Inaccurate distance and timing on runs

[cm1956]

Hello,  It seems as if my zip fitbit is not accurately capturing the total time I am jogging, and therefore I fear it is leading me to believe I am faster than I am, which could mess me up for the upcoming 2018 NYC marathon.  I am also not sure it is providing the correct mileage.  Ex: this morning I did my regular run but it recorded about 1/4 mile more than I actually ran (I think). I have been relying on my fitbit to get me across the finish line in a certain amount of time, and would be devastated if I was way off on my timing. Could the battery be draining? This has been a relatively new observation - within last 2 weeks.  Comments will be appreciated.  Thanks.

[LuciaFitbit]

Hi @cm1956, welcome to the Community! I will be more than glad to help you sort this out, so that you can meet your goals for the NYC marathon. 🙂 In order for me to be able to further investigate, I will ask you to answer a few questions:

- How do you track your runs?
- Do you use MobileTrack or any other 3rd party app?
- Do you manually log your exercises?

In the meantime I suggest that you check if your stride length is correct and you can also try restarting your Zip.

Hope to hear from you soon!

[cm1956]

Hello, thanks for your response.  To answer your questions below:
1. I simply go for a jog, and once I'm finished I make note of the mileage and the # of minutes my Zip says says I jogged.  Lately, when I'm sure I've been out one hour, the Zip will say only 53 minutes (for an example).  I know this because I looked at my clock before I left, and upon arriving back home.  In other words, the Zip is not consistent with the real time, if that makes sense.


Hi @cm1956, welcome to the Community! I will be more than glad to help you sort this out, so that you can meet your goals for the NYC marathon. In order for me to be able to further investigate, I will ask you to answer a few questions:

 

- How do you track your runs? 
 I simply go for a jog, and once I'm finished I make note of the mileage and the # of minutes my Zip says says I jogged.  Lately, when I'm sure I've been out one hour, the Zip will say only 53 minutes (for an example).  I know this because I looked at my clock before I left, and upon arriving back home.  In other words, the Zip is not consistent with the real time, if that makes sense.




- Do you use MobileTrack or any other 3rd party app?  - No


- Do you manually log your exercises?  Not on Fitbit (but sometimes on Strava and always after the fact, maybe even a day or two later).


 

In the meantime I suggest that you check if your stride length is correct and you can also try restarting your Zip.  Will try restarting when I get home tonight. 



Please let me know your thoughts.  Thanks, Chris






 

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Thanks for getting back with those details @cm1956. It is very helpful.

Sorry about your missing steps! Thanks for the steps that you already tried to understand what is happening with your Zip. As @LuciaFitbit mentioned, the basic troubleshooting step to help your little buddy is the restart. But you can also check if the battery door is not broken or loose since if the battery is loose, it might be causing that data lost. Confirm that the metal piece of the back is not bend too.

Then follow the accuracy test steps, so we can verify how is this working. 

1. Put your Zip on your wrist.
2. Walk 100 steps, making sure to count a step each time one of your feet hits the ground.
3. Pause, then check your tracker to see your step count.

If your tracker counted less than 100 steps or more than 100, please let us know and we'll see if we can investigate further. Sometimes, when you start walking you may notice that your steps may not update on your tracker right away. After about 10-15 continuous steps, you'll notice the steps catch up and start updating in real-time with each step you take.

If that's not working, we might have to check what is the next options with our support team.

I'll be around, let me know how this works! 

[cm1956]

Thank you.  I have reset my Zip, and will do the step test.  I think it will be OK, even if off by a few minutes.  I appreciate your assistance with this.   Chris M.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @cm1956, thanks for replying! I hope you get a good result when doing the test. You're welcome!  I'm here to help. Please keep me posted on the resolution, if this is not working properly we might have to check with our support team.

I'll be around.