More on the Milestone Pod
After a few runs on the Milestone Pod, I thought I would give a little more of my experience inside and outside with it so far. Considering the small investment, I continue to be impressed. $25 goes a long way compared to what you get for that on the bike.
Inside Use
Inside, the Zwift app worked well for running. I was impressed with the way it worked, and I would recommend it for anyone who needs an app for recording in-door sessions. I really do not think that the avatar did much for me, but I liked the metrics at the top of the screen (pace, cadence, and heart rate. I also liked the mile lap splits. These kept me rather highly motivated.
Outside Use
When outdoors, the Milestone Pod worked equally well. Paired with the Strava app, and using a heart rate monitor, the two sensors gave me all the data I could ever need. It was not as nice as a fancy running watch, but the phone in a belt pouch did the trick. If I cared about live monitoring of data outside, I might be looking for an upgrade, but even then the sensor itself would be a great add on. I like that the pod works independent of the phone, so I can even run without the phone and sync the runs later. I do not do this simply because the heart rate data is important to me, and I need the phone to record that.
How accurate is the distance the Milestone Pod records? I would say that so far, it seems close enough. I can sync the recorded runs over known distances, and it will continue to get better over time I am told. On the treadmill, the pace and distance seemed about what I expected. It will obviously take more than a few runs to get a better idea.
I was surprised by all of the other data that the milestone collected through its free proprietary app. Its rather advanced cadence, footfall, and stride measurements were beyond what I had come to expect from a $25 sensor. I paid $750 for dual sided power that seems to tell me about the same on my bike!
So, what are the Milestone Pod Metrics?
Pace-everyone wants to know how fast they're going. It's nice that the pod can detect pauses as well. It stops when you fall below 100 rpm.
Odometer-The pod will keep track of how many miles you put on your shoes. Useful info for those who complain about sore feet after I,000 miles on a pair of shoes. Lol.
Stride length-perfecting your stride length can have great benefits, so why not keep track?
Cadence-as in cycling, a higher cadence leads to more efficiency and more speed. 180 is about what most coaches call the "gold standard."
Ground contact-how long your foot stays on the ground. Measured in milliseconds, decreasing your contact time to around 200ms will put you in with the true elite.
Leg swing-how high you kick your leg back towards the buttocks. I guess higher is better. Who knew?
Foot strike-The pod measures whether you are a heel, mid, or toe striker. This is a debatable metric, but when paired with rate of impact, it determines how well you land with each stride.
Runficiency score-this metric puts it all together. 100 is the best one can achieve. 73 is the average. By improving your cadence, ground contact, stride, and leg swing, you can see this increase.
Initial Final Thoughts (Does that even make sense?)
I'm not ever going to be a huge runner, but I am interested in seeing how I am doing when I do lace them up. So far, the $25 milestone Pod has at least kept me interested. I am a little hesitant to think that the metrics are super accurate in a $25 sensor, but if the distance, cadence and pace are in the ballpark, I am okay with that. Kudos to Milestone so far on a great sensor and app.