Ready Steady is an Apple Watch app made for your training runs on the track: An accurate and reliable stopwatch that records heart rate and pace, and lets you easily time your rests. What’s more, Ready Steady fully understands and supports the concept that several runs are one training session.
Plan your runs
Set the distance of your run(s) by tapping the distance field and turning the watch’s crown wheel. You can also set the distance to 0, and it will show as “—”, i.e. no distance set. The pacemaker helps you keep the desired pace. The watch will play a “ding” repeatedly after the given time.Timing the rest (recovery)
Between the runs, you can see the current rest so far as well as the target. You can adjust the rest by tapping the field and turning the watch’s crown wheel. You can also set the rest to 0, and it will show as “—”, i.e. no rest set. To proceed to the next run, tap the forward button or bump your palms (depending on the settings). Alternatively, let Ready Steady proceed automatically when the rest is over (see “Starting the run”). The bluetooth icon next to the current heart rate is a confirmation that an external heart rate sensor is currently used. Tap on the icon to show the exact name of the connected device.During the runs
You will see the seconds count up, and as you tap the screen or bump your palms, the stopwatch will stop and show you the exact time. Tap or bump again to return to the rest screen.Results list
The app shows you the times of the previous runs and rests. The heart rate shown for each run is the maximum during the run, or up to 30 seconds after the run, as in practice, the maximum occurs shortly after the finish line. For the rests, the minimum heart rate is shown.Starting the run: options
If you choose to start the run instantly, the stopwatch will start running as soon as you tap the forward button – in contrast to many running watches that start the stopwatch only as you release the button, which makes the measurement unnecessarily inaccurate. Alternatively, you can bump your palms if this method is activated (see below). To further improve the accuracy, why not make the stopwatch give you a starting command? If you select the countdown option, Ready Steady will give you an acoustic signal to let you know when to start. If you set a rest time (see above) you can let Ready Steady automatically proceed. This mode is helpful if your training session has short rests between the runs.Tap to Stop
- Very accurate stopping and easy to use.
- May be triggered accidentally by a long sleeve, especially if damp.
- Does not react while the display is sleeping. To ease this problem, consider setting the wake duration to 70 s. If your runs are longer than 70 s, try activating “Wake on Wrist Raise” and raise your arm a few meters before the finish line.
Bump to Stop
- Works even if the watch is covered by a sleeve or glove: just give the watch a hard tap or – even better – bump your palms against each other.
- Works even if the display is sleeping.
- May be triggered accidentally or fail in rare cases.
Review your training session
The Ready Steady iPhone app shows you the measurements in more detail. Edit the track title to suit your needs. To zoom into the heart rate and speed diagram, pinch with two fingers. Tapping on a run or rest in the list below will automatically zoom and position the diagram. Note: the average heart rate and speed shown below the diagram refers to the portion shown in the window above.Ready Steady was developed by Tim Ahrens of Just Another Foundry GmbH, Garching, Germany.