Does anyone use a Power Meter for running?

I've been using a Stryd Power Meter since May (post a conversation with their team at the Boston Maraton Expo), it's based on Critical Power (CP) which was previously determined via a series of tests or a recent 5k or 10k race. A recent update to the platform has introduced Auto-CP, which determins CP based on recent training history (30 days I think), for this to be accurate you need to have a cross section of runs, long, tempo and short fast bursts, 10 sec uphill is recommended.
Stryd measures on several dimensions (acceleration, impact and force) and leverages a lot of common run metrics (cadence, vertical oscilation, ground contact time, leg spring stifness, etc). CP in turn determines your Power Zones.

My early observations have been.

Accuracy:
You can change your watch settings to use Stryd for distance and pace while maintaining your mapping. They recommend using auto-calibration which I did initially and found it to be very accurate and after some track calibration I set mine to 1.01. I have run a couple of track races in the last few weeks and it has been spot on, previously with GPS this was never the case. Also it pretty much elimates poor pace data when running in tree covered areas or around tall buildings.

Real-Time Data:
HR data lags, gps pace can be impacted by many things, power is instantaneous, if you are doing a session and targetting a zone, you know you are on it immediatley.

Hills:
I would have had a tendancy to push too hard on hills, looking to maintain average pace, not have a split with 8:XX in it, etc. Running with power allows you to flatten out your effort, which should pay back in the latter parts of a session or race.

Relative Stress Score (RSS):
A typical runner tends to manage their running week by number of miles run, I ran 60 miles last and will increase by 10% next week. What Stryd has taught me is that not all miles are equal and they carry different stress scores. Example, I ran a mile on the track this week which had an RSS of 13, a recovery mile this morning had an RSS of 5. I now monitor my week by my cumulative stress score.

I'm not fully following a power plan for my training, but as I ramp up my learning I'm dropping in certain elements. I'm in researching mode and I'm reading the Vance book referenced above and following several forums online. If you are a data geek you'll be in your happy place on these forums, if not it's an opportunity to learn a little more.

Is it a game changer, I don't know yet, obviously you still need to put the work in, but could it enable you to train a little smarter? Possibly!

digiman wrote: »

I ordered one on the 28th May, it's still not arrived. They have released a new version a few weeks ago which can measure wind resistance and they are shipping that one now instead. It's been a long wait. I will use it when training to gather metrics but I don't see myself training by it until the marathon is complete. Will be aiming at 5k and 10k after the marathon.

What watch do you use? Do some digging to make sure it works with the Stryd unit. I have a Vivoactive 3 which, according to the Stryd website, works with the Stryd unit. But the software in the watch simply can’t cope with it, it crashes every time the Stryd connects to it.

It’s not an isolated incident either. Some digging around after I had the problems unearthed similar problems for other Vivo users. (As an aside, I wouldn’t recommend the vivo 3 for a runner for various reasons)

The Fenix range and higher end Forerunners seem fine, anything else you may want to google ‘Stryd & (watch name) problems’ to make sure you’ll be ok.

Bugsy2000 wrote: »

What watch do you use? Do some digging to make sure it works with the Stryd unit. I have a Vivoactive 3 which, according to the Stryd website, works with the Stryd unit. But the software in the watch simply can’t cope with it, it crashes every time the Stryd connects to it.

It’s not an isolated incident either. Some digging around after I had the problems unearthed similar problems for other Vivo users. (As an aside, I wouldn’t recommend the vivo 3 for a runner for various reasons)

The Fenix range and higher end Forerunners seem fine, anything else you may want to google ‘Stryd & (watch name) problems’ to make sure you’ll be ok.

I've the Fenix 5 plus so no worries there. That's not great with the Vivoactive 3 though, will you upgrade the watch?

digiman wrote: »

I ordered one on the 28th May, it's still not arrived. They have released a new version a few weeks ago which can measure wind resistance and they are shipping that one now instead. It's been a long wait. I will use it when training to gather metrics but I don't see myself training by it until the marathon is complete. Will be aiming at 5k and 10k after the marathon.

Since you ordered the old one, they will ship you the new version now - first orders are being fulfilled this week/next week I believe. New version is a improvement - measures wind speed, temperature, humidity, better connection antennae. The wind speed will basically enable you to run continuous effort into or with the wind.

I've had the old model since April and love it - I've actually ordered the new model and expect to get it delivered next week - I hadn't intended on getting it but they sent me a substantial discount after i enquired about it so i got it for 160euro delivered which was too good a price to pass up.

I find it most useful for:

Racing - keeps me from going out too fast in the first mile of race but lets me go fast enough. Heart rate will never stabilise in the first mile of a race so is useless.

