Missing metrics

Missing Metrics

What options do you have when your platform of choice doesn’t provide all the core power metrics:

• Threshold Power
• Training Load Scores
• Training Load Balance
• Ramp Rate
• Running Effectiveness

WKO

WKO is an analysis tool that runs under MS Windows or on a Mac and provides a wide range of charts and graphs of your power data. You can also build your own using a powerful charting language. It integrates seamlessly with TrainingPeaks, syncing planned and completed workout data and a range of health metrics.

WKO can provide the following core power metrics:

✅ Threshold Power. Called ‘modelled Functional Threshold Power’ (mFTP) and calculated based on the last 90 days of completed workouts or using a custom date range.

✅ Training Load Scores. Called Training Stress Scores® (TSS), WKO’s calculation implements Andrew Coggan PhD’s original calculation.

✅ Training Load Balance. Called Training Stress Balance (TSB), and found in WKO’s Performance Management Chart.

✅ Ramp Rate. Calculated using weekly differences in Chronic Training Load.

✅ Running Effectiveness. WKO’s calculation implements Andrew Coggan PhD’s original calculation, and can be applied to a workout or to workout segments.

WKO also supports custom metrics (that you define), both workout-specific and combining and summarising data from multiple workouts.

Unfortunately, for many runners, the one-time purchase price may be too expensive.

Are there any free alternatives?

SuperPower Calculator

SuperPower Calculator (SPC) contains a comprehensive suite of calculators and converters useful to anyone training, racing, and running with power. SPC for Google Sheets (SPCs) is a Google Sheets workbook providing a complete set of calculations, while SPC for Web (SPCw) offers web-based versions of the most common calculations.

SPC can provide the following core power metrics:

✅ Threshold Power. Calculated from 2 or more maximum efforts (using a Critical Power model), or estimated from a recent race.

❌ Training Load Scores. SPCs cannot processes second-by-second completed workout data.

❌ Training Load Balance. SPCs cannot calculate Training Load Scores, the basis for calculating Training Load Balance.

❌ Ramp Rate. SPCs cannot calculate Training Load Scores, the basis for the Chronic Training Load that underpins Ramp Rate.

✅ Running Effectiveness. SPCs (not SPCw) can calculate Running Effectiveness using entered power, weight, distance and duration.

SPCs offers many other power-based calculations (most of them specific to a situation).

Steve Palladino has provided an impressive YouTube playlist demonstrating how to use SPC for a range of different calculations.

Intervals.icu

Intervals.icu can provide the following core power metrics:

✅ Threshold Power. Using your choice of model, and based on the last 90 days of completed workouts or using a custom date range.

✅ Training Load Scores. Called Load, Intervals.icu calculates using Power (if power is in the activity file), although it automatically excludes non-moving time so results can occasionally differ from other platforms by a few points. .

✅ Training Load Balance. Cumulative training loads (ATL and CTL) and Training Load Balance (labelled ‘form’) are shown on a Fitness chart.

✅ Ramp Rate. Shown as a weekly Ramp on the Fitness Chart. If not shown, can be added as a custom plot.

✅ Running Effectiveness. Can be added as a custom field.

Intervals.icu can be complicated to use, but if you’re focusing on a few metrics, it’s possible to complete a one-time setup that can then provide the ongoing metrics.

Manual calculations

Some of the core metrics can be calculated manually:

• Threshold Power, as a Critical Power calculation from a CP test or from two maximum effort runs taking place a few days apart.
• Threshold Power, estimated from three easy runs.
• Running Effectiveness, using power, weight, distance and duration for a specific run or run segment.

The Training Load metrics rely on second-by-second data from completed workouts, and use more advanced math in the calculation of Chronic and Acute Training Loads – it’s not particularly easy to calculate these manually.

Other options?

The above are options I know about. Do you have any additional options?