Know where you stand
A race clock from the gun, your margin at the next cutoff, and a projected finish against your plan. On every leg, in the same place.
Garmin Connect IQ data field · 140.6 / 70.3 / Olympic
TRI HUD
One field for the whole race.
Garmin times your triathlon. TRI HUD tells you where you stand: one full-screen field that switches between swim, T1, bike, T2 and run by itself, with your race clock, cutoff margins, projected finish and a fuel ledger that shows how many grams you’re behind your plan.
by falkster · one-time purchase, no subscription
What it is
Your race, not just your leg
You add TRI HUD to every leg of Garmin’s own triathlon activity. It knows which leg you’re in and shows the three things that decide a long day: where you stand against the clock, whether you’re fuelling to plan, and whether you’re pacing the leg you’re in.
Fuel to your plan
Prompts worked out from your gel size and grams per hour, on race time. The screen shows how far behind your plan you are, in grams.
Pace the leg you’re in
Smoothed power and IF on the bike, pace and an early HR cap on the run, transition time in T1 and T2. Green, amber or red at a glance.
- Swim
- T1
- Bike
- T2
- Run
Why it matters
Long races are lost on the things a watch doesn’t show
Most triathletes don’t blow up because they lack data. They blow up because the numbers that matter, against their own plan, aren’t on the screen when they need them.
62–71 g/h
What age-groupers measured at Ironman actually ate, on average. Those who ate more finished faster. Most athletes don’t lack a plan; they fall behind it, a missed gel at a time.
0 s
Garmin’s leg timers restart at every transition, and its total-time field can’t be read by Connect IQ fields. At mile 20 you’re doing cutoff maths in your head.
Mile 1
Coaches agree the Ironman marathon is lost early: the first mile should be at most about 5% faster than goal pace. TRI HUD turns your pace red when you’re faster than that in the first kilometres.
2 slots
Most Garmin watches run only two Connect IQ fields at a time. A race clock, a gel timer and a run predictor don’t fit. TRI HUD does all of it in one slot, leaving the other for your power or core-temperature field.
Sources: Pfeiffer et al., Nutritional intake and gastrointestinal problems during competitive endurance events (2012, 221 athletes); Garmin Connect IQ developer forum; 80/20 Endurance on Ironman marathon pacing.
Features
What you see, leg by leg
Big numbers, one colour code, and nothing that buzzes unless it matters. Every prompt and warning is spaced out so they never stack up.
Three colours, one meaning
Every number that has a target is coloured against it, so you can read the screen at an angle, on the aero bars, without reading the digits.
- Green on plan
- Amber drifting: ease off or eat
- Red act now: over your cap, too fast, past a cutoff
On every leg
- A race clock from the gun that never resets at T1/T2.
- Your projected margin at the next cutoff: swim, bike, finish.
- Projected finish, and minutes ahead of or behind your plan.
- A ring around the bezel: planned legs, the race so far, cutoffs as red ticks.
Swim
- Swim time big. The number you can trust in open water.
- Swim cutoff margin, pace per 100 dimmed, your planned swim.
- No fuel prompts, nothing to distract you.
T1 and T2
- Transition time against your target: green, amber, red.
- What comes next, and your heart rate.
- The fuel plan carries straight through.
Bike
- 3, 10 or 30 s smoothed power against your target and cap.
- Live normalized power and IF against your target IF.
- No power meter? HR against your cap instead.
- A buzz if you sit over your cap for a minute.
Run
- 60 s rolling pace against your goal. Red if you start too fast.
- HR against a cap that's lower for the first 10 km, and lower again in heat mode.
- Optional run-walk timer with a buzz at every switch.
Fuel ledger
- Set gel size and g/h for bike and run. TRI HUD works out the interval.
- Runs on race time, so it never resets at transitions.
- Carbs taken against your plan, shown as grams behind.
- Drink and salt prompts, heat mode, carbs and fluid saved to your activity.
Screenshots
Made to be read at race pace
Swim: swim time big, the swim cutoff margin and your projected finish. 
T1: transition time against your target, and what comes next. Bike: 10 s power against target and cap, IF, and the fuel ledger. 
Run: pace against goal, HR against your cap, the final cutoff. 
A fuel prompt: it buzzes, beeps and fills the screen. 
T2: the ring shows the whole race against your plan. 
The same layout on a 240 px fenix 7S. 
Before the gun: your plan and targets at a glance.
Setup
Set up in four steps
Do it once, a week before the race, and rehearse it on a long ride.
Install
Get TRI HUD from the Connect IQ Store on your phone and send it to your watch.
Enter your race
In the Connect IQ app, open TRI HUD’s settings. Pick the distance, enter your FTP and your fuel numbers (gel size, grams per hour on the bike and the run, fluid per hour). Plan splits and cutoffs fill in from the distance; change them for your race.
Add it to every leg
On the watch, open the Triathlon activity’s settings and, for each leg (swim, transition, bike, run), add a data screen with a one-field layout and choose TRI HUD under Connect IQ. Make sure Transitions are on. Menu names vary a little by watch.