Tempo's - I can run my tempos at the correct effort right from the get go and on a hilly or windy course no prob. Previously I relied on Heart rate and that takes too long to stabilise. going out too hard for the first 2 miles of a tempo ruins the whole tempo, going out too easy is inefficient use of time

Track Intervals - tempers my efforts on the first two intervals when I have a tendancy to go out too hard (like racing!).

the pace feedback from the stryd is unbelievably accurate.

I'm eager actually to try it for the XC season - I'm unsure yet though can it deal with the mud or will it get 'blocked up'

I've used the new Wind version for about 2 weeks now. Initially I thought that the power numbers were the same old version / new version but after a number of runs I actually think that the Wind version has shifted everything around 23W higher. Which is ok in that its consistently higher but still I do need to kind of work out / revise the numbers for race efforts again whereas with the old one I was fairly sure and trusting of the numbers such that I was happy to race to a power target rather than a pace target.

The 'air power' contribution is interesting - you don't see in real time on the Garmin what the 'wind resistance' cost is, just the raw power number, but you can check afterwards in the data that wind was costing you up to 15-20% power in some cases. Of course you don't need to know the wind resistance contribution real time as the idea is to just keep a constant power output throughout the run/race.

I was interested to see how it performed on a treadmill when there is no wind or air resistance and it was spot on, always reading air power contribution 0% - again leads to better trust of the numbers.

I've been using one for a good while (original & now the Wind) & find it very good to keep even effort, makes a big difference on hilly events especially. Initially I got it to get me through Comrades but tend to use it for any long stuff now. In the Donadea 50k, meant there was only a ~50 sec difference between my first 25k & my second & I never had anything showing on my watch apart from running power.

As it happens I've a fully functional 1st gen footpod that I'm probably going to sell on if anyone is interested.

So what would a garmin footpod give you extra from your watch? I have the forerunner 245 so one of these be any good? Couldnt stretch to a stryd

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Count me as interested
A new one right now is a stretch so let me know what you are asking

I'll take a look to make sure all the bits are still there & stick a post in the Gear & Equipment subforum in a day or so. From looking on ebay, 2nd hand ones are going for €130+ but will be looking for less than that.

event wrote: »

So what would a garmin footpod give you extra from your watch? I have the forerunner 245 so one of these be any good? Couldnt stretch to a stryd

Footpod is really handy if you use a treadmill as Garmin's claim that some of their watches can work things out from your wirst is b/s in my experience. As it happens I've an old footpod that isn't needed anymore so will post that later on too.

Ah I don't run on the treadmill, thought the footpod was for more than that. Cheers folks

I've never had it fall off but I chose not to wear it for Run the Line in the Dublin mountains last Nov as was worried it might disappear down a bog hole! It survived the Ballyhoura Moonlight challenge with no problems & that was impressively muddy in places.

Came across this on the Stryd fb group:

Stryd is very water resistant, however it is not 100% water proof.

This means you can run through puddles, in the rain, and rinse Stryd in the sink. But, you should not run through streams, rivers, or oceans as these are high pressure environments and risk damaging Stryd.

I recommend to temporary remove Stryd for these conditions or stepping over them or with the foot that Stryd is not on.

Noticed something like that in the Dingle marathon as I was happily keeping jogging along (in the lashing rain) keeping an eye on the power number when it suddenly jumped by over a 100, reason was one of the buses taking the finishers from the half marathon back to base splashed me & the pod. It went back to normal after a few seconds but I did ask Stryd support about it & their first question was did it get splashed.

Annie get your Run wrote: »

Came in here to ask if anyone knew anything about Stryd and found this thread.

For those that use it, would it benefit people at the lower end of the fitness scale or is it more for advanced training? I note Beep Beeps comment about having to have a variety of runs to build data.

Also, does it work for cycling too?

I am a big fan of the Stryd I bought through here.
You need to accumulate runs and it'll calculate your Critical Power, similar to cycling FTP, and you'll have ranges to train and race at.
I'm training towards a race that potentially won't happen if Ironman ever make up their minds so not getting the full benefit of the Styrd.
But after a recent jump in running volume my CP has gone up. It's a nice piece of kit

But, sorry, no it won't measure bike power. That is still a more expensive add on

Yes, I'm still very happy with mine. I'm mostly doing base miles at the moment so not much variety but the big changes I've seen since switching from pace only is that I feel less fatigued as I'm following the power number up hills rather than trying to maintain pace. Downhills are fun now as you can just freewheel down within your power range instead of trying to stick to pace. Generally I get home and am a little surprised at the overall pace average as it feels a little easier.
I'm keen to see how it goes when I'm running at MP but I will be reverting to pace for shorter intervals.
The Garmin Connect IQ app is ok. It'll provide you with a power range similar to the pace or HR range but it is pretty limited.

Overall, once this one packs in I'll be buying the newer version