Garmin Challenges and Badges

13

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    Ah ok. No, not interested in an AI analysing my workouts. They don't follow standard rules anyway. Like I might have a nice run with a HR of over 180, and the same run a few days later with a HR of 170 or so, and both feel the same. Besides that running hr zones don't work for how oddly my body works anyway.

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member

    @yirara

    I have the same variation in HR. My watch registers extra beats now and then. I'd be concerned about it if I hadn't had a 48-hour HR monitor years ago after they noticed an arrhythmia while monitoring me during a procedure. This is why I can't allow Garmin to adjust my max HR based on what my watch registers.

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member

    I had a big day today - I completed over 20k steps (I normally do only ~10k), and I completed the last two of my March challenges plus the last of the expedition hike challenges.
    (It took me 2 years to complete the 17 expedition hike challenges totaling over 9.9 million steps.) 😀

    • Today's Activities:
      • Aquafit (water aerobics) ~1 hour
      • 5k "run" ~1 hour
      • swim ~1 hour
      • 2.5 mile walk ~1 hour
    • That earned me these three badges:
      • March Weekend 5k
      • March Time to Swim
      • Via Transilvanica (1.9 million steps in 153 days)

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member
    edited March 30

    I don't have extra beats but standard 220-age doesn't work for me. I did have exercise tests in the past and based on those I'm only able to run in zone 4 and shoot straight past 2-3. And in zone 4 I have my relaxed runs (with high HR) and my tempo/threshold runs (with a tiny bit higher HR). I can walk in zone 2 though, provided it's a totally flat road. One tiny incline and I'm out of 2 straight away. I mean, I can set up custom zones like

    zone 1: 55-165
    zone 2: 165-169
    zone 3: 170-173
    zone 4: 174-182ish
    zone 5: 183 and above

    but give me a bit warmer or colder weather, or just a poor nights sleep and all falls to pieces again. I mean, it kind of makes sense as my body, even after more than 10 years of running runs purely on glycogen and doesn't access fatty acids at all. Basically, all my runs, based on the exercise tests would be similar to tempo or threshold runs, and my HR reflects that.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member
    edited March 30

    Oh, unless something goes totally wrong I'll finish the TIme to Run, March Walking and March Rundown badges on Monday.

    Wanted to go out yesterday and run today, but the weather is really rubbish today hence I ran yesterday and am staying in today.

  • DaffyGirl88
    DaffyGirl88 Posts: 5,412 Member

    @frankwbrown Great job on completing all of your challenges! That's a lot of miles!! 😯

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    yes, excellent job, @frankwbrown. I'm considering visiting a pool next month, but still uncertain because it's a fun bath with additional pool. And that's just a wee bit expensive.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    Yay, got all my goals for this month

    I got

    March Weekend 5K running
    March Gains strength 4hrs
    March time to run 10hrs
    March Walking 30 miles
    Active March 20 activities
    March rundown 80.5km

  • p8m6bwghh9
    p8m6bwghh9 Posts: 673 Member

    I completed the March challenges I joined and am ready for 1 April, no foolin’😉

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member
    edited April 1

    Here are the challenges I completed in March:

    • Active March • Record 20 activities of at least 20 minutes each • 3/6
    • March Warrior • Record 4 hours of yoga activities in March • 3/6
    • March Swim Week • Record 1,000 meters of swimming March 2-8 • 3/7
    • International Women's Day 2025 • Record an activity on March 8th • 3/8
    • March Gains • Record four hours of strength activities • 3/13
    • March Walking • Walk 30 miles in March • 3/19
    • March Weekend Walking • Complete a 3-mile walk March 21 - 23 • 3/22
    • March Step Month • 300,000 steps in March • 3/27
    • March Time to Swim • Record 4 hours of swimming in March • 3/29
    • March Weekend 5K • Complete a run of at least 5 km March 28 - 30 • 3/29
    • Via Transilvanica • Hike: Carpathians, Romania - 870 mi • 3/29 (took 153 days)

