TrailRunner directly and indirectly supports several workout recording devices. As it’s very time consuming to directly support fitness devices, I decided to interface with dedicated helper applications that do a much better job than I could do on my own. Go to the TrailRunner application preferences to set the synchonisation for your supported fitness device.



> FAQ Entry on supported fitness devices, GPS receivers and file formats.

Tags: import, Apple + Nike iPod Sport Kit, Nike+ SportBand, Garmin Edge, GPX, MacOS X 10.4 Tiger, Garmin ForeRunner 305, Polar RS200, Garmin ForeRunner 405, Garmin ForeRunner 50, Magellan, TomTom

Good news for Polar RS200 and TrackRecord users. I Improved the import process. Now the workflow is much simpler:

- Press the import button
- Use TrackRecord to read in your workout data
- Quit TrackRecord
- Press the continue button in TrailRunner
- Select workouts to be imported and assign routes.

Assigning a route will then merge the workout recordings with the TrailRunner route, giving you a good overlay of both.
And this also answers one of the most frequently asked questions: TrailRunner requires your Polar recordings to contain distance information. If that is not the case, the workout can't be imported. The reason is that TrailRunner is distance based and not time based. To overlay a distance based route with e.g. heart-rate information, the workout recording must be in the same unit meaning to be distance based too. This is a core concept and a time based approach will never be implemented into TrailRunner.

Have fun with another preview release:

> Download

Tags: Polar RS200, TrackRecord, workout, import

To import workouts from your polar heart-rate monitor into TrailRunner, please follow these steps:

1. In TrailRunner Preferences > Synchronize : Select TrackRecord as your Helper App
2. Press the download Button to get TrackRecord from bluecrowbar.com
3. Close Preferences and open your main TrailRunner document.
   You might in advance create routes that reflect the courses of the workouts being imported. To learn how to create routes, first read the QuickGuide Tutorial
4. Press the Import (from heart rate monitor) Button in the upper tool-bar.
5. TrackRecord will start up. Import your workouts and Export the Sessions to your Desktop. (Please make sure that you use the english date format: mm/dd/yy when you export your files)
6. Now drag each exported workout session onto the main TrailRunner window, the import pane on the left will open.
7. Select a matching route and press the add Button.
   A new diary entry will be added combining the information from the selected route and the imported workout

Tags: Polar RS200, import, diary

From build 192 on the Polar HRM import will work better but should still be considered as experimental. I now import the [IntTimes] block and then, if a [HRData] block is available, merge the additional data in. What surprises me is that the data in HRM files are very inconsistent. On the one hand in the leading part of the file the workout duration says to be e.g. 0:41:20.0 but the last Interval ends at 0:44:49.5. Also if the recording interval is set to every 5 seconds and you multiply the number of [HRData] sets by 5 you also get more seconds than the given workout duration. Next, the [Trip] duration is totally off any other values one can accumulate. At last, the file doesn't contain calories burned but only your weight and VO₂ max. So I have to calculate the calories myself. All this means that you will never see identical values for the same data.
To retrieve HRM files from your watch, try TrackRecord or use some PC Software. TrailRunner Preferences now has TrackRecord added as a helper application for the import button. Use Import or drag a HRM file onto the TrailRunner dock icon. Anyway the workout import pane will open. To connect the workout with a route, select one in the routes list and add your workout to the diary like shown in the example below.


> TrackRecord - Polar RS200 SonicLink™ for MacOS X

Tags: diary, import, Polar RS200