Wearables Show Low Readiness After Marathon
A Tom's Guide reviewer compared readiness scores from three wearables the morning after running a marathon.
Updated on Nov. 14, 2026 in Running
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A Tom's Guide reviewer ran a 26.2-mile marathon and recorded readiness scores on three wearables the next morning. The Oura Ring 5 gave a score of 35/100 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4 gave 3/10, while the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro gave a Training Readiness score of 25/100.
Why it matters
The comparison shows how differently consumer wearables can assess recovery after a demanding endurance event. Readiness scores stayed near 60/100 for the following week, illustrating how long recovery can take for runners.
The reviewer's Oura Ring 5 recorded a sleep score of 45/100 across 4 hours and 52 minutes of sleep, while the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro reported 25/100 for Training Readiness. Whether these three devices measure recovery consistently against one another has not been tested beyond this single run.
The players
Tom's Guide
Tom's Guide is a technology review website that publishes hands-on testing of consumer electronics and fitness wearables.
The details
The reviewer wore an Apple Watch Ultra 4 and a Garmin Fenix 9 Pro on opposite wrists and an Oura Ring 5 on the index finger during the race and celebrations. The reviewer, who burned 2,473 calories, woke at 2 a.m. the night of the marathon and struggled to fall back asleep.
Timeline
Race day, the weekend clocks changed: the reviewer ran a seventh marathon in wind and rain.
Night of the marathon: the reviewer woke at 2 a.m. and struggled to sleep.
Morning after the marathon: all three wearables reported low readiness scores.
Following week: Oura and Apple Watch readiness scores hovered near 60/100 and 6/10.
Season Trajectory
Consumer readiness scores such as the Oura Ring 5 metric have become a common way runners judge recovery between training blocks and races. This single-reviewer test suggests those scores may diverge sharply across brands after a marathon.
Runners comparing wearable readiness scores should not treat a single post-race reading as a reliable guide to when to resume hard training. The divergent scores from this test show that one device's recommendation may conflict sharply with another's.
The takeaway
Use readiness scores as one signal among several, such as sleep, resting heart rate and how your legs feel, rather than relying on any single device. After a marathon, prioritizing sleep can matter more than the number on your wrist.
Further reading
Explore more running coverage for context on endurance training and recovery.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Tom's Guide.
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