How I inject some excitement into that void between races

Like many of you, I am on a quest for running excellence.

My quest has been going on since I first started running over a decade ago.

There has been moments that have been filled with electric excitement and triumphant results.

I cherish these highlight moments.

But, more often than not, my quest is boring.

99%+ of the quest is training, recovering from a run, or preparing for another run.

(a.k.a. the grind of running)

Less than 1% of moments contain any real success that is worth talking about.

Worse:

There is a lot of uncertainty.

I put the mileage in.

But, will race day end is disappointment or success?

I could spend months training just to log a disappointing performance.

Here is what my process used to look like:

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Step #1: Train in solitude

Step #2: Go race and hope for a highlight moment.

If the race ends in success, keep training.

If the race ends in disappointment, train harder.

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This plan involved a lot of hoping.

It took me a full race cycle to know how my training payed off.

This is not a good strategy.

It is important to have a fast feedback cycle to know whether your training is paying off before you show up for race day.

You want to be able to constantly tweak your training so you don't waste months of time completing ineffective, useless training.

Now, I don't have that problem.

I know exactly when my fitness is improving.

Plus, I know what those fitness improvements mean in terms of my performance on race day.

How do I do that?

I use auto-calculated Critical Power.

Here is what my process looks like now:

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Step #1: I complete a hard workout that exceeds a previous best effort.

Step #2: My Critical Power increases which means that my race power targets also increase.

Step #3: I can go race, armed with the knowledge of my improved capabilities.

Step #4: If I race to my potential, my Critical Power increases again.

Step #5: Now, my power targets for training also increase.

Step #6: I can prepare to complete another hard workout when I recover from my race. Then, I will be back to Step #1!

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With the help of auto-calculated Critical Power, I know which workouts are improving my fitness and how much they improve my fitness.

This cuts the feedback cycle way down.

This also injects some excitement into that void between races.

I don't have to race to see the fitness rewards for my hard training.

Now, my quest for running excellence is:

1) not so boring

2) happens a lot quicker because I can improve faster

Critical Power is another benefit of Stryd's new PowerCenter.

PowerCenter extracts insights from your running power data so you know what your training means for your fitness.

If you want to start collecting running power data, you can order Stryd at the link below:

https://store.stryd.com/