wondering about those HR zones and about how it handles pauses / average pace (i.e. whether it’s consistent with the corresponding Apple workout). Thanks in advance! 😊

So, I can share you some screenshots without my running map.
Should be ok. If you have any further questions, please ask.

 

[mva68]

What a mess with all these subscription platforms to move your own data around. Hope government intervention will give some progress on user right of your own data free of charge in a 'standard' format to be decided by??

 

[NME42]

What a mess with all these subscription platforms to move your own data around. Hope government intervention will give some progress on user right of your own data free of charge in a 'standard' format to be decided by??

When I do sync my runs with RunGap, I always (automatically) create a copy of the FIT file in my iCloud drive. This should be readable within the foreseeable future by all platforms existing then.

 

[msackey]

What a mess with all these subscription platforms to move your own data around. Hope government intervention will give some progress on user right of your own data free of charge in a 'standard' format to be decided by??

Well, I'm not sure that's an accurate view.

I think none of those companies (Garmin or Apple) are keeping the data to themselves. One thing that Garmin isn't easily facilitating is the automatic importing of data into their platform. The subscription service, RunGap's swag bag, is a third party tool to facilitate automatic moving of data from an external site to Garmin; it's not a Garmin tool. I'm guessing that Garmin doesn't want to easily facilitate syncing of data to their platform because their platform offers interpretation tools which I suppose they would prefer that users of their tools gain easy access to rather than users of non-Garmin tools.

RunGap just makes the process a bit easier.

 

[mva68]

Great! I use intervals.icu, Apple HealthFit to use as intermediaries for Garmin - Strava - Apple Health but it doesn't support RunGap? From HealthFit you can export to FIT and GPX but under Health Metrics Data all kind of exemptions apply.

What I am looking for, and OP possibly as well, how to let Garmin Connect use the HR sensor of the Apple Watch and record a bike session with eg. Edge 530 so you have gps and HR data together. Now it is one of the two and I let different apps run at the same time to record a session (Strava on Apple Watch combined with Garmin Connect - Edge 530)

 

[msackey]

Great! I use intervals.icu, Apple HealthFit to use as intermediaries for Garmin - Strava - Apple Health but it doesn't support RunGap? From HealthFit you can export to FIT and GPX but under Health Metrics Data all kind of exemptions apply.

What I am looking for, and OP possibly as well, how to let Garmin Connect use the HR sensor of the Apple Watch and record a bike session with eg. Edge 530 so you have gps and HR data together. Now it is one of the two and I let different apps run at the same time to record a session (Strava on Apple Watch combined with Garmin Connect - Edge 530)

Nice. I haven't heard of intervals.icu; I'll be trying that out.

I also use HealthFit but have not used it to export to Garmin.

Here's a somewhat wild guess at the situation, although informed by historical experience: when RunGap came out years ago, it would sync to Garmin just fine without needing a subscription to Swag Bag. I can't quite recall now whether the RunGap app when I first got it was an app that required purchasing; I seem to recall it did, meaning it wasn't a free app (don't know if it's a free app now). Well, quite often Garmin would update something (protocol?) and it would break the sync from RunGap to Garmin and every time the developer would have to revise the application and release an update. I recall the developer said that Garmin, at least back then, was really not friendly to syncing with external sites and what the developer was doing was finding ways through hacks. At some point, and I think this was some years later, syncing to Gap became a subscription feature (what RunGap called Swag Bag) and this was explained to be as a result of the developer having to spend so much time fixing RunGap each time Garmin broke the syncing. I've bought a subscription or two of the Swag Bag in the past but haven't recently.

All of this is to say: I think potentially the issue is more with Garmin Connect. No wonder apps like HealthFit aren't supporting exporting to Garmin because of the time it'll take to keep the feature up-to-date through workarounds and so forth.

 

[Jana_CZ]

So, I can share you some screenshots without my running map.
Should be ok. If you have any further questions, please ask.

Thanks a lot, this was perfect! 😊
So I’ve subscribed - it works fine, actually I was even able to feed also my Strava account with some really old runs (let’s face it, Strava is the facebook of runners 🤓), so I consider it a good investment. 👍

Edit to add: whoa, and a nice run, too! Consistent pace on a route of that length, and HR not going high at all… ok I’m jealous now 😀