Versa suddenly tracking too many miles compared to steps

[RunnerGrrl]

After much trial and error with stride length (using 5K, 10K, and half marathon road races), I finally have my Versa set up to give accurate mileage when I run or walk, so I know that my 5.5 miles/day minimum for all activity, is between 10,500 and11,500 steps. But twice in the past week I've noticed a sudden increase in mileage for a lot fewer steps/strides - and my stride length is what it should be in settings - about 30 inches for walking, 32 inches for running.  For example, today my mileage is 6.53 miles in 8507 steps - that's about a FOUR FOOT stride length!

What gives?

Thanks in advance.

[JuanJoFitbit]

@RunnerGrrl It's great to see you in our Fitbit Community! I'm sorry to hear that the mileage has increased on your Versa. Thank you for making sure that your stride length is correct.

Please restart your Versa as described in this help article. This will refresh your tracker internally. After this, monitor your tracker and see if the mileage is accurate again.

Keep me posted on the outcome! 

[RunnerGrrl]

Thanks for the reply. I've restarted the Versa and my phone a number of times, even before my initial post here, but also since then... and, it's still happening. Not everyday, just once in a while. Today, for example (see attached image) my Versa tells me I have covered 7.26 miles so far in about 11,000 steps. That's a stride length 3.48 feet (~42 inches)!

My running stride length is set for 32 inches and my walking stride at 30 inches, and when I run or walk a marked course it is a very close match depending on the hills.

Yesterday was more reasonable. I covered 6.67 miles in about 13,633 steps. I ran 5 miles of those miles and the rest was just moving around my day. That comes out to 31" stride length on average, which is about perfect.

Would love to get this fixed since I am participating in a year-long running challenge and have my FitBit mileage synced with another app... this means I'm getting credit for miles I'm not actually running, so I may need to drop out of the challenge if a solution is not found.

[RunnerGrrl]

Here's the image of today's erroneous mileage... I forgot to attach it. Thanks.

[RunnerGrrl]

Happened again. This is a little better - but this is still equal to a 36 inch stride length. I don't understand the discrepancy from day to day. I have changed nothing, so even if the mileage is wrong, you'd think the stride length (even the wrong one) would be consistent when compared to the number of steps. But it is wildly different from day to day - ranging from nearly 48" to 36" stride length. 

[JohnnyRow]

Are you ever manually logging  activity?  Or using phone's GPS connected to Fitbit?

If you're willing to do some detective work, look at the graph on fitbit.com dashboard and compare steps and distance to see if you can tell when it's logging the extra distance and think about what you were doing then.

[RunnerGrrl]

Hi - and thanks for the suggestion! I don't use the GPS feature, but I do log specific exercise. I've tried looking at the graph, but since the step count is consistent with past similar activities it's hard to pinpoint where the extra distance is coming from...

It happened the first time about two weeks ago on a day when I was struggling to hit my step goal of 12K. I am in a challenge to cover 2019 miles this year and that's a minimum of 5.5 miles everyday or about 11.5K steps based on my stride length - and noticed I had 8+ miles on distance with less than 12K steps. It's happened two or three times more since then - other days it's correct. I don't recall this happening before then, and it's been consistently accurate. I ran a half marathon in Feb and the distance was dead on.

[JohnnyRow]

Maybe this is what you did, or maybe it would be too hard to decifer, but I was thinking of looking at distance graph first to see if there is some time you were getting distance when you wouldn't have expected it.

Also you mostly quoted daily totals being out of whack, but did you check them in workout log for your runs to tell if the difference is coming from the runs or from the other non-workout time?

[RunnerGrrl]

Yes, I looked at both of those things and don't see anything that jumps out - the mileage vs. steps in my runs appear accurate (also elliptical workouts and walking). There are no other times during the day that show any significant distance gain.

I appreciate the suggestions...

[RunnerGrrl]

I am starting over. I have removed my calculated stride lengths that took months to establish, and I am letting the Versa auto-calculate stride lengths - it's showing 27.3" for walking and 31.4" for running. I have done minimal moving around my small house, then a 4 mile run this morning, and about a mile of walking. However, I am already seeing issues with mileage for the day - 6.71 miles is simply too much and not correct based on number of steps and stride length:

Here is the math:

6.71 miles X 5280 ft/mile = 35428.8 feet

35428.8 feet /12290 steps = 2.88 feet or 34.6 inches/step

This is nowhere near the largest auto-calculated stride length of 31.4 inches that the Versa indicates it is using to calculate distance.  So the error is not originating with stride length - it's an error in the mileage, and it just started recently. And yes, I have  done the multiple obligatory restarts on the Versa and my phone.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. 

[123rkb123]

Hi there, did you ever get a resolution to your problem?  My 5'3" girlfriend's Versa says she walked 9.06 miles in 13,250 steps - a stride length of almost 43.5"!  And it happens daily.  She's about ready to call it quits.

Thanks,

Rob

[RunnerGrrl]

Sorry for the delay - I'm just now seeing this question. Apparently the check box to "email me when someone replies" doesn't work either 

FitBit finally sent me a new tracker!