• Intensity sessions: usually one or two per week
• Long sessions: around 3 to 5 hours
• Weight lift sessions: two times per week
• Recovery or short sessions: around 1 to 2 hours

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 5 Pro provides a lot of different features that are key to increasing performance in trail running. With such a varying training calendar, a watch like this one is essential to track all sessions, record information on everyday training, and follow recovery.

To be able to train a high number of hours per week, long sessions and recovery sessions are sometimes done on the bike. This allows my body to recover from the impact of running and prevents injuries. Flat running is also important as part of my training, to increase speed and not get too heavy legs on all the uphill training!

The customizable sport-specific features provide all the essential information needed for each workout, allowing users to tailor and organize them based on their chosen activity. In the trail running mode, for example, the primary focus is often on metrics like elevation gain, heart rate, altitude, and distance. For outdoor running, a simpler feature set including pace, heart rate, and kilometers may be preferred. Meanwhile, cyclists typically prioritize data like power, distance, and speed. The ability to adapt these features to suit each sport is not only convenient but also highly beneficial for optimizing performance

From Start to Finish in Andorra: A Race Journey with the HUAWEI WATCH GT 5 Pro

I was able to test the watch during a three-day trail running race in Andorra, and it was incredibly useful! When racing, it is normal to easily get lost since we keep focus on the pace and surroundings, and sometimes even forget to follow the race markers. Other times, the markers are quite far away from each other, or weather circumstances can make it very difficult to see them. Having the track on the watch gave me a sense of security and confidence: no minutes would be lost, at least not due to bad orientation. Also, knowing an approximation of the time left helped measure my strength along the course and give my best.

Improving running form and posture

I believe that an athlete's performance can be significantly improved by correcting their running technique and posture. In fact, several studies have shown that running form is a key factor in both running efficiency and overall performance. Having access to this kind of information can be a major advantage for improving results, and the fact that the HUAWEI WATCH GT 5 Pro provides this data makes a big difference.
One standout feature of the watch is its ability to analyse an athlete’s running technique:

1. Ground contact time: Length of time that the foot is in contact with the ground between strides. Shorter ground contact times are generally associated with more efficient running mechanics, since they often have better speed and less fatigue over longer distances.

2. Balance: It is the ratio of the ground contact time of the left and right foot divided by the overall ground contact time. Ideally it should be around 50% for each foot. A severe imbalance may increase the risk of leg injuries.

3. Vertical oscillation: An indication of how your centre of gravity moves vertically as you run. Generally, a higher vertical oscillation means more energy is being wasted on vertical movement rather than forward movement.

After the race in Andorra, several key observations emerged. This screenshot from the HUAWEI Health App shows data from the exercise recorded on the final day of the race. As expected, after three days of intense racing, my fatigue levels were extremely high, and I needed a lot of rest afterward. While the average ground contact time and vertical oscillation were within normal ranges, I noticed a slight asymmetry between my left and right leg. This could be due to a heavy fall I took on my left side two weeks prior to the race, which still caused some discomfort during running. I plan to monitor this closely in future workouts to ensure the imbalance doesn’t worsen.