As part of my 2020 training, I’m going to get more active in triathlon training and running. TR is still my go-to for cycling, but I’ve been splitting time between Zwift and TR for now until I get back to TR 100% after January 1, and looking to use Zwift for running (too dark, too cold right now to run outdoors). Does anyone have any experience with the various running pods that are supported for indoor running?
It looks like I basically have two options (Zwift RunPod – formerly Milestone; Stryd)
The Zwift RunPod (formerly Milestone, which Zwift acquired) has hit-and-miss reviews, but it’s only $30. Some say it works pretty well for the price and others say accuracy is 80% at best, which makes it basically useless in my opinion.
It looks like Stryd is the gold standard for running pods and seems to work well indoors. However, it’s also $200, and I’m not willing to spend that right now for something that I’m not entirely sold on yet.
The Garmin Running Dynamics Pod seems to work well for running outdoors, but is not currently supported on Zwift.
I may not give you the answer that you want to hear but I’m sold on the Stryd. The updated version is better than the first. It is very accurate - within 2 meters on several 400 meter trials, works inside on a treadmill and outside, and the stryd software is very intuitive with recent updates.
I have the first generation of the Stryd pod. The main reason I picked it up was to try to get better distance/pace accuracy on my Garmin 935 when I’m running on treadmills, and in that regard it seems to do really well. The Garmin’s estimated distances were all over the board and took a long time to respond to pace changes. The Stryd works way better and I probably trust it more than the numbers the treadmills are showing me.
As for all the extra power numbers from Stryd, I take all that with a grain of salt, but in general it has been fairly consistent comparing my RPE and pacing to the power numbers its putting out. It has also been helpful for managing efforts when running hills. I wish Stryd would add a Leg Spring Stiffness field to the Garmin Connect stuff, so that I could see that metric in real time.
I have some serious doubts about their ability to take wind into account on the new Pod, given that no one seems to be able to reliably do that for bikes, where the conditions should be much better controlled.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with it, but it is alot of $$$ for what you’re getting.
Appreciate the insight. I don’t necessarily mind paying $200 for the Stryd if it works (and the general consensus is that it does). The ZwiftPod seems to be so inaccurate for some people that I probably wouldn’t even bother. For some people it works with about 98+% accuracy, and others suggest accuracy of only 80%.
I know Stryd used to make an indoor-only model (Stryd Live) for about $100 and an advanced model for $200 (Stryd Footpod), which worked both indoors and outdoors.
It seems like now they only make a single model called the “Stryd with Wind Detection” which is ~ $220.
That was my other question… also looking to get a Garmin Forerunner at some point before next spring (probably the newer 945, maybe the 935, and possibly the 745XT which is rumored to come out in Spring 2020). Do you still use a FootPod (or Garmin’s HRM-Run / HRM-Tri) for running outdoors, or is the watch by itself pretty accurate for outdoor running?
I do use the Footpod most of the time when I’m running outside, but its not strictly needed. The 935 is really good outdoors for distance/pacing, especially if you’re doing steady state stuff. If you start doing really fast intervals, it can get behind sometimes, like if you’re doing 30 second sprints it might take it 5-15 seconds for it to adjust to your pace, which kind of smooths out the graphs on your sprints. Using the Stryd does make it adjust alot faster.
I have the garmin 245 and latest stryd. Choose the 245 over 945 as it’s smaller and lighter and i only run with it. Garmin 1030 for cycle. Stryd has been great for indoors and outdoors. I leave it on my shoe and recharge after it gets low. They’re app focuses on power zones. Of course you can use garmin for heart rates zones. They have an app on the watch to see your power, no issues so far with the app. I’ve had one issue where the pace dropped a few times during a run, was told to soft reset from app. Another time where power dropped but the battery was really low. That’s two issues over the months usage. Minor to me. I’m still new to it.
I’ll just throw my two cents in here as well since I was in a similar situation a year ago. I should preface this by saying I use it exclusively with my apple watch both indoors and out so I have zero clue how it works with zwift.
With that said though, my experience has been pretty much in line with the general consensus I see online. Stryd is the most expensive choice but it works remarkably well. I have been continually impressed with both its accuracy and precision. This is hard to gauge indoors since I’ve never met a treadmill I trust but RPE and pace match what I’d expect outdoors so I’m sure its similarly as accurate.
