Is power better than pace or heart rate?
It depends …
Running power provides numbers that represent your effort.
By doing this, power solves issues associated with other measures of intensity:
❌ Heart Rate (HR) ‘lags’ when you change effort levels, it can ‘drift’ on longer runs, and your maximum HR can’t ever reflect your maximum effort.
❌ Pace is affected by hilly or windy conditions, and it’s easy to aim for a goal time that isn’t based on your current fitness, leading to training injuries and bonking or ‘hitting the wall’.
❌ Perceived effort isn’t measurable (it’s a perception) and can take years to develop, a luxury most recreational runners don’t have.
Power doesn’t have any issues?
There are a few things that are different about running with power:
⚡ It’s individual – your targets are based on your current running fitness. Which means a little ‘number-crunching’ to figure that out.
⚡ It includes maximum effort runs to track your current fitness. These can be tough to get used to (and get right).
⚡ You’ll need apps to calculate consolidated metrics. It can be complicated to arrive at a ‘minimum manual effort’ setup.
⚡ It’s new, the concepts and apps aren’t always easy to use, and there’s no standard way to calculate power.
Does that mean it’s not better?
Like any new approach, there are some things that take some getting used to; things that will get easier as power usage increases and the tools develop.
However …
👉 After running and coaching with power since 2018, I think it’s already the most effective way to train and race.