    And here are the repeatable badges I earned in March:

    • Walk Streak REPEATABLE • Walk 1+ mile in a single activity for 30 consecutive days • 3/7 (15th time)
    • Sleep Savant REPEATABLE • Receive sleep data for 30 consecutive days • 3/16 (19th time)
    • Hydration Streak REPEATABLE • Track 64 oz. of water daily for 30 consecutive days • 3/17 (18th time)
    • 10K a Day Challenge REPEATABLE • Get 10,000 steps/day for 30 consecutive days • 3/18 (22nd time)
    • Rise and Grind REPEATABLE • Record activity between 4&7am for 7 consecutive days • 3/25 (68th time)
    • Sleep Streak REPEATABLE • Get a Sleep Score of 75+ for 7 consecutive days • 3/27 (33rd time)
    • 30 for 30 REPEATABLE • Record a 30-minute activity for 30 consecutive days • 3/27 (16th time)

    You might notice that apart from the March Weekend 5K, there are no running or cycling badges.
    I want to change that.

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member

    Okay, I believe you. But if you claim to have completed more than 7 April challenges tomorrow, I'd be a fool not to have serious doubts. 🤔😂

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,000 Member

    Underachieving on the badge front, still: I got the Active March badge, the International Women's Day badge, and to my surprise did complete the 2025 Cycling - Stage 1 challenge . . . that last barely, finishing it today, the deadline of the 3 months.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    For April I signed up for

    April weekend 5K
    Step into April
    April Swim Week (not sure I want to go to the pool)
    April Weekend Walking
    April Weekend 10K (not sure)
    April time to walk
    April Step month (I never get this)
    April gains
    April rundown
    Active April
    April swim
    and running stage 2 (3 months)

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member
    edited April 1

    Do you realize that with a measly 60 hours of strategic exercise, you could earn 17-20 badges in April? 😂

    • 20 hours cycling
    • 15 hours running
    • 15 hours walking
    • ~2.0-3.0 hours swimming
    • 4 hours strength training
    • 4 hours yoga

    (Of course, this would all be in addition to kayaking and other water sports, hiking, racket sports, martial arts, etc.)

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,779 Member

    I just do the running and step challenges. I walk the dog every day, but don't use my watch for those since they are always the same two routes. I often skip the watch on TM runs as well, so getting the Active badge can be iffy when I do a lot of indoor running. OTOH, I get lots of steps between my walks and runs, so those are easy. I've done all the Expeditions that are step and distance based. My watch doesn't seem to include the right elevation data for me to get the expeditions that use elevation. It tells me how many feet I gain and lose on my runs, but somehow that doesn't help with climbing badges. I wish they would do more long distance challenges. I did the Appalachian Trail Expedition a few years ago, but the last distance one I could do was 20 km on the Great Wall. Not much of a challenge.

  • p8m6bwghh9
    p8m6bwghh9 Posts: 673 Member

    @spiriteagle99 my watch doesn’t track for the climbing expeditions either, I am currently working on the Via Transilvanica. It said limited time so I skipped a couple shorter ones and joined it🤷‍♀️

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member
    edited April 2

    The expedition challenges are not time limited, even though it may say so. See this Garmin webpage:

    https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=6pECo6UIFn7ergw8kNmfu9#:~:text=These%20challenges%20have%20no%20expiration,climb%20expedition%20at%20a%20time.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    On my way of getting the first badge: the strength training one is probably the easiest with just 4hrs of workouts. The odd thing is that all the rest time is counted into it as well. Thus if I spent 40 minutes on a workout with rests, but effectively work 15 minutes then I get lots of points towards the badge.

  • megd44
    megd44 Posts: 434 Member

    I am doing a lot of the same challenges everyone has referenced. Active April, time to walk, step into April, steps, Stage 2 walking, and some expeditions. Starting Couch 2 5k this month too. If my knee can handle it, may be adding running next month.

