Infographic – Running Effectiveness

𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 … 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜

Something different this week.

My posts are usually quite short (200-300 words) and deliberately so.

Bitesize, for easy consumption; each a sequence of 5 posts, building throughout the week.

But this week … pictures!

One infographic per day on the core concepts underpinning Running with Power.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬?

I’m curious to see what AI can create from some handwritten posts.

Curious to discover how it presents the concepts.

Curious to see what it includes (and what it leaves out).

Curious to consider what the infographic says about the way I’ve written the content.

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤

I’ll post an infographic generated by NotebookLM using the phrase “Please generate an infographic using the selected source” … and for days 2 through 5 I add “in the same style as the previous infographic.”

I’ll also include the URL for the source used for the infographic.

And I’d love to hear from you!

What do you think? Does the picture capture the concept? Does it help with understanding? Is it confusing? Could it be improved?

Today’s URL: https://startrunningwithpower.substack.com/p/how-effective-are-you-at-converting

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

⏪ Infographic – Training Stress

Infographic – Running Effectiveness

Infographic – Training Stress

Infographic about Training Stress
Infographic about Training Stress

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 … 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜

Something different this week.

My posts are usually quite short (200-300 words) and deliberately so.

Bitesize, for easy consumption; each a sequence of 5 posts, building throughout the week.

But this week … pictures!

One infographic per day on the core concepts underpinning Running with Power.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬?

I’m curious to see what AI can create from some handwritten posts.

Curious to discover how it presents the concepts.

Curious to see what it includes (and what it leaves out).

Curious to consider what the infographic says about the way I’ve written the content.

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤

I’ll post an infographic generated by NotebookLM using the phrase “Please generate an infographic using the selected source” … and for days 2 through 5 I add “in the same style as the previous infographic.”

I’ll also include the URL for the source used for the infographic.

And I’d love to hear from you!

What do you think? Does the picture capture the concept? Does it help with understanding? Is it confusing? Could it be improved?

Today’s URL: https://startrunningwithpower.substack.com/p/how-can-you-ensure-your-training

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

⏪ Infographic – Power-Duration Curve

Infographic – Training Stress

Infographic – Running Effectiveness ⏩

Infographic – Power-Duration Curve

Infographic about your Power-Duration Curve

𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫-𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞 … 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜

Something different this week.

My posts are usually quite short (200-300 words) and deliberately so.

Bitesize, for easy consumption; each a sequence of 5 posts, building throughout the week.

But this week … pictures!

One infographic per day on the core concepts underpinning Running with Power.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬?

I’m curious to see what AI can create from some handwritten posts.

Curious to discover how it presents the concepts.

Curious to see what it includes (and what it leaves out).

Curious to consider what the infographic says about the way I’ve written the content.

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤

I’ll post an infographic generated by NotebookLM using the phrase “Please generate an infographic using the selected source” … and for days 2 through 5 I add “in the same style as the previous infographic.”

I’ll also include the URL for the source used for the infographic.

And I’d love to hear from you!

What do you think? Does the picture capture the concept? Does it help with understanding? Is it confusing? Could it be improved?

Today’s URL: https://startrunningwithpower.substack.com/p/want-to-know-your-running-capability

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

⏪ Infographic – Threshold Power

Infographic – Power-Duration Curve

Infographic – Training Stress ⏩

Infographic – Threshold Power

Infographic showing key information about Threshold Power

𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 … 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜

Something different this week.

My posts are usually quite short (200-300 words) and deliberately so.

Bitesize, for easy consumption; each a sequence of 5 posts, building throughout the week.

But this week … pictures!

One infographic per day on the core concepts underpinning Running with Power.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬?

I’m curious to see what AI can create from some handwritten posts.

Curious to discover how it presents the concepts.

Curious to see what it includes (and what it leaves out).

Curious to consider what the infographic says about the way I’ve written the content.

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤

I’ll post an infographic generated by NotebookLM using the phrase “Please generate an infographic using the selected source” … and for days 2 through 5 I add “in the same style as the previous infographic.”

I’ll also include the URL for the source used for the infographic.

And I’d love to hear from you!

What do you think? Does the picture capture the concept? Does it help with understanding? Is it confusing? Could it be improved?

Today’s URL: https://startrunningwithpower.substack.com/p/no-need-for-lactate-testing

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

⏪ Infographic – Power=Effort

Infographic – Threshold Power

Infographic – Power-Duration Curve ⏩

Infographic – Power=Effort

Infographic explaining 'What is Power'

𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫=𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 … 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜

Something different this week.

