01 · Quick start
Run a basic pace.
- Connect or practice offline. Power the system and connect the pacing box. On a Mac, choose Wi-Fi or USB. Continue without connecting when you only need to build a workout or meet.
- Confirm the course first. Open Settings → Track Setup and set the actual track length, installed lights, and pace width. Existing queue items keep the geometry they were created with.
- Create the event. In Control, choose Add Event. Enter distance, target time, and start mark, then add it to the queue.
- Check the Ready slot. Confirm the event, distance, target, start mark, and color before sending anything to the lights.
- Start. In Manual Start, use the large green START control. For a race driven by the timing system, follow the separate FinishLynx setup guide.
02 · Connection
Connect to the intended pacing box.
Desktop connection
- Power the pacing box and lights using their supplied, separate power equipment.
- Open Settings → Pacing Box → Connect.
- Choose Connect over USB for a physical data cable, or Connect over Wi-Fi to join the private Stridelane network.
- Confirm the expected box identity and the app status You have control before operating the queue.
Mobile connection
On iPhone and iPad, Stridelane uses the saved box credential and Apple’s accessory flow when a join is required. The mobile app is training-focused and uses Manual Start. Racing, Meet Builder, and FinishLynx operation remain desktop workflows.
The pacing lights use a separate 48 V supply. Never connect 48 V to the pacing box power, data, or digital I/O terminals. Change physical light wiring with power off.
03 · Control and queue
Know what is ready, waiting, and live.
| Area | What it means |
|---|---|
| Ready | The single pace, rest, or light show being prepared to start or arm. |
| Queue | Items waiting behind Ready. Drag the handle, or focus it and use Arrow Up or Arrow Down, to reorder. |
| Live paces | Controller-confirmed active timelines, including color, distance, target, elapsed time, and result. |
| History | Completed and stopped work. Make next and Add to queue create copies; neither action starts the lights. |
Before starting
- Confirm distance, target time, start mark, course, pace width, and colors.
- Edit or remove a queue item before it is armed or running.
- Use More pace options for varied splits and simultaneous pace bands.
- When additional Training paces are fully prepared, Launch now appears. If it is absent, the next pace is not ready to launch.
- When multiple paces are reserved or live, Stop all stops every controller timeline.
04 · Start modes
Choose who owns the start.
| Mode | Use when | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Manual Start | A coach starts from the app. | START begins the Ready pace or light show immediately. |
| Workout handoff | A prepared workout should progress in order. | A workout sent from Workout Builder advances through its pace and rest items, including its selected rep-start sequence. |
| FinishLynx | The timer’s advancing race clock should trigger the pace. | The eligible Ready pace arms automatically and waits for a new race clock. Light shows never arm from FinishLynx. |
Stop interrupts live lights. Disarm unloads an armed pace without starting it. Complete closes the current item and promotes the first waiting item. Use the action that matches the real hardware state.
05 · Meet Builder
Prepare a race sequence before meet day.
- Create or open a meet. Enter each event name, distance, and target time. Heat, start mark, notes, extra paces, and varied splits are optional.
- Save the template if it should remain available on this device.
- Select Send to Control, then replace the queue for a clean meet sequence or append after existing pending items.
- Control opens in FinishLynx mode. Confirm the actual Ready event before it arms; queue order, not Event/Round/Heat numbering, selects the pace.
Saving or importing a meet does not arm or start lights. Sending it to Control creates the operating queue; the connected controller still has to acknowledge each live action.
06 · Workout Builder
Build repeatable sessions from pace and rest blocks.
- A workout contains one or more blocks; each block has a name, repeat count, and ordered steps.
- Pace steps can be warmup, work, recovery, or cooldown. Rest steps use a duration.
- Countdown uses the saved yellow and green cue timing. Roll-in accelerates a white pace band into the start mark at rep time zero.
- The preview totals time, distance, pace events, rest time, and the final step order before you send anything to Control.
Send the workout
- Complete every required distance, target time, and rest duration.
- Save the workout if it should be reusable.
- Select Send to Control, then Replace Queue or Append to Queue.
- Control remains in Manual Start and advances through this builder-sent workout in order. An ordinary hand-built Control queue still stops after one item.
07 · Import and export
Move plans with CSV or XLSX.
- Download the CSV or XLSX template from the correct builder.
- Fill rows without changing the provided column headers.
- Import the file and review worksheet choice, mapped columns, warnings, and invalid rows.
- Fix editable preview issues, then load valid rows into the builder.
- Review the resulting plan in Stridelane before saving or sending it to Control.
A spreadsheet describes the plan. Track Setup supplies the active course defaults. Confirm both before creating the live queue.
08 · Settings and storage
Set defaults once, then verify them before use.
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Track Setup | Track length, course light count, pace width, and saved steeplechase marks. |
| Pace Colors | Pace 1–5 color and style defaults. Standard style supports independent head and tail colors on compatible firmware. |
| Workout Starts | Countdown flashes, intervals, green duration, and the rep-start behavior used by workouts. |
| Pacing Box | Current connection state, box details, and reconnection actions. |
| Appearance | Light or dark app presentation. |
What persists
Settings, saved workouts, saved meets, and completed History are stored in the local app environment. A full app launch clears live Ready, waiting, armed, running, and recoverable queue state. Local storage is not a cloud backup or an official meet-results archive.
09 · Light shows
Presentation stays separate from pacing.
| Preset | Behavior |
|---|---|
| National Anthem | Nine broad red, white, and blue paces make a slow, even lap. |
| Team Colors | Six widely spaced team-color paces rotate around the course. |
| Victory Lap | Two long gold and white paces race around the track. |
| Spectrum Fade | Every light fades together through the visible spectrum. |
Light shows loop until Stop and never arm or start from FinishLynx. Adding one returns Control to Manual Start.
10 · Troubleshooting
Start with the state the app actually shows.
| Symptom | First actions |
|---|---|
| Pacing box connection fails | Confirm power, choose the correct transport, and use that box’s exact password. Use USB to isolate Wi-Fi setup. |
| Box in use | Wait for the displayed lease time or ask the current operator to disconnect. Remote takeover is intentionally unavailable. |
| Status looks stale | Return to Stridelane Control and reconnect from Settings → Pacing Box if needed. |
| Queue payload is wrong | Edit or remove it before arming or starting. Rebuild it after changing Track Setup. |
| Lights do not respond | Confirm You have control, then check box status, light power, data, and downstream acknowledgements. The laptop has no direct light-bus fallback. |
| FinishLynx clock is visible but lights did not start | Confirm the intended event is Ready and armed, then follow the FinishLynx troubleshooting order. |
Use Stop, verify the controller returns idle, and inspect power/data before resuming. Do not infer light state from a saved plan or an app-only timer.