I signed up for this 12 months’s RunDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon seven months in the past with out realizing I might be shifting into a brand new home all through the month earlier than race day. It’s been a busy few weeks!
I additionally didn’t know Apple would have an all-new model of AirPods launched simply 5 days earlier than the 13.1-mile race! The run round Disney World could be my fourth half marathon race, however my first of that distance utilizing Apple Watch Series 5 and AirPods Pro.
Whereas we’re on the subject of surprises, let’s speak concerning the race begin time. I ought to have identified a half marathon distance run round Disney World would happen previous to the park opening for company, however I didn’t discover the 5:30 a.m. begin time till the day earlier than the race.
I spent Saturday morning selecting up my race packet and exploring the expo the place I seen transportation from parking close to the end line at EPCOT to the beginning line at Magic Kingdom ran from 3 a.m. to three:30 a.m. My plan to go to Disney World till closing time adjusted to leaving by 5 p.m. so I might get in mattress early.
As a aspect notice, the iPhone 11 Professional Max and Apple Watch Collection 5 with AirPods Professional lasted by way of the day at Disney with out recharging with battery packs or wall adapters. I cranked by way of a couple of episodes of Apple TV+ shows whereas ready in line at Star Wars and Toy Story rides. Right here’s a cool iPhone 11 Professional Max shot from Slinky Canine Sprint curler coaster:
Battery prep on race morning
I set my alarm for 1 a.m. on Sunday morning so I might have loads of time to get up, have breakfast, and collect all the pieces for the race earlier than heading to the park. This was a bit complicated contemplating the time change occurring at 2 a.m., however in some way I managed! Happily, we gained an hour versus shedding one, though I technically misplaced one in a time zone change — it balanced out.
The drive from the place I stayed with household to Disney World took about 45 minutes, and I stored my Apple Watch on its charger till I arrived at 3 a.m. With 2.5 hours to go till race time, I stored the watch in Airplane Mode till simply earlier than the race began. I additionally used Theater Mode to forestall the show from turning on with out tapping the display or clicking a button on the watch.
My iPhone 11 Professional Max stayed locked up within the automotive since my Apple Watch Collection 5 is mobile and I dislike operating with the telephone.
There was one hiccup with AirPods Professional battery after I arrived: the suitable AirPod Professional reported 85% battery regardless of being within the charging case which itself was charging in a single day. I didn’t need to danger shedding energy in a single earphone earlier than ending the race, so I adjusted my plan and packed the charging case in my Amphipod water bottle pocket with my key fob and GU energy gels.
Packing the AirPods Professional charging case additionally meant I might recharge my earphones in the course of the race if I needed to, and surprising connection points can typically be resolved with shifting AirPods out and in of the case.
Lastly, I linked my Polar OH1 heart rate monitor over Bluetooth to the Apple Watch. This lets the devoted coronary heart fee monitor give knowledge to the Apple Watch with out utilizing its built-in optical coronary heart fee sensor.
In abstract, that is the Apple Watch Collection 5 and AirPods Professional standing between 3 a.m. and 5:30 a.m.:
- AirPods Professional in charging case
- Apple Watch Collection 5 in these modes:
- Airplane Mode and away from iPhone
- Theater Mode to forestall display from lighting up
- Bluetooth coronary heart fee monitor
I might have used some leisure within the type of my music and podcasts earlier than the race, however I simply used the watch to verify the time by tapping the display whereas stretching and meditating.
Race situations
The race formally kicked off at 5:30 a.m., though my begin time was round 5:36 for Corral C. With the Apple Watch nonetheless displaying 100%, I turned off Airplane Mode, turned on mobile, and stored Theater Mode with Do Not Disturb activated.
Apple Watch Collection 5 has an always-on display that may present exercise stats like period, distance, and tempo at a look. These options are undoubtedly nice for shorter runs, however I wasn’t assured sufficient in battery life to attempt always-on this time.
I additionally began utilizing AirPods Professional in Transparency mode at 5:30, permitting exterior noise to return by way of every earphone. I forgot to sync a playlist of songs regionally to the watch to keep away from streaming over mobile and taxing the battery. This meant I streamed a playlist over Apple Music on the Apple Watch utilizing AirPods Professional by way of the period of the race.
In abstract, this was the Apple Watch standing:
- Untethered from iPhone
- Linked to mobile community
- Logging run with Exercises app
- Utilizing Bluetooth coronary heart fee monitor
- Streaming Apple Music to AirPods Professional over LTE
- Theater Mode and Do Not Disturb enabled
AirPods Professional expertise
AirPods Professional quantity stayed round 70% till I cranked it up for the previous few miles to push by way of them. I additionally switched between Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode relying on the scenario:
- Transparency mode in the course of the first few miles, at water stations, for music performers alongside the course, and whereas approaching the end line with quantity turned down
- Noise Cancellation all different occasions all through the race (and after the race in a loud merchandise tent)
I discovered Noise Cancellation mode to be the simplest when enjoying music at greater volumes contemplating simply how a lot noise there was to cancel on the occasion. At decrease volumes, the thump of every footstep may very well be distracting. I don’t recall this being a problem with Powerbeats Professional so I’ll attempt one other ear tip dimension sooner or later.
