Upgrade for Forerunner 245 / 745 / 945. Workout suggestions, sleep tracking, training feeling and more

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As happened in the past when several models in the range received the new features introduced with the Garmin Forerunner 745, now comes another handful of new features that were presented in other models previously. For example with the Garmin Enduro.

Not only are these new features specific to the Enduro, the 245 continues to receive other functions (incredible after such a long time on the market) and, for example, will have training suggestions.

At the moment these features are available for the beta firmware version to which you can manually upgrade, but soon everything will be available in the final production version, once it is confirmed that everything is working as it should.

Here are the direct links to the beta versions of each of these models:

– Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 245
- Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 245 Music
– Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 745
– Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 945

The new features of Garmin

Below I briefly detail what are the new features coming to the different models. Keep in mind that the Forerunner 245, despite receiving quite a few updates, does not receive all of them completely.

Suggested daily workouts for Garmin Forerunner 245

This feature debuted with the Forerunner 745 and later came to the rest of the high-end Garmin models. If you are not doing any Garmin Coach workouts or downloading Training Peaks workouts, it is now the watch itself that will suggest a workout for you to do based on your past training history, cumulative load and overall fitness.

In the FR245 it is somewhat more limited because while in the other models the suggestions are for running and cycling, in the 245 they will be exclusively for running training (although the watch has a cycling profile).

Advanced sleep tracking with scoring directly on the watch

Available for Forerunner 745 and 945, does not reach 245

It first came to Garmin Fenix 6 a few months ago, and then directly to Garmin Fenix 6 a few months ago, and then directly to Garmin Fenix 6 a few months ago. Garmin Enduro and Garmin Venu 2/2S from last week.

Until now all Garmin watches already supported sleep tracking, but the amount of information they provided was quite limited, and they displayed it exclusively in the Garmin Connect app.

The watch recorded sleep, but until we didn't synchronize with the platform we didn't have access to the rest data. Now it is the watch itself that processes the data and displays the information through a widget, without the need for a synchronization with the platform. It also offers us a score for the quality of rest.

After spending your first night sleeping with the new feature, this is the information that 1TP10You will see in the widget.

As with the other widgets, if you click on the 1TP10 button, you will have access to more details about how the break went.

Here is the information it shows:

• Total time you've stayed asleep
• Score assessing what your rest was like, from 0 to 100
• Sleep quality level
• Line with the different phases of sleep that we have been going through (what you could see before in Garmin Connect)
• A short summary of how was your rest

If we click down, we have the line of the sleep phases enlarged for poder to see everything in greater detail, both in linear graphics and in total times of each phase.

And an expanded description of the summary he had given us at the beginning.

Possibility to enter perceived exertion and sensations at the end of a training session

Available for Forerunner 245, 745 and 945

Until now the possibility of entering a rating of perceived exertion and sensation had been available in the Garmin Connect application, but somewhat hidden within its functions.

Within the activity we had to select the option to edit it and there we found those options.

Now 1TP10We have to enable the watch to ask us directly when we save the training. To do this we have to activate it in the menu of each activity. We can define if we want to be prompted for any training or only for structured or series training.

When you save the activity, a roulette will appear to select the value from 1 to 10 according to the perceived intensity, and 5 faces to indicate your sensations.

This will be stored and we will also be able to see it in Garmin Connect when reviewing the activity.

This is used especially when we are following a structured training plan and want to see in perspective the work we have been doing and, above all, when we are working with a trainer.

This is what I usually do after each workout on TrainingPeaks, so that my trainer can know how I feel after a session and see if he should ease off in successive workouts or if the assimilation of workouts allows me to raise the intensity a notch.

Unfortunately the selection we make in Garmin is not synchronized with TrainingPeaks (at least for the moment), which is what most of us would really like.

Trail-specific Ultra Run and VO2Max activity profile

Available for Forerunner 745 and 945, 245 only receives VO2Max for trail but no Ultra Run profile

The Garmin Enduro brought new trail-specific features. The first of these, which comes to all models (245, 745 and 945) is a trail-specific VO2Max.

Until now this estimation did not occur in the mountain race profiles because it was not adapted to make considerations according to the slope.

That is, in the normal running profile the watch records if you run at 4:00 min/km maintaining a heart rate of 150 beats per minute, and will estimate that your VO2max is X (it's a simplification of the algorithm, but it's more or less so).

