Today’s update begins the first wave of firmware updates coming from Forerunner 955 and Forerunner 255 models, which include new features such as Workout Readiness, Running Power, HRV Status , as well as a list of race/event calendar related features and even some Edge 1040 features. And on top of that, totally new features not seen on Garmin devices at all. Now, I guess technically speaking this is the public Alpha test rollout, but it’s more of a recent and nuanced nomenclature change for Garmin. Practically, these are beta versions, now available to the public as part of their recent public beta program.

In any case, Garmin had previously committed to bring the following features to their Fenix ​​7 Series, Epix Series and Forerunner 945 LTE watches:

A) HRV Status**
B) Daily training preparation
C) Acute training load**
D) Morning report
E) Native operating power**
F) Race Calendar and Race Event Widgets
G) Suggested daily workouts now take calendar races into account

Additionally, those marked ** above are also coming to the Instinct 2 series watches, as they line up with the features found on the similarly priced Garmin Forerunner 255.

Now, while Garmin has committed to these 7 features above, in reality, this first firmware update includes faaaaaaar more features than that. Indeed, many of the features described above are linked to many other features. For example, the Race Calendar/Race Event widgets in turn drive things like revamped Suggested Daily Workouts (including build/shrink/peak dynamic phases). And it also impacts areas like updated Race Predictor features. Meanwhile, features like native running power mean it now also supports running power structured workouts, and running power alerts and more.

The thing is, if you look at the list of changes for today’s firmware update, it’s considerably bigger than the features above. here is the list:

– Added SatIQ support
– Added eBike support
– Added Race Day features (FR955 feature)
– Added peek to Stocks widget
– Added benchmark app
– Added widget preview folders
– Added cycling ability feature (Edge 1040 feature)
– Added support for Golf Virtual Caddy
– Added categorization to activity configuration
– Added peek at training readiness widget (FR955 feature, includes HRV status)
– Added power key control menu item for RCT (for new Varia RCT715)
– Added support for Golf wind speed and direction
– Added ability to disable temperature recording for an activity
– Added Run Power support when paired with a compatible accessory (FR955 feature)
– Added multicolor support for Climb Pro graphics for non-cycling activities
– Added “What’s new” screen to invoke new features from software updates
– Added watch dashboard data field for battery level and floors climbed
+++ Anther 27 lines of bugfixes and feature enhancements/tweaks

One missing feature is Morning Report, I hope it’s still on the list as it’s one of my favorite features of the new Forerunner 955. Also Acute Load doesn’t seem to be there yet. It’s called “Load Trend” here, but it’s missing the green “tunnel” that indicates if you’re in range. On the other hand, there’s SatIQ support, which dynamically switches between satellite types (multiband vs all systems) based on satellite reception, plus the new widget folders, which let you paste previews widgets in folders.

Now, as a reminder, this is launching today in what Garmin calls its public Alpha program. Which means you’ll need to sideload the pre-release firmware to your watch using a computer. Whereas if you join the public beta program, it will automatically arrive wirelessly on your watch once it hits the public beta stage (likely in a few weeks, if all goes well).

I have detailed how to join the public Alpha and Beta programs here. Or, you can jump directly to Garmin site and do it yourself here.

Quick tips on new features:

Now, a few very quick things to keep in mind about some of these new features:

A) HRV status is a 19 day onboarding process. This means you will get your HRV stats every morning when you wake up, but you won’t get the text/color coded status until 19 nights of sleep later because it has to build that baseline. HRV Status does not currently Physio True-Up from other Garmin devices, so even if you have an FR955/FR255 with that data, it’s currently per device (it sends all data to Garmin Connect, but is not yet configured to send it back to your watch).

B) Understand the average HRV overnight delay: Remember that in the case of Garmin, the nightly HRV values ​​are the average of the whole night. Whereas if you come from a long history of taking HRV values, these will probably have been taken early in the morning. In other words, these two do not match. As you can easily see, your HRV values ​​tend to recover over night (that’s sort of the point). As such, averaging the lows and highs over a 6-8 hour period will give you a lower value than the morning wake up call. Frankly, it doesn’t matter which approach you use, because this is a relative long-term trend. Generally speaking, it is harder to have consistency taking morning readings under the same circumstances every day for weeks/months, than doing nothing. But to each his own.

C) Daily training preparation: Most of these should start working after your first night’s sleep. Remember that the two main components of daily preparation are last night’s sleep and the current recovery times from your workouts. All the other factors matter, but these two *really* matter. Check out my video below where I dive into these shades.

D) Native operating power: This requires the Garmin HRM-TRI, HRM-PRO, HRM-RUN or RD-POD. It does not yet work with Stryd or other 3rd party running sensors. So while Garmin considers it ‘native’, I would say it’s more ‘somewhat native’ in that it needs external sensors. Hopefully we’ll see them join Apple/COROS/Polar using only wrist data.

E) Race schedule and dynamic training plans: This mainly supports racing today. This will add your run to your Garmin Connect calendar using your phone/website (including your distance/course). However, while it vaguely supports cycling, it’s not super built out there today. For example, you won’t get predicted arrival times like you would while running. Note that while it’s building the workout calendar on your watch, you won’t see it displayed on your Garmin Connect calendar.

Finally, if you want to dive deeper into how all of these features work, check out my Forerunner 955 full guide video, especially the Training Readiness and Training Load sections, which shows how Training Readiness works (and j I even come out in the middle of the video and do a hard interval workout to show the before/after impacts of it).

Phew – do you have all that? Good. Go ahead and enjoy!