some geek stuff
A slight diversion from training and racing discussion today. Instead, here is a little something for all you Mac users out there. Don’t worry, it’s triathlon-related. If you have a Garmin and use a Mac you are probably disappointed with the Mac version of Garmin’s Training Center (hereafter referred to as GTC) software. Quite frankly, it sucks. I used a PC when I first picked up my Forerunner 305 and was fairly happy with the PC version of GTC. It’s nothing stupendous, but certainly it does the basics well. Graphing of pace, elevation, HR, along with integration with Google maps, etc. All good. But the Mac version is junk. All you get is a simple graph of your HR, elevation, pace…that’s ok. But the mapping function is worthless. No streets, no topography, no Google map integration. And isn’t the mapping why you bought a GPS in the first place?
When I bought my Mac and discovered just how terrible GTC was on the Mac, I immediately started looking for a replacement. I do upload most of my stuff to Motionbased.com, but I also like to keep an off-line copy of my data since I don’t always have Internet access. On an airplane for instance. And you never know when the Motion-based website will go kaput (it’s soon going to be merged with GarminConnect, btw).
I did some Google searching and found Ascent. This program rocks. It’s not freeware, there is a one-time license fee of $35. But it has all the features you could ask for in a GPS-enabled training diary. (Disclaimer: I haven’t used TrainingPeaks, which supports GPS uploads also, so I have no idea how Ascent compares to that product.)
Within each activity you can track all types of data, including activity type (run, bike, x-country ski, dog sled…whatever), equipment (road bike, Newton shoes, tricycle, Crocs, bare feet, etc.), event type (race, training), weather, body weight, disposition (how you felt-OK, crappy, wonderful, high as a kite), and effort (easy, moderate, gut-wrenching). Each field has an ‘edit list’ option so you can add in your own customized choices. There are also two custom fields so if there is some other relevant data point you want to keep track of, you can easily do it. I personally don’t use this feature to its fullest potential, but it’s pretty nifty nonetheless.
HR, elevation, pace graphing is very nice. You can select individual laps from a pull-down menu so you can over-analyze to your heart’s content. In all seriousness, this is pretty handy for a track workout when you want to see how your HR changed during a single lap (an 800 interval, for example). And in combination with the Forerunner’s auto-lap feature, well…let’s just say you could waste a lot of hours geeking out over the data from your last long run. Hypothetically, of course.
The mapping function is what really sets this apart from GTC. One very cool thing is the ability to color-code your maps with user-defined zones. For example, you can set it up so your route will show up in red if you are running under 7 min/mile pace, green if you are running 7:01-7:30 pace, blue 7:31-8:00 pace…etc, etc. Similarly, you can choose from a pull-down menu to show different color coding for speed, gradiant, altitude, HR zone, even cadence. There is also a pull-down menu so you can see a simple road map, or a topographic, aerial, or hybrid view of your map.
And one feature I really think is cool; within the map as well as the graph screen, there is a pull-down menu where you can directly access all of your saved activity, so you don’t have to go back to the diary screen to check out the map from a different activity. After looking at today’s run, you want to take a look at your run from 2 months ago? No problem, simply got to the pull-down and its right there.
Finally, you can also open your route maps in Google Earth directly from the application (no exporting necessary).
Another great feature is Ascent’s animation engine. From either the map screen or the elevation/pace/chart you can run an animation of your progress along your GPS route. There is a ‘heads-up’ display that shows the HR, pace, elevation and HR zone data for that particular moment in time.
And most importantly getting your data from your device into the application itself is idiot-proof. Simply plug your Garmin into your computer, click ‘Sync GPS‘ from the File menu and ‘voila’, your activities will show up in your main diary screen. If you are migrating from GTC, you can import the .tcx files as well. Easy peasy.
In the interest of full disclosure, my only complaint is that the elevation change data is somewhat suspect…there is a pretty large discrepancy between what I get from Motion-based and what I get from Ascent. My understanding based on what I’ve read is that MB is pretty accurate, so I tend to trust that data a bit more. That said, Ascent is a great tool and has helped me get a lot more out of my GPS device.
Here are some screen shots (click to enlarge):
The main diary screen:
Route map:
Elevation/HR/Pace chart:
I’m sure that I’m missing some of the features of this software tool. But, by all means…download the free trial and give it a whirl for yourself.
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