Garmin 010-12520-00 Running Dynamics Pod

Garmin’s tiny but entirely capable Running Dynamics Pod is a device worn on the back of your running shorts which then communicates with your Garmin running wearable to provide running dynamics in real time during your workouts. These six combined metrics will help you with your running form and efficiency and are as follows:Cadence - measured in steps per minute (spm), this is how quickly you are moving your feet. The pod overrides your watch’s included cadence sensor. This is more accurate since the pod is far more static on your torso and is therefore closer to the ground than it would be if the data were coming from a constantly moving source (wrists).Ground Contact Time Balance - shows the balance of your left and right feet at the time of impact/strike. This is presented as a numerical value on the watch in real time, showing either a perfect 50-50 balance reading or giving you a value with an arrow showing which side you are favoring. Knowing these metrics in real time or viewing this data after your run can help improve running form.Ground Contact Time - shows the length of your impact when striking the ground and is measured in milliseconds. The lower this number is, the better as there is less strain on the joints with a lower contact time.Stride Length - this measures the length of your stride in meters and is an important metric to monitor when doing speed work and pace training.Vertical Oscillation - this is the height of your bounce measured in centimeters and the lower this value is, the less strain you are putting on your body. Think of this in terms of if you jumped high and landed on your feet, the impact would be far greater on your joints as opposed to if you did a smaller jump.Vertical Oscillation Ratio - this is a combination of the values of your stride length and vertical oscillation to help gauge how much time you are spending off the ground. This metric is expressed as a percentage.The actual pod is encased in a silicone housing from which it can be removed if the batteries need to be changed. Battery life is rated for up to a year and is user replaceable. The pod is waterproof to some degree in the sense that heavy sweat and the occasional downpour during your runs will not affect performance, but one cannot fully immerse it in water for prolonged periods of time. It is only available in a single color and while that may be puzzling at first, it is actually a smart decision on Garmin's part as the unit is highly visible on nearly all colors of clothing. This is a blessing as the pod is slightly larger than a peanut M&M and can easily be forgotten about once you throw your running shorts in the hamper. The unit is so light at 12 grams that the user forgets it's even there during a workout. The silicon layered clip is strong and never once has the pod fallen off during or after a workout.There are no physical buttons on the pod, you simply either wear it, walk to your starting point and initiate a run on your watch or wake the unit by gently giving it a vertical shake or two. Pairing is extremely simple and if your Garmin wearable supports it (check Garmin's website for compatibility), you'll be up and running in under a minute. On supported devices, there will be two visible data pages consisting of the six metrics described above for monitoring dynamics in real time. This data is also saved and logged to your run statistics under your Garmin Connect account for viewing at a later time. Having used the pod for well over a month now, I can say that these metrics update with an alarming rate of frequency during a workout. If you move your feet faster, you'll see your cadence increase and your stride length decrease almost instantaneously. The same goes for all the other metrics. When the workout is over, your watch buzzes to remind you to remove the pod.Garmin's Run, Tri and now Pro chest heart rate monitors will provide these same metrics with the added benefit of giving the user heart rate data over its optical, wrist -based counterpart. But what if you have another, off-brand chest strap or simply don't like wearing heart rate monitors to begin with? That's where this little pod comes in.Bottom line, if your watch supports it and you love data, there's no reason not to have this little device in your arsenal.

I’ve had this device for a year and I use it regularly. The battery depleted after about 9 months of use but I am using more than average so that’s OK. I mainly use it for looking at my balance since I run on the road and the cambre causes me to favour one foot over the other. I’m a bit of a data junkie so it plays i to that. The thing is very unobtrusive so gets good marks for that. Actually it’s so unobtrusive it ends up in the washing machine with my shorts.***NOTE on CHANGING BATTERY***As far as the battery is concerned people have complained about the RD pod saying that when a brand new batteries is inserted to the device it is reported by the device as “low, ie change the battery”. I suspect this is because the device has residual charge on it’s capacitors and it thinks the old battery is still present and doesn’t get to reset the CPU properly. The way I solved this was to take the battery out and then use a wire to short the + and - terminals in the device. This discharges any residual charge in the circuits powering the device so that when the battery is replaced the CPU re-registers the battery levels. At least this is my suspicion and it worked for me after seeing the low battery warning.

I bought this item to replace an earlier sensor

I use this product to guage how I'm running at a deeper data level. After an injury, I wanted to be sure that I was running balanced, right to left. That works great (be sure it is centered on your running shorts). Other data is useful too, including cadence and step duration time (faster cadence means less time on the ground with each step). I'm not exactly sure how to change vertical oscillation... But I can see it is less when I'm in the running zone, and more when I'm walking, which is actually pretty interesting.Overall, I enjoy the data, and I think it improved my form. Plus you do nothing after initially connecting it .. it just works.The only downside is that on most runs it drops the connection at least once. Then, the data is missing until it reconnects and the average is skewed. But, the graphs are still excellent for review, and I do like the device a lot, and all the data it gives me.

I spent six months training with an HR chest strap, which provides the same running dynamics as this pod. Then I started to get uncomfortable chafing on my chest and decided I would try the pod instead. I'm happy I did. If you keep your watch strap tight enough, then the wrist-based HR sensor on Garmin watches will provide you a "close-enough" reading on your heart rate that you can still get all the benefits of a heart rate sensor. Meanwhile, the pod takes care of all the other running dynamics. Easy peasy.There are two downsides: First, the pod can be a little finicky. You have to make sure it's exactly in the center of your shorts, otherwise it will throw off the Ground Contact Balance data. You also have to make sure it's as close to vertical as possible or, again, it will throw the GCB data off. It may take you some time to learn how to get it exactly right.The other downside is that you will not be able to get lactate threshold data if you use the pod. You need an HR strap for that, presumably because the greater level of HR accuracy is required for valid lactate threshold estimates. This is no great loss to me, personally, because I did not find the lactate threshold data to be particularly accurate for me. Perhaps the next generation of Garmin technology will improve upon that feature.Overall, most users will likely get more out of the pod than the strap. The strap is uncomfortable, awkward, and kind of dorky-looking, and confers no great advantage over wrist-based HR measurements. The pod is simple, discreet, and comfortable. Unless you need almost-medically accurate HR measurements, I'd say get the pod and ditch the strap.