My posts are usually quite short (200-300 words) and deliberately so.

Bitesize, for easy consumption; each a sequence of 5 posts, building throughout the week.

But this week … pictures!

One infographic per day on the core concepts underpinning Running with Power.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬?

I’m curious to see what AI can create from some handwritten posts.

Curious to discover how it presents the concepts.

Curious to see what it includes (and what it leaves out).

Curious to consider what the infographic says about the way I’ve written the content.

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤

I’ll post an infographic generated by NotebookLM using the phrase “Please generate an infographic using the selected source” … and for days 2 through 5 I add “in the same style as the previous infographic.”

I’ll also include the URL for the source used for the infographic.

And I’d love to hear from you!

What do you think? Does the picture capture the concept? Does it help with understanding? Is it confusing? Could it be improved?

Today’s URL: https://startrunningwithpower.substack.com/p/what-is-running-with-power

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

Infographic – Power=Effort

Infographic – Threshold Power ⏩

Training Stress – a two-sided coin!

A runner experiencing Training Stress

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 – 𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐨-𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧!

On one side of the coin, the reason you’re training – improving your performance, your fitness, your speed, your ability to run further for longer.

One the other, the impact of your workouts – fatigue, muscle soreness, dehydration, injury risk … the list could go on.

Can a single Stress Score be used to model both the shorter-term impacts and the longer-term improvements?

Note that ‘stress’ in this context refers to the physical (and physiological) effects of training, rather than stress from anxiety or worries.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡

Research into the effects of training stress has resulted in various models:
✅ Rowbottom proposed a Stimulus, Fatigue, Recovery, Adaptation model, sometimes referred to as the supercompensation model
✅ Banister proposed an Impulse-Response model, popularised in the TRIMP metric based on Heart Rate measurements
✅ Allen, Coggan and McGregor adapted the Impulse-Response model for use with power, encapsulating it in the Performance Manager model.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥

The model has the following components:

  1. A Training Stress Score (TSS)
  2. A Chronic Training Load (CTL), modelling longer-term adaptations
  3. An Acute Training Load (ATL), modelling shorter-term impacts
  4. A Training Stress Balance, indicating whether your training is ‘productive’

The Performance Manager model uses 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 Stress Scores (per workout) to calculate personal training metrics that indicate whether 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 training is productive – not too much, not too little, just right for you.

And with the two different ‘load’ metrics, the model includes both the shorter-term impacts and the longer-term improvements.

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

For more information on the models, see:
🔹 Rowbottom, D.J., (2000), in Garrett, W.E., Kirkendall, D.T., (eds.). Periodization of Training. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
🔹 Calvert, T.W., Banister, E.W., Savage, M.V., Bach, T., (1976) A Systems Model of the Effects of Training on Physical Performance
🔹 Allen, H., Coggan, A. & McGregor, S. (2019) Training+Racing with a Power Meter, 3rd Edition (pp. 158-160). Boulder: Velopress.
🔹 The Science of the TrainingPeaks Performance Manager on the TrainingPeaks website

⏪ How to handle training stress?

Training Stress – a two-sided coin!

Achieving a Stress Balance ⏩

How to handle training stress?

A runner experiencing Training Stress

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬?

Let’s face it, training is stressful.

It’s easy to overdo it, leading to injury and time spent recovering (rather than training).

But if you’re training for an event, a little stress is a necessity.

It’s a balance. Stress your body too little, and it will not adapt; stress it too much or too quickly, and it will break down instead of adapting; stress your body correctly, and sustained long-term improvements are possible.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬

Want to know how stressful your workout was? Calculate its Stress Score.

Stress Scores combine ‘how hard?’ and ‘how long?’

They represent the workout’s metabolic stress – its impact on your body, NOT its impact on your mental health.

Which is an important point – ‘stress’ in the context of training relies on what you can measure, on the physical (and physiological) impacts, rather than stress in the form of anxiety or worries.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫

A one-hour run at Threshold Power produces a score of 100.

Why?

Scoring relative to your Threshold Power means Stress Scores:
✅ match improvements in your fitness. As you become fitter, you can run the same workouts with less relative stress; or you can handle harder workouts for the same relative stress. This means that as your Threshold Power improves, if you run the same workout (the same durations and the same percentages of Threshold Power), your Stress Score for the workout will remain unchanged – even though you ran the repeated workout at a higher power.
✅ match individual capabilities. If our thresholds are different and we run a workout together, your stress score for the workout will differ from my stress score for the same workout, reflecting our individual capabilities.

