Discussion: Track

Maybe you should look at the track using something other than Garmin Connect.

Hey, I know nothing about any of this, just trying to start someplace. Can you point me towards something (hopefully usable on a Mac)?

Well, using another program, I see that you did the following:
1) 15:49 minutes x 60 seconds = 949 possible tracks, and you had 951 tracks recorded.
2) 3:17 x 60 = 11820 possible tracks, and you had 11815 tracks recorded.
So, it is tracking every second as you have it set for.

Garmin Connect does seem to do some "smoothing" (I think that is what it is called). Here is your shorter session opened in Gartrip. Not necessarily a recommendation on the software at this time, just a different view for now...

I could be a smart ass and say that all those forays into the trees wasn't good for tracking, but with the leaves being down and all...and the fact that I have used a FR many times under in the deep, dark forest would make for a weak argument. ;)

I do think that, besides the smoothing that certain programs do to the tracks, there is also the position of the antenna to be aware of when wearing the unit. Your unit being in up (running position) is going to track more accurately then having it pressed against your side.

I use Quickroute. I think Cristina would know how to use it on a Mac.

http://www.matstroeng.se/quickroute/en/

Valerie, Just to be clear, "all those foreys into the trees" we not as many as you might guess, as the aerial photo is severely out of date, not yet showing the new 9 holes nor some modifications the the original 9. Don't think I was in the trees for more than 5 or 10 minutes. :-)

Your track certainly looks better.

I think this may be a long learning curve.

I'm pretty sure Cristina just installed Parallels and Windows to make part of her Mac act like a PC so she can use Quickroute. Which I can do, I even got the stuff when I got my Mac, I've just never done it. Guess now might be the time to start.

And then I could play Catching Features.

And log it if my real training was so minimal and I was really desperate. :-)

Though perhaps there is some other nice Mac-friendly solution....

as the aerial photo is severely out of date, not yet showing the new 9 holes nor some modifications the the original 9. Don't think I was in the trees for more than 5 or 10 minutes. :-)

Well, that isn't quite as humorous as trying to imagine why you were off course under the canopy for so much time, but it makes more sense now. :)

There are a lot of tricks that allow you to get the most useful information. For example, with respect to elevation, though it's absolute numbers are often off and it appears to wildly overestimate total climb, the program I use on the Mac, Ascent, has a feature that lets you filter changes less than X, where X can be set from 0 to 25 feet. I find that if I set X to about 18, its calculation of climb is (usually) very close to what I calculate using contours.

Uhoh. In my defense, logging Catching Features is interesting because it lets me measure how the game improves my performance. I probably should count it as intensity 5 while racing because my brain is working hard.

A lot of 305 owners use http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/

Peter,
I use Garmin Connect and Quick Route a fair bit. I've loaded every one of my O-runs since Day 2 of this year's O'Ringen.
With Quick Route there is a bit of fiddling needed to make the satellite track fit one's photo or file of the map.
However the track loaded on Garmin Connect is very good for the scale of map allowed. I think it is unusual for their air photo to be so old. It does claim to be a 2009 image.
Yes, Garmin does smooth things out and so you won't necessarily get all those three-putts but in my golf game I tracked it recorded my transgressions (and a stop to pee) pretty well.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7862558
(Sorry about the extra route home. That was before I learned of the importance of stopping the receiver and saving the data as soon as the activity is finished. But I guess you know that, too)
What really pisses me off about Garmin Connect is that they don't have orienteering or orienteering training (or golf) listed in their drop down bar for summary of activities to log what we were doing. I brought it up in their discussion forum once but to no avail.
By the way, there is a Canadian software that is supposed to be slightly more functional than Quick Route. It is available on the same donation basis as Quick Route.
http://www.orienteering.mb.ca/OGPS/index.html

gordhun>>What is the extra functionality that OGPS has compared to QuickRoute? From the website you linked, it appears to do largely the same exact things.

Boris Apparently OGPS allows one to import multiple tracks on to the same map so that icons can race each other similar to Route Gadget. Last July Mats had said he was going to be working on that for Quick Route but so far I've not heard of it being available.

Ah, ok. I'v seen Mats demo this at some point, so maybe it's in the works.

Thanks for the various suggestions! Lots of educating to do. All so I can see where I was even though I already know where I was. :-)

Hopefully there will be sufficient entertainment value.

PG,
Not to flog a dead horse but, like you, for me it is not the track showing where I've been that is most instructive. The eye-opener for me was the overlays showing pace and heart rate along that track.
For instance my tracks on Quick Route show that on a trail or road I'm able to maintain a workload with a heart rate in the 140-144 range. In the woods my HR is dropping to 125 to 130 range. Lesson learned: I'm running too tentatively and not pushing myself hard enough in rough terrain. I don't think you will find you have that problem but you may notice another trend.

Gord,
I like that suggestion. My guess is I'm really not pushing myself, and I'm stopping too much. The former can be answered just by wearing a heart monitor, haven't for many years. QuickRoute would certainly give a better idea about the latter.

I wonder if there is any impact on your orienteering from knowing that you are recording this info. I think when I used to wear a heart monitor that I used to run harder (higher heart rate) than I might have otherwise, since part of me (the macho part??) wanted the numbers to show that I was really putting out. I wonder if knowing that there will be a Quicktrack route causes you to run faster / slow down less so that your track will look better. As a result your time might be faster (moving faster) or slower (less care leading to more mistakes).

In effect you're being shadowed, just not by an actual person in real time. And I'm sure being shadowed affects one's orienteering performance.

Just curious....

I felt like everyone was watching, the first few times I wore it. Made me more careful, which was good. Now I don't worry, since I know no one really reads my log or cares about my tracks. You, on the other hand, have a few interested readers... :)

Sometimes, like most orienteers but maybe not you, I make a mistake and, even after, I'm not sure where I was. (#2 of last night's RHINO would be an example; unfortunately, though I was wearing my FR, I never turned it on.) The track usually solves the mystery. Also, and this might apply to you, sometimes I'm pretty sure during the race that the map is off but I want confirmation. Again, the track often gives decisive information (though sometimes its equivocal, and it takes practice to learn when the track is and isn't trustworthy).

But the most important use for me is that it gives real-time data on my average pace for the run (or bike ride) at any time, allowing me to finely tune my workout to my goal. (Don't use what FR calls current pace which sucks; if you want current pace, use average lap pace over a short period.)