It's About Run Power, Not Heart Rate

I've had my Stryd power pod for about 10 days and I've run every single day with it! I love this little pod and all the data that comes with it. Still don't know all the details or how to best utilize it for training and racing, but it has motivated me to run more, with greater variety, and to think about my runs. Power is correlated with heart rate, but it is a more direct measure of your effort. Cyclists have used power meters for years, now runners have the same option. I'm excited to see what this tool can do for my running and racing.

Post-run analysis is rather fun. Lots of numbers, charts, and graphs. I need to do a "functional threshold power test" (critical power) to better establish my personal power zones, but I started with entering a recent race time to estimate zones. Here is an example of the data from the Stryd power center (their software tool) for a recent 5-mile treadmill run:

My maximum power output was 358 watts, average was 261 watts. The max power reading came when I pushed the pace to 6:00 minutes/mile! It also tracks ground contact time, vertical oscillation, leg spring stiffness, fatigue, power used on form rather than forward propulsion (77.2 watts in this run) and a few of other stats I haven't figured out. Trends over time are also displayed (but I need more data). Stryd also provides training programs based on power zones. Might use one for a fall half-marathon.

The same 5-mile run viewed within the Runalyze web-based program (the best free running software available):

Once I have real power zones, I'll be able to adjust training and racing with power numbers displayed on my Garmin watch. After about 30 days, Stryd starts to give insights and analysis based on your past and current fitness. I'm definitely happy with this device after 10 days, but the real proof will be after 30 days...and after my first couple of races where I monitor power during the race.

Stryd Power Foot Pod

I'm officially a power runner! My wife bought me a Stryd power foot pod yesterday (retails for $199). It's a cool little pod that attaches to your running shoe and it measures your power output (watts) as well as tons of other metrics (vertical oscillation, cadence, distance, form power, economy, run stress score, ground contact time, leg spring stiffness, plus a few more!) and it also tracks stats over time and calculates your strengths and weakness with suggestions for improvement. Their software has training plans, based on power rather than pace or heart rate, that can help you reach your race goals. It's only been 2 days (and 4 runs) so far, but I'm enjoying the data. Certainly need more experience and time to interpret what is useful (or not) and how to improve. According to Stryd, the pod/software will get to know me as more data accumulates. We shall see!

Wife also bought me the book "Run with Power" by Jim Vance. It should help me get the most out of this "power running" thing. I will have many more posts about my progress with the Stryd pod and power running. I can definitely see this helping with more disciplined race pacing based on power rather than feel, heart rate, or pace. It communicates with my Garmin 235 watch and auto syncs with Garmin, Strava, and the "Stryd Power Center" so it's pretty easy to set-up and access data.

Easy Means Easy

Being sick, and missing a few days of running, has encouraged me to think about my training. I've just come off a few weeks of "easy running" and I'm about to enter "real training" where I'll add in more intense workouts. With hard workouts coming, I know I need to maintain a lot of easy, aerobic runs (80%+) to help balance out the harder training stimulus and allow for recovery. Sounds like I have this figured out, so what do I need to rethink? My notion of easy is probably too hard. Easy means easy.

I've been following the 89% of lactate threshold idea of easy runs (pace or heart rate based). My lactate threshold heart rate is about 162. So my easy HR would be around 144. I think that's still too hard. Easy really needs to be easy. Almost too easy. For me, instead of HR=144 as a ceiling for easy runs, I'm planning on HR=132. This is my Maffetone determined heart rate and also right around my maximum fat burning aerobic base heart rate determined by metabolic tests. This heart rate (and affiliated pace) feels extremely easy to me. That's what an easy run should feel like! By keeping 80%+ of my runs at this very low heart rate, I'll develop my aerobic system, increase my ability to burn fat as a fuel source, and encourage full recovery. With better recovery, I'll be able to push harder on the hard days. Simple training philosophy: easy days are truly easy and hard days are actually hard. Very little moderate "grey zone" efforts.