Why did you start running with power?

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫?

This is part of a series of posts on runners’ feedback about Running with Power.

Based on survey responses and book research, here are the top four reasons why runners started using power.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫

The most popular reason – power gives you one number that changes as your effort changes. And it represents your effort when on the flat, up and down hills, or running in wind. You can even adjust for running in heat, high humidity or at altitude. You just need to ‘run to the number’.

𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

Whether it was because of pace issues on hilly routes, heart rate lags when starting or stopping intervals, or not being able to accurately judge effort, runners were having difficulties using other methods of measuring how hard they were running.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬

Many non-power plans come with a risk of overtraining or leaving potential training gains unrealised. Power uses narrower target ranges within zones, and the power-based plans from Steve Palladino have worked for hundreds of injury-free runners.

𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

Runners were looking for a way to improve their race results, qualify for Boston (or similar), or to find a way to improve their race pacing. While power can’t guarantee better results or a qualifying time, race planning with power uses current fitness, stamina and running effectiveness to determine personalised race targets.

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬

There were many other reasons why runners started using power, including: power is based on physiology; it’s backed by years of research (from cycling and running); it uses data-driven insights; it can be used on a treadmill or in bad GPS locations.