Stress Scores are the foundation for metrics you can use to monitor your training stress.

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

For more information on Stress Scores, see:
🔹 What is TSS? on the TrainingPeaks website
🔹 Running Stress Score (RSS) on the Stryd website

How do you handle training stress?

Training Stress – a two-sided coin! ⏩

Is my PDC accurate?

A Power-Duration Curve (with accompanying Mean-Max Power curve)
A Power-Duration Curve (with accompanying Mean-Max Power curve)

𝐈𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐏𝐃𝐂 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞?

Your Power-Duration Curve (PDC) is modelled using your best efforts for a range of durations using information from your recent workouts (usually, the last 90 days of workouts).

But its accuracy (and its usefulness) depends on whether those best efforts include some maximum effort runs, at a range of different durations.

𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬?

Best efforts are those efforts with the highest average power for each duration on your PDC.

They need not be the best you could have achieved, just the best that you actually ran during the last 90 days.

𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬?

Maximum efforts are efforts where you deliberately run as hard as you can for each duration.

They represent the best you can currently achieve.

𝐀 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬?

Your PDC reflects your capability over very short durations (20-30 seconds), short durations (2-3 minutes), medium durations (12-15 minutes) and longer durations (20-40 minutes).

𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐃𝐂 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲…

Your training should include maximum effort runs for each of the above durations, so that your last 90 days of workouts includes a maximum effort for each duration.

Ideally, to reflect recent training, you should run maximum efforts (for each duration) every 4-6 weeks.

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

⏪ How do I use my PDC?

Is my PDC accurate?

How do I use my PDC?

A Power-Duration Curve (with accompanying Mean-Max Power curve)
A Power-Duration Curve (with accompanying Mean-Max Power curve)

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐏𝐃𝐂?

Your PDC is individual to you, your fitness, and your abilities.

It changes as you train (or detrain).

If you’re training for an event, it should move up (higher power for same duration), to the right (longer duration for same power), or both.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧?

It means it’s possible:
✅ to identify the power you should be able to maintain for every duration modelled on your PDC – your current capability
✅ to estimate how well you might perform for a shorter event, where you’ll be running at an effort where the fast component dominates
✅ to estimate how well you might perform for a longer event, where you’ll be running at an effort where the slow component dominates
✅ to estimate your threshold, although your PDC isn’t usually used for that (your threshold lies approximately where the two curves meet – the vertical blue line in the image)

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐏𝐃𝐂 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞?

A good question, and one that’s the topic of the final post in this series.

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

⏪ You fatigue more slowly at lower intensities

How do I use my PDC?

Is my PDC accurate? ⏩

You fatigue more slowly at lower intensities

A Power-Duration Curve (with accompanying Mean-Max Power curve)
A Power-Duration Curve (with accompanying Mean-Max Power curve)

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬

Intuitively, this is obvious.

If you run easy, you can run for a longer time, and the easier you run, the longer you can keep running (within your personal limits).

What’s not obvious is that there is a mathematical relationship between your intensity (your effort) and how long you can hold it.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡

In 1977, Peter Riegel researched the relationship between runners’ performances over different distances and concluded that an exponential curve could predict race times for runners, given a performance at another distance – the slow component of fatigue follows an exponential curve.

Riegel expanded on his thesis in 1981, stating that his formula concerned “activities in the endurance range, lasting between 3-5 and 230 minutes.”

Riegel’s formula plots time versus distance. Work by Van Dijk and Van Megen in 2017 concluded that there’s a similar relationship between power and time.

The curve is always exponential but may be flatter, showing better fatigue resistance, or steeper, showing worse fatigue resistance for longer events.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥?

Knowing the slope of your curve and the event distance, it’s possible to predict how well you might perform for a longer event (e.g. a Half-Marathon), where the slow component dominates.

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?

❓ Questions?
📖 Getting Started

For more information on the research, please see:
🔹 Riegel, P., (1981) Athletic Records and Human Endurance: A time vs. distance equation describing world-record performances may be used to compare the relative endurance capabilities of various groups of people.
🔹 Van Dijk, H. & Van Megen, R. (2017) The Secret of Running. Maidenhead: Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK) Ltd

⏪ You fatigue faster at higher intensities

You fatigue more slowly at lower intensities

How do I use my PDC? ⏩