My First Marathon Running With Power - Race Report

marathon-with-power

Power Meters have long been the gold standard for the cycling world but that same technology has finally arrived for us runners too!

For some time now I have been following the technology behind running based power meters. Honestly, I did not want to be an early adapter so I stood on the sidelines waiting for the kinks to be worked out.  I’m glad I did, as has allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of this technology and the potential benefits of this tool for athletes.

As some of you know, a similar technology has been used by cyclists for years and is now an essential tool for any serious cyclist.  Recently STRYD, a company from Boulder, Colorado who has been working for years to bring power meters to runners finally figured it out and released their power meter foot pod. After having a few conversations with their team I felt comfortable enough to jump onboard not only as an athlete myself but as a STRYD certified coach. (You can check out all of my coaching programs here.)

I tend to be my own guinea pig for these things, as I feel like I need to research, learn and test things out before I can recommend them to my clients. So, I took a few months to get familiar with using a power meter when running. This was mostly to gather data and start testing out different types of training using this new tool. My objective was to complete a training cycle using power to train for a marathon I had scheduled in December 2017. In the process, I decided to rework my personal training plan and make adjustments to utilize power as a measurement tool in my training and also to run the race.  For about 17 weeks I focused solely on running each of my quality sessions (i.e speed and target long runs) based on power.

Below is what I learned:

During those 17 weeks I did a few tests to calibrate the power meter and create my own specific training zones. These zones are similar to what most athletes are used to when they train with heart rate zones and pace zones. The only difference is that they are more accurate in terms of providing a measurement of data which is a constant and not affected by any external element. And that is what makes this tool worth its weight in gold. While traditional ways of measuring stress relay on heart rate however that is susceptible to being highly inaccurate as it is impacted by fatigue, sleep, and even coffee consumption.  Using pace, well that is impacted by terrain, wind and elevation. The interesting thing about power and what makes the data so valuable to me as a coach is that it is not affected by any of those things… it is a tool which will always provide a consistent output.  

This is particularly useful during the speed development phase of training and benefits athletes who are looking at getting the most out of their training without worrying about overtraining and injury. Simply put, using the STRYD power meter, you take the guesswork out of your training.

I must admit that it took me some time to get used to looking at my watch and seeing numbers like 200 watts as I had no real reference to what they meant. However, what it did was allow me to understand what 200 watts felt like. Then after each workout I could see what pace that was on each particular day. I did not realize how extremely helpful this was till my race.

As I got closer to race day I started analyzing the data I had built over the course of my training, paying particular attention to a few key workouts I did in the last few weeks of training. Given that racing solely on power was uncharted territory for me I decided to be conservative and race at what is my 80% effort for a marathon.  I felt like I was going be have a comfortable race and see what racing with power was all about.

Come race day, I felt good, rested and confident I was going to have a good race.  It might have been the first time ever that I toed the line of a marathon without any goals in mind and to be honest it was refreshing.  

My strategy was simple, maintain 220 watts which for me is about 7:20 min/mile pace. With that I figured I would be finishing the race around the 3:15 - 3:20 time, given the elevation of the course (the last half of the race had a positive elevation). During my training I also paid close attention to my nutrition and as most of you know I’m not a fan of taking too many gels during events. I feel like most people over do them in training and racing, never allowing the body to use its own fats as an energy source (topic for a future discussion). During my long training miles I only took gels for any run longer that 22 miles and only if I felt like I really needed it.  

So, for the marathon I did just that, I put one gel in my pocket and figured I would see how things went and if needed I would take it around the 20 mile point. The race started and the first few miles I took easy, just warming up because I could not get any warm up running done before the race. So, the gun went off and I took the first few miles easy, around 200 -205 watts. As we approached the 10k point I started to get into my “race power zone” and maintained the 220 watts I had planned all along.  I also kept an eye on my pace and heart rate, as I expected my pace would fluctuate with the elevation. However I just kept a constant 220 watt output which was comfortable for me. During uphills my wattage would jump to 260, so I would just have to lower my pace to get back down to 220 watts. Racing in this way allows an athlete to maximize their energy usage. For example, why run hard up a hill when all you are doing is burning energy which would be better used to maintain a steady race effort?  

During my training I had also calculated how many calories I was going to use and just when I would need to fuel up, so maintaining efficiency in my energy consumption was critical .As we got closer to mile 18 I was surprised at how good I felt. I felt fresh even to the point of meeting a nice group of runners and chatting along the way.  Surprised at how good I felt and to be on the safe side I took one gel and a little salt at mile 20. As we got into mile 22 it started to get hot out right at what I thought would be the most difficult part of the race as we hit a few overpasses. Again I held my ground and kept a 220 watts.  It was not until mile 24 that I looked at the race clock for the first time and I noticed we were nearing the 3 hour point of the race.

The last few miles were pleasant and I crossed the finish line in 3:13.

That’s a finish time which in prior races would have been much harder than this race felt. Needless to say I did not need a medical tent or a barf bag after I crossed the line. (Victory! hahaha) I ran about a mile to cool down and then jumped into an ice bath provided at the finish line and I felt like new again. After the race and the following day I felt amazing, a little sore but not at all as I was expecting having just run a marathon in 3:13.

Recovery was quick but I still gave myself about three weeks of post-marathon recovery time which really allowed my body to fully recover physically and mentally.I must say that I was extremely impressed with the training and precision of the power meter. This is a tool which will allow you to become a more efficient runner, prevent injury and take the guesswork out of race season planing.

Admittedly the data is complex and a bit overwhelming for most. For this reason, if you are going to invest in a power meter, I also recommend that you invest in a coach who understands how to best utilize this tool. Having a coach who can create power based training plans will allow you to get the most out of your training. And let's face it, most athletes just want to go enjoy running, not spend a bunch of time learning about the physics of a power meter.  Allow the experts to do that and got get that new PR!