Set up Parent Pace

You only do this once. Do every step in order. The field works out whether you have the stroller from the name of the activity you start, so steps 2 and 3 matter most.

1. Install Parent Pace

   1. On your phone, open the Connect IQ app.
   2. If you have more than one Garmin device, select your watch.
   3. Search for Parent Pace and open it.
   4. Follow the on-screen instructions to install it.

   The watch picks up the new field the next time it syncs with your phone.

2. Make a Stroller Run activity

   You'll make a copy of your Run activity and give it a name with the word Stroller in it.

   1. From the watch face, press the upper-right button. Your list of activities opens.
   2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and select Edit, then Add.
   3. Select Copy Activity, then select Run.
   4. When the watch asks for a name, enter a custom name: Stroller Run.
   5. Select Done.

   Any name with "Stroller" in it works, in any capitals: Stroller Run, Stroller Tempo, Morning stroller. A name without it, like "BOB run", is treated as a solo run.

   To keep stroller runs out of your VO2 max estimate, copy Trail Run instead, name it something like Stroller Trail, and turn off Record VO2 Max. in its settings. Garmin still counts trail runs as running, but Strava files them as a separate sport from runs.

3. Put Parent Pace on a data screen

   1. From the watch face, press the upper-right button and select Stroller Run. Don't start it.
   2. On the screen where the watch looks for GPS, scroll down and select the activity's settings.
   3. Select Data Screens.
   4. Select the data screen you want to use, or select Add New to add one.
   5. Select Layout if you want to change how many fields the screen shows.
   6. Select Data Fields and the slot you want, then open the Connect IQ category and choose Parent Pace.

   A big slot is easier to read mid-run. Back on the GPS screen, scroll to your data screen: the field should be labelled SAP and show -- until you start moving.

4. Enter your weights

   The field needs three weights: yours, the stroller's and your child's.

   1. Your own weight comes from your Garmin user profile. Check it: from the watch face, hold the middle-left button, then select Watch Settings, User Profile, and look at your weight. If it's wrong, fix it there or in the Garmin Connect app.
   2. On your phone, open the Connect IQ app, find Parent Pace among the apps on your watch, and open its Settings.
   3. Enter Stroller weight (lb): the empty stroller's weight as the maker states it. A BOB Alterrain Pro is 32.3 lb.
   4. Enter Child weight (lb).
   5. For a double stroller, enter Second child weight (lb). Otherwise leave it at 0.
   6. If you carry heavy bags or water, enter them as Extra load (lb). Otherwise leave it at 0.
   7. Leave everything under Advanced alone.
   8. Save. The watch picks up the new settings the next time it syncs.

   Weights are in pounds for now. One kilogram is 2.2 pounds.

5. Decide about anonymous sharing

   In the same Settings, under Anonymous data, there's a Share anonymous data switch. It's off unless you turn it on. When it's on, each run sends a short summary that helps us improve the formula. It never includes your name, GPS or route. The privacy page lists exactly what's sent.

   If you turn sharing on, also do step 6.

6. If you share: add Parent Pace to your Run activity too

   Repeat step 3, but select your everyday Run activity instead of Stroller Run. On solo runs the field shows grade-adjusted pace, labelled PP GAP, and those runs give the formula a baseline to compare your stroller runs against.

   Don't expect PP GAP to match the GAP field Garmin offers. Garmin hasn't published its hill model; Parent Pace uses Minetti's, which adjusts more strongly for hills, both up and down. How it works explains it.

7. Go for a run

   Start the Stroller Run activity. The data screen should say SAP. If it says PP GAP, the activity name doesn't contain "Stroller": go back to step 2.

   After you sync, open the run in Garmin Connect. You'll see two charts, Parent Pace SAP and Parent Pace GAP, and their averages.

If something's not right

If the field shows -- while you're moving, check that your weight is set in your Garmin user profile. The field won't guess a body weight. It also shows -- when you're stopped.

Anything else, email chris@parentpace.app with a photo of the watch screen and the date of the run.