Rehearse
Ride or run with it before race day. On its own, a ride or run becomes a training session: the leg against its planned time, fuel prompts included.
- Start the triathlon
- Swim
- LAP for T1
- Bike: fuel starts after 15 min
- T2
- Run to the line
Every setting, its default and what the coaching research says about it is in the guide.
Race day
How to use it on the day
Before the gun
Open the triathlon activity. The ready screen shows your distance, your planned finish, your fuel targets and your FTP. If something is wrong, fix it in the phone settings now, not in T1.
Swim
Look at the big swim time and the swim cutoff margin, nothing else. Pacing the swim is by feel; TRI HUD keeps quiet.
T1 and T2
The transition time turns amber past your target and red at one and a half times it. The screen says what comes next.
Bike
Ride the colour: green is on target, amber is above, red is over your cap. When it buzzes “EAT”, eat. Watch the grams-behind number. If it grows, you’re falling behind your plan, the one mistake you can’t fix on the run.
Run
Red pace in the first kilometres means slow down. Keep HR under the cap (lower for the first 10 km). Late in the race, the bottom line tells you your margin at the final cutoff and your projected finish.
If something goes wrong
A mis-detected transition or a crash doesn’t reset TRI HUD: the race clock runs from the start and the ledger is saved every 90 seconds. Keep going.
Tap logging and Lock Device. If you lock the watch during the race, taps don’t reach the field. In tap mode an untapped prompt then counts as missed. Use “prompts count as taken” if you race with the lock on.
Devices
49 Garmin watches with a triathlon profile
Connect IQ 4.2 or later. The Connect IQ Store page lists every supported model.
Forerunner
255, 255 Music, 255S, 255S Music, 265, 265S, 570 (42 and 47 mm), 955, 965 and 970.
fenix
fenix 7, 7S, 7X and their Pro and Solar editions, fenix 8 (43 and 47/51 mm AMOLED, Solar, Pro), fenix 9 and 9 Pro (43, 47, 51 mm, Solar), fenix E.
epix, Enduro, Instinct
epix (Gen 2), epix Pro (42, 47, 51 mm), Enduro 3 and 4, Instinct 3 AMOLED (45 and 50 mm), Instinct Crossover AMOLED.
MARQ, D2, Descent, tactix
MARQ (Gen 2), MARQ Aviator, MARQ (Gen 3), D2 Mach 1 and 2 (and Pro), Descent Mk3 (43 and 51 mm), and the tactix editions of these watches.
Privacy
Nothing leaves your watch
No internet
TRI HUD has no internet permission, no account and no server. It can’t send anything anywhere.
Your activity file
Carbs and fluid taken are written into your own activity file, which syncs to Garmin Connect like the rest of your race.
Settings stay yours
Your plan lives in the field’s settings on your watch and in Garmin’s Connect IQ app. Privacy policy.
FAQ
Questions
Does it replace Garmin's triathlon mode?
No. You keep recording with Garmin's own triathlon activity: transitions, laps, per-leg files and everything Garmin Connect shows afterwards. TRI HUD is a data field on top of it, the one screen you look at.
Why do I add it to every leg?
In a triathlon activity each leg (swim, T1, bike, T2, run) is its own sport profile with its own data screens. Add TRI HUD as a one-field screen to each of them. It keeps its race clock and fuel ledger across legs, so even a leg where you forgot to add it doesn't reset anything.
How do I tell it I ate a gel?
Garmin doesn't let data fields read buttons, and LAP moves you to the next leg, so TRI HUD never uses LAP. By default a prompt counts as taken. On touch watches that pass taps to data fields, switch Fuel logging to “Tap the field”: a tap logs the item that's due, and an untapped prompt repeats (twice, four minutes apart) while the grams-behind number grows. A tap with nothing due logs an extra portion and restarts the interval, for the gel you took early.
Can it show HRV status or Training Readiness?
No. Garmin doesn't make them available to Connect IQ fields. TRI HUD uses what is available: heart rate, power, pace, distance, time, and your own plan.
What if the watch gets the transition wrong or the field crashes?
The race clock is anchored to the start of the activity, not to leg timers, and the race state and fuel ledger are saved every 90 seconds and at every leg change. After a crash or “resume later” within 20 hours, TRI HUD carries on where it was.
Does it work for 70.3 and Olympic?
Yes. Pick Full, Half or Olympic and the distances, plan splits and cutoffs fill in. Custom lets you set everything yourself, for races with their own cutoffs.
Can I use it in training?
Yes, and you should, before race day. An activity that doesn't start with a swim becomes a session: the long ride or run is judged against its planned leg time, with the same fuel prompts. Rehearse your fuelling with it.
Is open-water distance accurate?
Open-water GPS on recent watches is usually within a few percent, but it varies. That's why the swim screen leads with time and marks the distance with ~.
What does it cost?
$4.99 once, through Garmin's Connect IQ Store. No subscription, no account. Garmin handles payment and refunds.
Does it work on an Edge bike computer?
Not yet: it's built for watches with a triathlon profile. If you ride with an Edge, keep TRI HUD on the watch: it keeps your race clock and fuel prompts running through the bike.