Are you maximizing your training devices? Here are my recommendations on how to set up your Training Pages for cycling and running. The device(s) you have will limit your options. This is written assuming you have a separate running and cycling device.
Cycling
Page 1 will be used for for general training. It should have 4 fields, in this order, starting with the top field: Time, Heart Rate, Speed, Distance. If you use Power, then you will have 5 fields, with Power slotting in next to Heart Rate.
Page 2 will be used for intervals and racing. It should also have 4 fields, as follows: Current Lap Time, Heart Rate Zone, Cadence, and Laps. Again, Power, if applicable, will be a 5th field next to HR Zone, as Power Zone.
Page 1 gives you all the metrics you need for most of training. Page 2 is for intervals and racing. Since intervals are time-based, seeing the current lap time tells you how long you have left in a given interval. When you’re going hard, having your device keep track of this for you is huge. Note that this works for both the “on” and “off” portions – the work interval and the rest interval. The only caveat here is that you have to remember to hit the lap button. However, once you get in this habit everything is hunky-dory.
Intervals are prescribed by either HR or Power Zone – looking down and seeing 3.8 or 4.2 is really nice – either you’re in zone or not, no thought required (for this reason, some people prefer to use HR Zone on Page 1, as well).
Some intervals will have are cadence-based. However, even for intervals that don’t have a suggested cadence, or racing, it’s good to know where you are. A quick glance down will tell you if you’re where you need to be or not – again, no thought required.
Laps is also terribly beneficial, as your device will keep track for you, since it’s easy to lose track during long or hard sessions. Assuming a warm up followed by intervals, the Work Intervals will be even-numbered laps, and the Rest Intervals will be odd-numbered laps.
Running
Running devices have smaller screens with fewer available fields, and are harder to read, necessitating 3 pages.
As with Cycling, Page 1 is a general training page with the basic metrics: Time, Distance, and Pace. Since runs are (or should be) Pace-based, this metric is displayed in lieu of Heart Rate.
For Page 2 I like to display Heart Rate and Cadence. Heart Rate is a perception-check and calibration for Pace in the event of slow or fast conditions, a particularly good or bad day, and fatigue. Cadence is important, as we’ve discussed before, and having this displayed will help you keep it high to run efficiently.
Page 3 will be the Interval page for running: Lap Time and Laps. As with cycling, how long left in each interval and how many left to go. Again, the timer is great for both the Rest Interval and the Work Interval, and you just need to keep track of which is which. Again, the Work Interval will normally be even numbered laps, and the rest interval will be odd numbered laps.
I’m most familiar with Garmins, so here is the menu navigation to make these changes for a Garmin Edge 705. Other Garmin devices will be similar.
Menu >> Menu Screen >> Settings >> Bike Settings >> Data Fields >> Data Field X (1,2,3) >> # of Fields >> Highlight Desired Field >> Select Desired Field >> Choose Desired Display >> Repeat steps as necessary for each page and field.
