Freelap Tips

I bought a Freelap BT112 kit earlier this year. Now, I use it for almost every track workout - it’s great for getting instant feedback on every single rep. That said, I had some trouble getting my Freelap to consistently record times. Some of my initial workouts recorded less than 50% of my reps! Here are some tricks I’ve picked up to get all of my times recorded accurately:

Set up your recording device properly

I’ve found that Freelap is pretty picky about where your BLE receiver (probably your cell phone) is relative to yourself & the finishing Tx Junior Pro (the yellow cone); it should be:

• About a meter past the finishing Tx Junior Pro
• Within a meter or so from the lane you are running in - I like to set it up in the next lane over
• Elevated by ~50-100cm - I use a cheap Amazon tripod for this

Get a measuring tape (and markers!)

Freelap recommends that you place the Tx Junior Pro transmitters 0.8 meters after your intended measuring point. If you’re running flies, this doesn’t matter since you can start and finish 0.8 meters off. However, if you’re timing starts from blocks or running a time trial, you’ll need to measure out this 0.8 meters at the finish line. I keep a small measuring tape and a roll of athletic tape (for marking start & finish lines) in my Freelap case.

Starts are tricky

My Freelap kit included a Tx Touch Pro (black disk with a button in the middle) to measure starts off of first movement. Ideally you prepare for your start normally, placing your thumb on the button and releasing when you take off. Unfortunately it doesn’t work consistently like this - I’ve found that to consistently mark your start, you must depress the middle button for a maximum of about 3 seconds. This means that you will likely need to get into your “set” position, then move your thumb over the button, before starting.

I hope these tips help you like they helped me - I’m now consistently recording >90% of my reps. Of course I’d love to get up to 100%, so if you have other suggestions please let me know!