Garmin Race Glance Widget explained

Race Glance Widget is something that Garmin has added with the launch of the Forerunner 955 and 255 watches. Here’s everything you need to know about this useful feature.

Race Glance widget – what is it?

You’ve been training hard day after day, running come rain or shine. All in preparation for the big day. It could be a 5K, 10K or longer race such as a half-marathon or marathon.

But there is a lot to keep track of when preparing for an important race. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a tool that told you just how prepared you are, helping you train and giving you important information ahead of time? Something that would help lessen the load.

Well, now there is. This is where Garmin’s Race Glance widget comes in. It is also referred to as the Race Widget or Race Day Widget.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

The feature was launched recently on the latest batch of Forerunner watches. It is also now in Beta on a range of other high-end watches such as the Fenix 7 range, Epix 2 and a few others. If you are someone who runs a lot a does the occasional race here and there, it might be worth looking into. It’s actually more useful than you might think.

Race Glance widget – how to set-up and use

To use the feature, you will first need to add the race you are participating in to your Garmin Connect calendar. This is very easily done via the smartphone app or website. The procedure is the same with either option.

Find an existing event

The begin, you will need to find out if the race you are participating in is already available on the Garmin events database. If you do find it, it will make things simpler.

The search is done by opening Garmin Connect or the web dashboard, going to Calendar, clicking on any day in the future and selecting Event. You’ll be presented with the choice Find an Event or Create an Event.

If you choose the first option you will be asked to select the type of event you are looking for. This could be Running, Trail Running and more. Click Next and then choose a location where you would like to race.

There are also advanced search options which allow you to refine your selection. When you find the event you are looking for, select it and it will be added to your Garmin Connect calendar.

You will also be presented with the option to add specific goals for the race. Someone’s goal might be simply to complete an event. Or it might be to aim to finish the in a specific time. Click Finish when you are done. The race event should now be listed in your calendar. Click on the event in the calendar to view details or create a Pace Pro strategy.

Here are a few screenshots on what this looks like in the Garmin Connect smartphone app.

Create your own event

If the event you are participating in is not available, the procedure is a little bit more complicated.

First you will need to create a course in Garmin Connect. This is done in the Training>Courses section. You can also do this if the event you have chosen does not have a course. Once done, click Add to Event if you want to attach it to an event. If the course is marked Private, you will be asked to make it Public so that everyone participating in the event can access the course details.

As far as creating your own event, choose a future date in the calendar and choose Event>Create a Event. You will be asked to fill in all the event details. You can also make the event shareable and visible to other people.

If you’ve already created a course, don’t forget to attach it to the event. To get the most out of the Race Widget feature, it is recommended that you create a course. The remainder of the procedure is the same as if you were choosing an existing event.

Here are a few screenshots from the web dashboard.

What type of information will you get with the Race Widget?

Sync your watch to your Garmin Connect account and you’ll notice that a new widget has been added to your list of primary widgets. Click on it for more information.

Once set up, the Race Glance Widget on your watch will:

• Let you know how long you have until the race – a countdown.
• Assist in managing your training volume and intensity.
• Help you prepare for race-day conditions by giving you weather and elevation information (if you’ve added a course).
• You’ll get daily suggested workouts that are tailored to the race. This will be segregated into phases. Training phases include base phase, build phase, peak phase, taper phase and race phase.
• You’ll see a predicted finish time which will adjust depending on your daily training. This is based on your Vo2Max, training history, total training load, running miles, number and distance of long runs, and more. 

All in all, the Race Widget is a useful little feature. It might make preparing for a race a bit easier.

It is important to note, the more you wear your watch the more accurate the Race Glance Widget will be. And when we say wear – we mean not just during the day but also at night. Sleep data plays a crucial role as recovery data feeds into daily suggested workout information.

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