Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#8 – Why You Should Skip Garmin Connect for Trailrunning Routes

There used to be three reasons not to use Garmin Connect for transferring trailrunning routes to your watch Luckily Garmin Connect is not mandatory, there are other options to get your routes uploaded to your watch. Independent of the option chosen, the file has to be in .fit format, because that is the binary format… Continue reading #8 – Why You Should Skip Garmin Connect for Trailrunning Routes

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#7 – Smart Hydration for Trail Runners: Create Your Own Water Point Map

As a heavy sweater I know how bad it feels to run dehydrated. Losing more than 2% of your body weight in fluids can negatively affect endurance and other aspects of physical performance. In temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius I loose as much as 1.5 liter of water every hour. That means that even with… Continue reading #7 – Smart Hydration for Trail Runners: Create Your Own Water Point Map

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#6 – Plot Smarter: Custom Waypoints for Garmin’s Up Ahead Screen

Garmin’s Up Ahead feature informs you of upcoming waypoints which are relevant to you. It’s particularly useful for trail runners, ultra runners, and hikers who want to track their progress towards specific points like aid stations, water sources, summits and many more. It (optionally) shows up as a data screen during navigation. The Up Ahead… Continue reading #6 – Plot Smarter: Custom Waypoints for Garmin’s Up Ahead Screen

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#5 – Streamline Trail Navigation with Better Turn Directions

As I wrote in the introduction, turn-by-turn instructions, especially with added voice navigation, works pretty well for me. When you are using a Garmin gps watch, like my Fenix 8, the default way to create, upload, and sync routes is through Garmin Connect. Garmin Connect does a really bad job in creating these turn directions.… Continue reading #5 – Streamline Trail Navigation with Better Turn Directions

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#4 – Best Trailrunning Route Planners: Why I Choose Plotaroute

Since 2008 I have been creating and modifying gpx files using afstandmeten.nl. A dutch website which has been around for ages, with an intuitive way of creating routes. It was one of the first route planners which can follow paths and roads instead of having to draw the lines yourself. And with a large (dutch)… Continue reading #4 – Best Trailrunning Route Planners: Why I Choose Plotaroute

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#3 – Komoot: A Trail Route Planner with Limitations

Komoot seems to be the ideal way to plan trail routes. Komoot uses the OSM map material and has a built-in “snap-to-map” function. Add to that the turn-by-turn navigation, the information about road types & surfaces, the integration with Garmin and the “discovery” functions and you have a complete package for planning cycling, walking &… Continue reading #3 – Komoot: A Trail Route Planner with Limitations

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#2 – Unlocking Local Trails: The Power of OpenStreetMap

There are many ways of finding interesting trails. For navigation purpose, it’s always the .gpx file you are looking for. These can be downloaded from numerous places: There is one more method I would like to spend some more time on in this article, which is finding trails based on OpenStreeMap data. I think this… Continue reading #2 – Unlocking Local Trails: The Power of OpenStreetMap

Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS

#1 – Trailrunning with a Garmin GPS: Your Ultimate Guide

As a trailrunner, I like adventures, being outdoors, discovering new trails and new places. In this new blog series “Trailrunning with a (Garmin) GPS” I would like to share my experiences of navigating those trails with the help of my Garmin GPS watch, with at least the next articles: #1 – Trailrunning with a Garmin… Continue reading #1 – Trailrunning with a Garmin GPS: Your Ultimate Guide