The Voice Training Log on My Coros Watch Has Greatly Improved My Training.
My favorite feature of the Coros Pace 4 is a feature I didn’t even notice at first. I knew it had an extra button compared to the Pace 3 , and I knew I could use it to create “voice tags” during trail runs. I’m constantly fiddling with buttons to mark faucets or interesting things I find in the woods, so this feature seemed useful—but once I realized I could also use it to jot down notes at the end of a run, I suddenly became the type of person who takes notes at the end of a run.
On the Pace 4, after completing a workout—any workout, be it a trail run or a strength session—you have the option to rate how hard it was. You can then record a 60-second voice memo with any accompanying text about your workout. A Coros representative told me at a briefing that this was designed to help athletes add notes to their training diary, as not everyone has the time to go back and add those notes in text form.
Honestly, I didn’t know you could add notes to your workouts after they were done. But once I learned about this voice-enabled feature, I started using it constantly. Heck, I even started looking forward to it. At first, I just jotted down a few words about how I felt during the workout, but then I realized I could also use it to connect my paper and digital records.
When I do a strength training session, I write down the number of sets, reps, and weight in a notebook . Although I have a lot of fitness apps, it’s much easier to write down “hang snatch plus snatch” than to search through an exercise database and try to figure out how to write down two exercises as one rep. (I’ve never encountered a strength training app that does this so well.) It’s easier to write everything down on paper.
Now, when I finish a workout, I read out the highlights of my training log into a voice memo. This way, when I review the workout on my phone, I have all the necessary data, along with any small notes I wanted to add about my mood that day, the intensity, or any changes I made during the workout.
The Coros app transcribes the note, so I can view it as text when I review my workout later. But the audio file is always there if I want to listen to it to make sure I’m saying it correctly. It’s also a touching snippet of life—I hear my daughter interrupt me in one note, and my “wait, honey” is dutifully transcribed mid-sentence. During another workout, I hear myself laughing a little while describing how I was unexpectedly caught off guard by a muddy section of trail.
It’s safe to say I wouldn’t go back to the app to add text notes for these questions, but I do like being prompted to add them by voice. Coros has this feature on the Pace 4 , Apex 4, and Nomad watches. Amazfit has a similar feature on the T-Rex 3 and T-Rex 3 Pro . Garmin has a voice memo feature on its newer Forerunner and Fenix watches, but it’s a bit more clunky and doesn’t prompt you at the end of a workout like Coros does. Still, any of these models could be a useful addition to your training program.