What benefits have you experienced?

What benefits have you experienced?

This is part of a series of posts on runners’ feedback about Running with Power

Based on survey responses and book research, here are the top three benefits runners experienced using power.

1. Able to train to targets

Sounds simple? Yet with power, according to the feedback, it’s much easier to do.

First, the targets are numbers or number ranges, rather than ‘10k pace’ or ‘zone 2’ (when your heart rate seems determined to stay in zone 3).

Second, they’re based on your current fitness, adjusting as you get fitter.

Finally, you just have to keep your effort within the target range, however hilly it might be.

2. Consistency

The #1 goal of training – being able to follow the plan without getting injured.

Training to targets matched to individual fitness gave runners confidence in the plan, allowing them to ‘relax’ and enjoy the experience.

And with plans written to add training load slowly and carefully, runners experienced a powerful feedback loop: targets matched to fitness => able to run to target => confidence in the plan => increasing fitness without injury => adjusted targets matched to fitness => able to run to target …

3. Improved race-day performance

Power offers a couple of different race planners, both of which produce power-based targets for races and events that are not only achievable, but for many runners, accurate to within a few watts and to within a minute or two (over a marathon).

But it was at the start that power was most beneficial, providing a target that prevented runners from starting too fast (given the excitement and the ‘freshness’ that’s usually present at the start of many events).

Other reasons

There were many other benefits runners experienced using power:

• being able to measure fitness improvements
• being responsive, matched to effort
• gaining a better understanding of their physiology and capabilities
• finding a great community of runners all learning how best to use power