  • SuzanneC1l9zz
    SuzanneC1l9zz Posts: 492 Member

    @yirara and @frankwbrown in case it matters to either of you, you can manually change your hrmax on Garmin. I adjusted mine with my cardiologist's help, since I'm on meds that lower my heart rate & reduce how much it will increase with exertion, and we also need me to stay (at least mostly) in specific zones when I exercise. If I use 220-age it's rare for it to register me as exceeding zone 1, and that wasn't helpful! Lol

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    Yes, I know. I'm born with a muscle condition, and as a result thresholds and all the other stuff doesn't work for me. But I have a guess at where my HRmax is and have set it in Garmin.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    Got my first badge for this month:

    Step into April: 100k steps in 2 weeks. Check. Easy when following a Garmin coach running programme.

    A 5k run starts tomorrow and I only have a chance of finishing it on Saturday as I'm going away from Sunday to Monday. Still considering going for a swim to get 1-2 of this month's swimming badges, but my local pool is more of a fun bath with slides and lots of screaming kiddies. And it's not cheap. There's a free LGBTIQ+ swim day at another pool; unfortunately on Sunday. Sigh. I'll be dancing at a concert then 😍

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member
    edited April 11

    Coincidentally, I too just got the Step into April badge… yesterday, but all from walking, no running.
    I've only swam 4,050 out of 13,124 feet toward my April Swim badge, but that's not a problem. Plenty of time to finish that and the April Swim Week badge as well.
    (I'm fortunate that my gym has a indoor dedicated swim pool with four lanes, plus an indoor exercise pool, plus an outdoor pool). (Plus a kiddy pool - which I've never used! 😂).

  • DaffyGirl88
    DaffyGirl88 Posts: 5,412 Member

    Totally bummed at the weather forecast, 48 degrees and 95% chance of rain today, and not much better tomorrow and Sunday. I totally wanted to get the 40k biking badge. I'll totally put that many km on my spin bike but the miles there don't register on Garmin. sigh

    @frankwbrown you should totally check out the kiddie pool. On second thought…I'm getting creepy old man vibes there. 🤣 Better stay away. 😉

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,378 Member

    48F or C? With C I would doubt, but in F (9C) it would be perfect for a nice bike ride if it's not stormy.

  • frankwbrown
    frankwbrown Posts: 13,733 Member
    edited April 11

    The 48℉ temp would be fine, but rain? Hmmm… a short ride in the rain might be fun, but 25 miles? I don't think so. 🌧️🚴‍♂️🌧️😝
    I might try for that badge on Sunday, providing a planned hike tomorrow doesn't do me in.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,000 Member

    If the bike gives you a distance estimate, you should be able to edit the activity in Garmin Connect and add the miles/km to the activity that way, if you like.

  • DaffyGirl88
    DaffyGirl88 Posts: 5,412 Member

    48 F, and that's too cold for my taste, even with my leg warmers, etc. And I'll ride in the rain if I have to, like if it rains during an organized ride or after I've left the house. But if it's actively raining I will not start. Especially today, the radar has had us in the yellow/red all day and my side yard is flooded. 🤔 There goes plan B for doing yard work.

    @AnnPT77 yes my Peloton gives me a mileage estimate. I looked once before to see if I could edit my Garmin activity and it didn't jump out at me. I will look again. 👍️

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,000 Member
    • Open the activity of your biking session in Garmin Connect.
    • Click on the 3 dots in the upper right corner.
    • Click "Edit Activity". That brings up the editing page.
    • Scroll down until you see the "Stat Editing" section, where "Distance" is shown.
    • Click on "Distance". That brings up a pop-up where you can input miles or kilometers.
    • Enter the mileage you want, then click "Done" in the pop-up.
    • The editing page re-appears.
    • Click "Save" in the lower right corner.

    That should do it. If you need, I can post screen shots of some or all of that.

  • DaffyGirl88
    DaffyGirl88 Posts: 5,412 Member
    edited April 12

    @AnnPT77 Thank you! No need for screen shots, I found it. 👍 As always you are a wealth of information! I tend to retain the more useless variety. 😊