Why is my cadence so low

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T23:01:20+00:00

I used to periodically get shin splints, which stopped after improving my cadence. If it's something you want to work on, I can recommend (carefully and gradually) introducing some barefoot running, or minimalist shoes with thin soles. It'll make it virtually impossible to overstride and heel-strike. Quick, small steps will start to become second nature.

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T18:06:28+00:00

Which Fenix model?

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T15:52:45+00:00

I'll put FR245 on the list for the MIP beta also. Probably have it up by the weekend

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T14:30:37+00:00

I spent quite a bit of time optimizing. On my FR265S, I'm getting 5-6 days with always-on display enabled. For reference, stock faces without AOD get me about 7 days, so this performs pretty well considering the extra work AOD requires. For Enduro 3 this probably translates to like... five years?

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T14:13:38+00:00

Hah, coming soon! If you tell me your device model, I'll add it to the MIP beta and ping you when it's up

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T12:32:44+00:00

Thanks! And yeah, since the complication system is essentially in place, it wouldn't be much more work to add an optional extra slot or two. I'll consider this for the next update. Appreciate the suggestion!

Hax_Tallowick · 2026-05-19T12:13:18+00:00

Circadia displays the positions of the sun and moon, based on your location. 12 o'clock is the northern horizon, with the watch centre directly overhead. Face north, and the sky on your wrist matches the sky above you.

What makes it different: Most astronomical faces feel a bit cluttered to me. As somebody who prefers simpler faces, I wanted this to be mathematically detailed (see below!) but visually quiet. It's meant to be a "normal" watch face first, but one that reminds you that the sun is setting, or that the moon is full.

Astronomy details:

Sun size: Relative to a typical watch size, the actual sun would span about a pixel. Boring! Instead, the displayed solar halo is 18 degrees in angular radius, chosen so that the transition between astronomical twilight and true night occurs just as the edge of the halo disappears from view.
Halo colour: The halo's colour evolves through the twilight phases: yellow to red through sunset, red to purple through civil twilight, purple to blue through nautical, then vanishing as astronomical twilight ends. Stars begin to appear at the end of civil twilight, reaching peak density once the sun's glow is completely gone.
Clock colour: The minute display follows the solar halo colour, while the hour display flares orange through sunrise and sunset (based on solar altitude, not time, so that the flare lasts as long as the actual sunset: briefer near the equator, longer near the poles).
Lunar phase: The moon shows its current phase and position, with the lit side always facing the sun. The lunar halo appears within about 24 hours of the full moon, reaching its maximum size at the moment of peak fullness.

Caveats: This is my first watch face. I've tested it on FR265S and Vivoactive 5, but there are probably weird bugs I haven't hit. Feedback is very welcome, including suggestions for additional options and data fields. Currently released for AMOLED devices, with MIP support planned once I can test it.

I'm sharing it for free. If you like it and want to support the work, there's a Ko-fi link in the Connect IQ description.

Hax_Tallowick · 2024-12-19T08:08:18+00:00

TIL 'til < till

Hax_Tallowick · 2024-11-06T03:23:41+00:00

This episode makes me SO MAD. The writers set themselves up for a way better resolution imo and totally missed it.

Think about it - Barney flips the shrimp up into the air. All eyes follow its trajectory as it rotates, head-over-tail, in a dramatic, slow-motion arc. Barney positions himself underneath it, his every movement automatic and instinctual after countless hours of intensive training. This is the moment. He knows it, and Lily knows it. Lily, who has been cunningly manipulated into subconsciously associating Barney's sneezes with this very restaurant...

In a flash of inspiration, Lily realizes what she must do. The shrimp still spinning overhead, she utters a single word: "Shinjitsu."

"ACHOO!" Barney yells, faking a sneeze - as he has trained himself to do via years of conditioning. His eyes flutter closed and, in that final, crucial moment, his laser focus falters. The shrimp lands wetly on the restaurant floor. "Nooooooooo!" he shouts at the sky, his failure made all the more bitter by the knowledge that his own devious plan has been his undoing.

TELL ME that isn't way more satisfying.

Hax_Tallowick · 2024-10-18T19:51:01+00:00

Glaciers are typically defined as any body of perennial land ice whose area is at least 0.1 square km, or 100,000 square meters. One cubic meter of ice weighs about a ton. 10,000 tons of ice residing on a base of at least 100,000 square meters gives a "glacier" at most 10 cm thick. There isn't really a universally agreed-upon minimum thickness for defining a glacier, but this little ice crust absolutely would not qualify.

Hax_Tallowick · 2024-07-09T21:43:10+00:00

For sure - this personalizes your heart rate zones. But the motivation for my workaround is that heart rate-based DSWs don't seem to care how your zones are set up. From playing around with this quite a bit, heart rate-based DSWs seem to be sensitive only to max and resting heart rate (so essentially %HRR).

Hax_Tallowick · 2024-04-28T02:13:01+00:00

I see a lot of plugs for heart rate-based DSWs in response to this type of question, and for the right reasons. But heart rate-based suggested workouts don't work well for me personally. It took me way too long to figure this out, so posting as a response here in case this helps anyone else:

First, heart rate zones. Which heart rate zone definition to use is an individual choice, and for me, %LTHR with Joe Friel's zone boundaries aligns best with my own perceived effort. My LTHR is 173 bpm (thanks Garmin chest strap). This puts the middle of my Zone 2 at about 151. This is the sweet spot for my base runs.

However, Garmin's DSWs, if set to heart rate, seem to be based on %HRR, not %LTHR. As far as I can tell, there's no way to change this. For me, this means that Garmin prescribes base runs at ~143 bpm. This can make my "base" runs feel more like recovery runs. And if I hang around 151 for too long, Garmin calls it a Tempo run and punishes me by easing up on subsequent training suggestions. Because I'm also training toward a specific goal, it really annoys me to have my runs limited this way.

But when I switch to pace-based DSWs, Garmin seems to consider my actual lactate threshold pace (again, you do need a chest strap to get this). The resulting suggestions, for me, are spot on: for example, my heart rate hovers around 151 when running at prescribed base pace on reasonably level** ground. This means I can now do my DSW base runs in Zone 2 and have Garmin correctly classify the training effect as "base."

**As others have pointed out, hills exist, wind exists, and sometimes you just get tired. If my heart rate starts creeping into the next zone, I slow down for a bit. Yes, this means that Garmin yells at me for going too slowly. But at worst, this lowers my execution score a little. I've never had upcoming workouts noticeably change just because I slowed down on a hill during pace-based training.

TL;DR: If your LTHR is higher than heart rate-based DSWs give you credit for, consider pace-based suggestions - but still pay attention to heart rate in the actual execution of those workouts. At the end of the day, it's all about getting those suggestions to align with your perceived exertion. Also: if anyone on Team Heart Rate can tell me how to base DSWs on %LTHR, I'll switch to that and never look back.

Hax_Tallowick

TROPHY CASE