Webinar: Establishing a valid auto-calculated Critical Power -- even without racing opportunities!

09 Apr 2020 • 4 min read

If you click the following link, you will be able to access the live chat as well: https://youtu.be/GYS2x90eMUI

2:47: A review of the three energy systems that determine your Critical Power

You must show efforts using all three energy systems to receive an accurate auto-calculated Critical Power.
Your usage of alactic, anaerobic, and aerobic systems overlap, so your Critical Power will become more accurate as you log more and more efforts.

8:12: The pandemic has upended racing and disrupted the typical methods of establishing a valid auto-calculated Critical Power

Without a race opportunity, you lose an opportunity to exert a maximal effort.
Additionally, you probably lose the chance to exert a sub-maximal effort in your build up to the race.
You need to incorporate specific tests into your training in order to maintain a valid Critical Power.
This is an especially important time period to establish a correct Critical Power because this ensures that you are running in the right power zones.
Plus, a correct Critical Power ensures that your Running Stress Scores are accurate so you are not deceiving yourself into too much training load or too little training load.

11:47: A review of the three important areas of the Power Duration Curve

13:29: You may already have some parts of your Power Duration Curve filled in

If you already have parts of your Power Duration Curve filled in, you should only focus on the missing areas.
i.e. If you do lots of hill sprints already, you do not need to do even more hill sprints or go out of your way to do more.

15:07: The importance of short duration runs

It is important to maintain a balanced profile, so you should do high intensity / short duration runs even if your focus is on the Marathon.
If you need tips to do hill sprints, please refer to Episode 8 of the Stryd Power Podcast: https://stryd.libsyn.com/episode-8-how-to-use-hill-sprints-to-improve-muscle-power
Ideally, you should do a hill sprint or a stride that is 30 seconds in duration.
You may need to do a few hill sessions before you finally log a result that reflects your max capability.

32:05: The importance of medium duration runs

This type of run is the most important part of your Power Duration Curve and it is the most difficult to complete if you do not have any racing opportunities.

We recommend to complete a 5K time trial, you should:

Choose to run on moderately hilly terrain with a power target because you will find this kind of run to be easier to execute than running on flat terrain. (If you do not have a power value to target, you should run at 97% of your max effort. This will be the easiest way to establish a valid effort without the risk of burning yourself out at 100% effort.)
Choose to participate in a virtual race opportunity so you have the motivation to perform at your best.
Choose a power target that either exceeds your recent best or maintains a recent best. (Hint: you can use your Model Curve on the Power Duration Curve to most easily select a power target)
Be sure to choose a smart pacing strategy where you do not start out too hard. Follow this advice from Coach 'Tinman' Schwartz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnF5Y-Lm8Gw

47:40: The importance of long duration runs

This type of run is necessary but it is not as important as the medium duration run.
We recommend to run in a high zone 2 intensity for 50 minutes.
You do not need to make this a maximal effort run. You only need to show the system your aerobic capability, but you do not need to fully display this maximal aerobic capacity.
If your typical training routes are too crowded to complete this kind of run, we recommend to find a new route that others do not typically run to complete this task!

55:57: Three tips to maintain your auto-calculated Critical Power

If you cannot build your fitness during this time period, you should at least maintain your Critical Power.

To do this, you should target the same values you have previously logged and target the values on your Model Curve.

Do not try to fill out your Power Duration Curve in a single day because the efforts will be too stressful.

In the video, we outline a two week program you can follow if you would like build out your Power Duration Curve in a structured and manageable way.

Remember: keep your Power Duration Curve balanced!

Be sure to give a good effort for at least one of each of the three runs we outlined.

1:02:03: Q&A session

If you are following a run-walk program, you should look to directly apply your power targets to the pace targets you had previously set.
You should do hill sprints consistently throughout a training season. If you start them late in the season, that could disrupt your upcoming race. If you start them early in the season, you must continue doing them, otherwise you will lose the fitness you have built before race day comes around.
If you do not have access to a hill, you can do incline sprints indoors on a treadmill incline. However, you should be sure to set the incline on the Stryd mobile app so power is properly adjusted when running indoors on an incline.

Who: Evan Schwartz and Angus Nelson from the Stryd Team.

Why: Learn some strategies and helpful tips for keeping your auto-calculated Critical Power valid – even without racing opportunities.

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