๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐?
This is a subtle question, as the answer depends on:
โ how hard you run โ your effort
โ how long you can sustain that effort
โ how well youโre able to convert that effort into forward motion
Your Power-Duration Curve (PDC) can help answer the first two โ the third depends on your Running Effectiveness.
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐
The higher your power (your effort), the shorter the duration you can sustain it; the lower your power, the longer you can sustain it.
In other words, thereโs an inverse relationship between power and duration.
You can chart this relationship. The result is a chart showing your Mean-Max Power (MMP) โ the best effort you can sustain for each duration (measured using average power for each) .
Based on your MMP, your PDC models your best efforts over a range of different durations, showing (for each) the effort you could sustain.
The picture shows a typical PDC (the orange line) based on a typical MMP (the red dotted line).
Itโs usually charted using a duration scale that expands the left side of the curve and compresses the right side, revealing that the PDC is actually two separate curves.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐-๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐
How long you can sustain a particular effort level depends on how much you can do before tiring โ it depends on how you fatigue.
Fatigue has two components: a fast component and a slow component.
Both elements of fatigue are always present, but the fast element of fatigue dominates at higher intensities, and the slow element dominates at lower intensities.
These are the two curves that, together, make up the PDC.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐’๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐?
โ Questions?
๐ Getting Started
From its first introduction in ‘Training and Racing with a Power Meter’ (Allen, H., Coggan, A. & McGregor, S.) in 2006, and its subsequent incorporation into WKO4 in 2015, the PDC has become the standard for modelling your power over all time periods. For more information on the PDC as implemented in WKO, see ‘Scientific Basis of the New Power Duration Model in WKO4‘.
๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐: ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ-๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฏ๐
โฉ What are you capable of?
โฉ You fatigue faster at higher intensities
โฉ You fatigue more slowly at lower intensities
โฉ How do I use my PDC?
โฉ Is my PDC accurate?