Getting Started – The testing team

Getting Started – The testing team

With the goal and structure in place, I realised I was going to need help, for a few different reasons:

• I’ve been using power since 2018, but the audience would be new to power
• I run road races; trail runners and track athletes can also use power
• I use a Garmin with a Stryd footpod – what about wrist-based power or other watches?
• I wanted a well-rounded testing team: a mix of runners and coaches, watches and power meters, and a broad range of experience

The team

I asked for volunteers, with the promise of a mention, a short ‘about me’ item and copy of the book for those able to contribute.

The response was fantastic, 35 people volunteering.

After video-calling 20 of the volunteers, 13 made it onto the testing team.

Demographics

The testing team included:
🔹 2 people who’d never used power before
🔹 6 Garmin users, 4 Apple Watch, 1 each using COROS, Suunto and Polar
🔹 2 using wrist-based power, the rest using Stryd
🔹 7 road-runners, 1 track, 2 triathlon, 3 trail/triathlon
🔹 6 coaches (who also ran using power)

I couldn’t have hoped for a better cross-section of runners and coaches!

Learning by doing

The video call included 22 ideas for activities that runners could use to try out power.

Why were these important?

A learning-by-doing approach is an effective way to learn, and the activities would enable runners new to power to experience running with power, build confidence using power and provide opportunities to reflect on the experience.

Using an outline of each activity, the testing team tried them out and made suggestions … then tried out the revisions and made more suggestions …

Eventually we agreed on 13 activities, and moved on to the rest of the book.