𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟?
This is a subtle question, as the answer depends on:
❓ how hard you run – your effort
❓ how long you can sustain that effort
❓ how well you’re able to convert that effort into forward motion
Your Power-Duration Curve (PDC) can help answer the first two – the third depends on your Running Effectiveness.
𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐃𝐂
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, there’s an inverse relationship between power and duration.
You can chart this relationship. The result is a chart showing your Mean-Max Power (MMP) – 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).
It’s 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.
𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐃𝐂 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞
How long you can sustain a particular effort level depends on how much you can do before tiring – 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.
𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆 𝑹𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓?
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‘.
𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜: 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫-𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞
⏩ What are you capable of?
⏩ You fatigue faster at higher intensities
⏩ You fatigue more slowly at lower intensities
⏩ How do I use my PDC?
⏩ Is my PDC accurate?
