Bitesize power in 5 minutes a day

Behind the numbers: Bitesize power in 5 minutes a day

When starting something new, you’ll have questions. Everyone does.

How do I …? Am I doing it right? Where can I find out …? Who can I ask about …?

These posts signpost resources you may (or may not) know about.

Resources that can help answer your questions.

Resources that take you ‘Behind the numbers’

Steve Bateman

Steve started using the Stryd footpod (the original, non-wind version) in mid-2018 after multiple attempts to run a 4-hour marathon, and achieved a 1:37 half in November, followed by a 3:49 marathon the following April, demonstrating that you don’t have to be elite to benefit from power.

After a COVID-enforced delay, he certified as an England Athletics Coach in Running Fitness (CiRF) and from1runner2another opened for business, specialising in coaching using power.

He’s co-author of the SuperPower Calculator (developed with Steve Palladino, Alex Tran and Mikael Lönn) and many other power-based tools and utilities, has written 3 books about Running with Power, has completed a study into wrist-based power, and established a facebook/substack channel publishing ‘bitesize’ weekday posts about Running with Power.

Steve’s focus these days is less on the running, more on promoting the use of running power, and on coaching with power.

Running with Power – Getting Started

Getting started using running power can be confusing, frustrating and a little complicated. Why?

Running with Power is more recent than running using pace or Heart Rate (the solutions are not so well-developed), and to fully leverage the potential of power, you need to understand the concepts and navigate equipment purchase and configuration – a trade-off between spending on a beginner-friendly solution (like Stryd), or trying to use a budget-friendly but complex solution (like the wrist-based power found in many modern sports watches or the Apple Watch).

Getting Started is Steve’s solution to this dilemma. Under the ‘Getting Started’ banner, runners can find:

A book, covering the core concepts (including activities runners can use to build their experience with power), equipment/app selection and equipment/app configuration
Online content from the book, as a series of pages offering comparisons and advice on choosing equipment and apps, and on setting up and configuring them.
The full library of ‘bitesize’ posts, organised by topic (5 posts per topic)
A FaceBook page and a Substack you can follow to receive the bitesize posts in your feed or your email.
The from1runner2another FaceBook group where you can ask questions and receive advice about getting started with power.

from1runner2another content

Steve wasn’t always focused on helping others get started with power, and the from1runner2another FaceBook group contains documents, tools and articles on using power, and more generally on getting the most from your running.

The Welcome document is a great overview of what’s available. Some of the key items linked in the document:

SuperPower Calculator for Sheets (SPCs) – a Google sheets file that contains a comprehensive suite of calculators and converters useful to anyone training, racing or running with power, including: Race Power Scenario Planning; What’s My Riegel (based on power); Calculating CP and AWC; Calculating RE, HPR, LSS/kg.
SuperPower Calculator for Web (SPCw) – a web-based calculator that contains a subset of the SPCs calculators and converters useful to anyone training, racing or running with power.
The 5-minute guide to Running with Power – a “quick reference” guide to Running with Power, formatted as a series of questions and answers with links to reference sources as appropriate. The document is deliberately short – with the intent that you should be able to read the content in around 5 minutes.
2G+AW+Coros: An N=1 study into whether wrist-based power can be used to Run with Power.
Calibration – Stryd, Treadmill, Zwift – Describes how to calibrate your Stryd (paired to a Garmin watch), your treadmill, and your virtual running app (e.g. Zwift). It covers: what might be affecting the reported distance (or pace); the options for calibrating to ensure that your distance/pace are displayed or recorded accurately; options for ensuring that your displayed speed/pace match across multiple devices.

If you have a question or want some advice about getting started, or about power or running in general, the group is a great place to ask.