Run through: Can you execute sweet spot training year round with Stryd?

What will your first 30 days of training with Stryd look like?

With our new training ecosystem updates, you can overhaul your training routine, master the basics of running with power, learn your exact racing capabilities, and begin to perfectly pace every run with Stryd.

Here is how we recommend getting started with Stryd to receive these benefits:

Day 1 | Introduction to Power

On your first day with Stryd, you will open up your Stryd app and select a Stryd Introductory Plan. This plan is crucial to building your Stryd profile. This plan is only two weeks long.  It helps you learn about Stryd and it helps Stryd learn about you. Once you have logged sufficient data, Stryd can make meaningful training recommendations.

How does this plan work?

This plan consists of a wide variety of runs. We want to see how you perform across different running duration and intensities. This variety of data maximizes our learnings about your running capabilities and skills.

The first day of the plan is relatively light! You will do 10 minutes of easy running, 2 minutes of all out effort, and 10 more minutes of easy running.

Note: Stryd will automatically learn from whatever data you feed the system. You don’t need to do the introductory plan if you would prefer to stick with a plan you are already on. As long as you do a few max or near max efforts in your normal training, Stryd will still learn sufficient information about you from your data!

Day 3 | How does effort correlate with power?

As you start running harder, you will see a higher power output.

Today, we want to put that to the test.

The third day of the plan has you do 20 minutes of easy running, 1 minute of all out effort, and 9 minutes of easy running.

Can you output more power during your 1 minute all out effort compared to your 2 minute all out effort from Day 1?

When running all out for a shorter duration, you should be able to beat your best for a longer duration. You can also start to monitor the power output on your watch today! You can look at the value to ensure that you stay above the power value you achieved on Day 1.

If you are following your own plan instead of the intro plan, we recommend to push your training today slightly harder than you have in the last few days to see if you can push your power higher.

Week 1 & 2 | Stryd Learns About You

Over the next 10 days, you will do a variety of running from an all out 30 second effort to an all out 5k effort. These training sessions will make your first few weeks of Stryd training interesting while enabling us to see how you perform.

You won’t be completing a ton of training volume during this period of time, but you will be setting the stage for your first focused training plan with Stryd. You will be ready to quickly ramp up your training volume and intensity at the correct levels.

Day 14 | Accurate Training Zones & Continued Learning

After two weeks of training, your introduction to Stryd is complete!

You will now have accurate power-based training zones that are tailored to your current fitness and you will have gotten a feel for how to run by power.

This initial data is the basis that you will start building your training on top of. This basis will enable you to quickly build your fitness and accelerate your improvements. Let’s take a look at the next step in your Stryd journey.

Day 15 | Pick Your Race Goal

The time has come to select a Stryd training plan and start using power as your training guide.

We have a few options to continue your training:

Base training: Maintain and slowly build your general running fitness before you pick your next race goal.

5k, 10k, Half Marathon, and Marathon plans: Pick your race distance, pick your race date, and pick a plan to methodically build fitness for your race.

Training plan from a third party platform: You can import your own plan from Final Surge, TrainingPeaks, or 2peak and execute that plan in the Stryd PowerCenter

Day 17 | Your First Workout

It is time for your first real quality workout with Stryd. To execute this workout, you should import your training plan to the Stryd app on your Connect IQ 3.0+ Garmin watch or Apple Watch.

You will receive step-by-step guidance to complete that workout. Your watch will tell you exactly how long you should be running, along with the appropriate intensity. If you stray outside of your intensity range, no problem! You will be alerted to move back to your optimal 'sweet-spot,' which will allow you to crush your workout!

This is the perfect guided workout experience that will ensure you stay in the ‘sweet spot’ intensity for every run.

If you do not have a compatible watch, do not fear! Our power plans are simpler than traditional training plans because you only need to stick to a single power target for most of your steady state runs and easily memorizable power targets for more advanced workouts. You will still receive simple workout steps that you can easily execute by following the power value on your watch.

Day 18 | How well did you complete your workout?

Congrats on completing your first workout with Stryd! How well did you do?

You can find out in the Stryd mobile app. Our app compares your planned workout against your completed workout to see how well you executed the plan. You can see where you perfected your training and where you can do better next time.

Day 30 | Meaningful Insights

Stryd can begin to automatically identify insights in your data after around a month of training.

You will answer questions such as:

- Has your Leg Spring Stiffness been trending up during your tempo runs?

- What is your typical Stress Score for an easy run?

- Are you doing enough easy running to balance your recent training?

All these answers will give you the knowledge to make adjustments to your training and compare how far you have progressed!

Day 31+ | Improve your Critical Power

By this point, you have built a great base using the Stryd training plan. Now, you will have the opportunity to push your capability during quality workouts. Whenever you set a new best in your power output during one of these workouts, your Critical Power will improve. An improvement to Critical Power will update your training zones so that they are personalized to your ever-improving fitness.

Time Trial Day | Practice your Power Target

Before race day comes, you should practice your power target during a time trial or race simulation.

A practice session lets you build confidence in your target so that you can step up to the start line with race day and know you are ready to race.

You can use the Race Power Calculator in the Stryd ecosystem to know the maximal power target that you are capable of holding for your race. And, you can use this guidance to plan your time trial target.

Final Build Up | Taper before Race

Stryd’s plans taper your training load before race day so that you are primed to compete at your best. This is accomplished with our “stress-rest balance” feature. You will watch this metric drop into the performance zone as race day approaches.

Race Day | Execute with the Race Power Calculator

Race day has finally arrived. You will be properly rested and have full-confidence that you are capable of having the perfect race. Start your watch, pair your Stryd, and stick to your power target from the start to the finish of the race.

Finale | Keep your training momentum!

Congrats! You have followed a full training cycle and executed the perfect race. You don’t want to lose your training momentum! You can start another Stryd plan to build up for your next race or enter into Stryd’s base building plan to maintain your current fitness.

If you already own Stryd, enjoy the free preview of the new Stryd membership until the first half of 2021 today.

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If you don’t yet own Stryd, you can purchase Stryd here and enjoy free membership benefits until the first half of 2021.

Order Stryd here >>