What happens in the trails? Until now in those profiles there was no VO2max estimation. Because in case of using the normal running profile, maybe you are running at 6:00 min/km at 170 beats per minute, but you are doing it climbing 12% hill.

However, the watch will not take this detail of the slope into account, it will simply take into account that you are running slowly and with a high heart rate, so it will lower the VO2Max record.

This is where the new VO2max estimation makes sense, as it will now take that data into account in order to better assess what your real performance is.

As for the Ultra Distance or Ultra Run profile, it differs from the others in that it has a rest timer. Its sole mission is to record the time you spend at the refreshment posts (or at a meal during the race).

This will allow you to see in the race analysis more precise data about your running or refreshment times.

Other new developments

Those are the most important things, or at least the ones that 1TP10You will see directly on your watch. But also the Body Battery and stress measurement algorithm has been improved, plus a few other things.

How to update to the beta version

Upgrading your watch to the beta version is very easy and does not lead to data loss unless you want to revert to an earlier firmware version (for example the latest released version), in which case the settings will be reset to default values.

But if you keep the beta version and upgrade to the next release version (which will already include all these changes) you won't lose data either. I have been using this version for several days and everything works perfectly, so there is no reason to fear.

First you will have to download the update files from the corresponding page of your watch (245, 745 or 945) by clicking on the download button.

Here are the direct links:

– Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 245
- Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 245 Music
– Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 745
– Beta updates for Garmin Forerunner 945

• Connect the watch to your computer using the USB cable. On Mac and for music watches (FR245 Music and FR945 Music) you will need to install Android File Transfer.
• Download the corresponding file for your model and unzip it. On the watch, open the \GARMIN\ folder and copy the GUPDATE.GCD file.
• From the downloaded files, open \RemoteSW\ and copy the file inside (the file names changes depending on the model) to the \GARMIN\RemoteSW\ folder on your watch
• Disconnect the watch from your computer and accept the software update that will be displayed on the screen.

After the update is down you will already have installed the firmware version that incorporates the new features indicated above, along with the rest of the other features. Below you can see what everything is included in each update.

News Garmin Forerunner 245 / 245M v6.85 Beta

• Added daily workout suggestions (limited) for running activities. Go to Training > Workouts > Today's suggestion to see the options.
• The ability to rate the perceived exertion and sensation of a running, cycling or swimming activity has been added. The prompts appear after saving the activity. Go to [Activity] Settings > Self-Assessment for options.
• Added VO2 Max for Trail Run activities.
• Improved results for daily Body Battery calculations.
• Intensity Minute determinations were updated to align with CDC guidance.
• Improved stress level readings.
• Improvements in swimming activities.
• Some metronome interference with wrist-based cadence has been corrected.
• Other minor improvements and bug fixes.

News Garmin Forerunner 745 v4.85 Beta

• Added sleep tracking widget with sleep score and Firstbeat information.
• The ability to rate the perceived exertion and sensation of a running, cycling or swimming activity has been added. The prompts appear after saving the activity. Go to [Activity] Settings > Self-Assessment for options.
• Added Ultra Run activity profile.
• Added VO2 Max for Trail Run activities.
• Improved results for daily Body Battery calculations.
• Intensity Minute determinations were updated to align with CDC guidance.
• Metabolic calories were added to the total calories reported in the calorie data field and recorded in the activity file.
• Improved stress level readings.
• Improvements in swimming activities.
• Some metronome interference with wrist-based cadence has been corrected.
• Other minor improvements and bug fixes.

What's New Garmin Forerunner 945 v6.85 Beta

• Added sleep tracking widget with sleep score and Firstbeat information.
• The ability to rate the perceived exertion and sensation of a running, cycling or swimming activity has been added. The prompts appear after saving the activity. Go to [Activity] Settings > Self-Assessment for options.
• Added Ultra Run activity profile.
• Added VO2 Max for Trail Run activities.
• Improved results for daily Body Battery calculations.
• Intensity Minute determinations were updated to align with CDC guidance.
• Metabolic calories were added to the total calories reported in the calorie data field and recorded in the activity file.
• Improved stress level readings.
• Improvements in swimming activities.
• Some metronome interference with wrist-based cadence has been corrected.
• Other minor improvements and bug fixes.