Fitness score dropped from beach run

[EmilyLH2024]

My cardio fitness score on my versa 4 has been 'excellent' for several months. I mainly do Tabata workouts, HIIT, walking, treadmill, and strength training.

However today I thought I'd mix it up and go for a run along a sandy beach as the weather has been so nice. I was obviously slow as I was running in loose/deep sand so it was hard work. But my fitness score has dropped from 'excellent' to 'good' after one run. How can that be? I'd been taking pride in moving my score up and now that steep drop from one 45 minute run is disappointing to see! Am I not as fit as I hoped?

[Heather-S · Accepted solution]

@EmilyLH2024 The cardio fitness score is mainly driven by your personal data (age, sex, weight, etc). You get a more precise score once you run with GPS. This help article will explain in more detail. 

[EmilyLH2024]

Thanks @Heather-S 😊 

The GPS was on. From that article you shared I assume it was because I was running on soft deep sand for 4 miles rather than normal terrain? So was slower than usual etc because of that. Will do some runs on normal terrain and see what happens! Would be good if Fitbit had the option to say what type of terrain it was...

[LZeeW]

@EmilyLH2024   Yes, it was because of the soft sand.  You had to work harder so your heart rate was higher than running on a hard surface.  Like the Help article says, if you have two otherwise identical people running side by side, the one with the lower heart rate will have the better cardio fitness score.