Talking of Powerbeats Professional, quantity management is the one Beats function I missed probably the most in the course of the race with Apple AirPods Professional. I adjusted quantity and double-checked modes from the Now Enjoying display within the Exercises app, but it surely didn’t take lengthy for swiping between screens to get previous.
You are able to do so much with the “squeeze” controls on AirPods Professional together with play/pause, change tracks, toggle modes, and activate Siri, however quantity management with voice instructions isn’t attainable. I did attempt utilizing Siri as soon as in the course of the race to name up a particular track by squeezing the AirPod Professional assigned to activating Siri, however my speech after 10 miles of operating wasn’t clear sufficient to work.
I might love the choice to exchange skipping tracks with quantity alter in a future software program replace to AirPods Professional.
By way of consolation and easily staying in my ears, I had zero points with AirPods Professional (though your mileage might differ primarily based on tip dimension and ear dimension and form). I did discover myself adjusting the AirPods Professional place in my ears a couple of occasions to enhance the sound, however I believe switching from medium to massive suggestions will resolve this.
Outcomes
This Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon was my longest ending time of the 4 13.1-mile races I’ve participated in — ending in 2 hours 27 minutes 40 seconds in comparison with 2 hours 12 minutes 27 seconds from one other race final December — but it surely was an excellent enjoyable course to expertise!
Operating by way of Animal Kingdom and seeing the identical rides I rode with my then two-year-old daughter 4 years later actually caught me unexpectedly! Different runners stopped to take pictures with Disney characters (and at the very least one couple made time to experience the Tower of Terror in the course of the race!).
Whereas the one private report I set was my slowest half marathon out of 4, I used to be fairly happy with battery life and efficiency from Apple Watch Collection 5 and AirPods Professional all through the race.
- Apple Watch Collection 5 ended up 40% remaining after 2.5 hours of heavy use
- AirPods Professional ended with 36% remaining with a number of extra costs attainable with the charging case
Carrying my automotive key fob and the AirPods Professional charging case in my drink pocket was no distraction in any respect (in comparison with what towing my iPhone 11 Professional Max would have been). In concept, I might have packed a transportable Apple Watch battery charger or wall adapter to juice my watch again up for the remainder of the day with out going house after the race. I all the time miss the flexibility to seize pictures on the run with out my iPhone, however subsequent time I’ll pack my GoPro for that objective.
I had sufficient spare battery after the race to stream a podcast from my Apple Watch Collection 5 to my AirPods Professional whereas standing in line to purchase merchandise earlier than reuniting with my iPhone. Switching between Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode on AirPods Professional was as soon as once more helpful on this context!
Notably, I’ve to say that the Apple Watch Collection 5 has absolutely recovered in my opinion from the battery life points that plagued it previous to the watchOS 6.1 software program replace. I simply might attempt operating with the always-on show activated at my subsequent half marathon race!
Extra
This was the primary race I ran with Do Not Disturb enabled to keep away from distractions, however I’ve definitely appreciated encouraging messages obtained throughout earlier races. In the event you run together with your iPhone and appropriate headphones, you possibly can even use the brand new Announce Messages with Siri to listen to your messages as they arrive in with out taking a look at your watch display.
My spouse ran the New York Metropolis marathon with them yesterday. Her battery lasted the complete marathon and she or he actually cherished the announce Messages function for encouragement alongside the best way.
— fmh👨🏻💻 (@_franksy_) November 4, 2019
I nonetheless favor to run with simply my watch and earphones if attainable. Even with out the iPhone, I did admire the flexibility to share location utilizing Discover My all through the run, verify notifications after the race, and even use Apple Pay to purchase merchandise with out my pockets or iPhone.
Even with Do Not Disturb turned on, the Apple Watch nonetheless offered haptic suggestions all through the race to mark accomplished miles, the gap objective midway level, and finishing the gap objective.
That is my third 12 months operating half marathons with Apple Watch and AirPods, and this 12 months there have been extra Apple Watches and AirPods on different runners than ever! I did discover a couple of Collection 5 watches particularly primarily based on the always-on show being seen. By way of earphones, I noticed two different pairs of the just-released AirPods Professional and many Powerbeats Professional.
Did the Wine & Dine Half yesterday with the AirPods Professional (and solely Apple Watch) as effectively—not gonna lie, I didn’t care about transparency mode after I examine it however I used to be superb in the course of the race.
— Michael Sagmeister (@thatautguy) November 4, 2019
Lastly, as a knowledge nerd, I discover trying over the numbers captured after the race nearly as pleasant because the run itself. Diving by way of the information is a enjoyable method to relive the expertise another time. Apple’s Exercise app offers an incredible degree of element for all-day health monitoring from race day and good particulars from the exercise itself.
I additionally highly recommend the great Tempo app for diving even additional into run knowledge together with historic coaching and race particulars.
Right here’s a sample of what Tempo can do:
My favourite log for Apple Watch runs @TempoLog is such a cool app (trying ahead to a greater efficiency in 4 weeks) 😀 https://t.co/DkOIQQVWC5 pic.twitter.com/ky51VXOHQv
— Baba Voss (@apollozac) November 5, 2019
My subsequent half marathon race with Apple Watch Series 5 and AirPods Pro is simply 4 weeks away after I’ll most certainly give operating with always-on show turned on a shot; syncing my playlist regionally forward of time ought to assist (and I count on to be a couple of minutes quicker). I’ll report again after the run!
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