I was not completely sold on the power aspects at first but I have since found it to be fairly useful. I’d still take it with a grain of salt but at least for me the power numbers line up surprisingly close on similar efforts to the Quarq Dzero on my bike. That is to say, I see average power numbers within 3-4 watts if I was to for example do a 40 min lactate threshold run vs a ride targetting FTP for a similar length of time. I have not explored attempting a Trainerroad style training with power plan but based on what I’ve seen that could be quite an effective approach.
I’m always hesitant to state a product’s worth since $200 means different things to different people but I’ve found it to be worth every penny. I am a total data nerd though so take that as you will.
I am using the simple Garmin foot pod (ANT+) with PC and Zwift with no issues. It pairs well and a calibration keeps it reasonably close to my treadmill speed.
Sorry, can’t help much other than to - again - vouch for Stryd. One of the keys for me was that it allowed consistency between my indoor and outdoor running. Regardless of how valid I think the actual power measurement is, like with a bike power meter so long as it’s consistent/precise, it holds a lot of value. I recommend it for both inside and outdoor, solid surface/pack trail running.
~1 to everything said above about Stryd. I use it on Zwift all the time and never had issues unless I was stupid enough to not check battery levels. I use it for power too but since pace and power align on the treadmill when running at the same grade once I know which power zones align with which paces it doesn’t matter as much for easy aerobic runs until I look at post analysis stats. Zwift also does not record some of the other beneficial metrics like LSS.
Regardless I use it outside and in to keep pace consistently coming from the same device
I don’t own a Stryd but if I ever get serious about running again it’s definitely the pod I’ll get for accuracy alone. I have the Garmin now and it gives me a very generous pace on the Treadmill. http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Stryd
My wife has been using her FR45+Garmin basic footpod. She has a Zwift pod on order to use with her phone when she is on treadmill. Does the Zwift pod provide any more or less running data points than the normal Garmin shoe pod? I’m wondering if she can’t just replace the Garmin with the Zwift one for all runs.
Personally I think my Stryd is far more accurate and repeatable than any other pod I’ve tried. I’d give the Garmin foot pod 2nd place (foot pod, not dynamics pod) followed by milestone.
One bummer about milestone (Zwift pod) is that it’s BLE only so can’t record with a phone and Garmin at the same time (and even separately the old Garmin devices without BLE sensor support can’t use it).
At one point the milestone pod tried to offer some impact analysis / efficiency charts but if I recall correctly Zwift killed that app and support after the acquisition. It was probably not real useful anyway.
Garmin has recently released their Virtual Run feature, which broadcasts pace as well as HR over Bluetooth, which allows Zwift to pick up this data from your watch.
Currently live on the 245 and 945. The latest beta for the Fenix 6 includes a menu item for Virtual Run, but don’t think it’s actually operational on the F6 yet. I’m not sure about the 45, but it would seem logical that the other X45 watches (45 and 645) will eventually get it. Less likely for x35 watches.
Stryd is my first foot pod. Up front it’s expensive but they are going above and beyond for the powercenter, they’re analytic’s app and there’s no subscription. They just keep on improving it. I’ve been with they’re beta and they really take it seriously. I also use they’re iphone app but run with garmin and stryd zone data field for power in the watch. They recently came out with a beta of they’re own app to run in the garmin, yet to try it but if anything like the power zone, it will be worth running. They offer free power running plans also.
There are also the Runscribe Pro, although they moved more towards commercial and less personal use. There are 2 pods, one each foot. Helps with symmetry in theory. Won’t describe more as I don’t know if they’re still sold to regular users,
So are most of you with the Stryd doing power based plans and workouts? My wife’s are pace based, I’m not sure if power versions are available for her plans.
I’m not. Apart from the fact that rotational power has been around for centuries and a Watt means the same thing to cyclists, engineers and electricians, in contrast to running, I get power from two pods simultaneously and they’re not the same. Unless I mostly run with my right leg it’s BS.
I use pace on a consistent terrain but keep an eye on my HR to make minor adjustments.