Welcome to the first of many posts on sensors we advocate for getting the most out of strive.ai!
Power has long been the primary training tool for cyclists. The ability to baseline your power and measure intensity against that baseline is critical. Many of the device companies have incorporated running mechanics (e.g Garmin Running Dynamics) but power was previously unavailable to runners.
Enter Stryd, the first power meter for runners. I just picked one up over the holidays and have been experimenting a bit. I was pleased that the cost ($200) wasn’t nearly as painful to swallow as cycling power meters and so far the experience has been good. I’ve also been impressed at Stryd’s decision to provide excellent information how to best use the device.
I’m working on incorporating it into strive.ai with a new Threshold Type for run_power. I considered simply mixing running and cycling power but my running power was higher than cycling power at a stage where my running fitness is considerably off my cycling fitness. For now I’m going to segregate the two so you can identify when you have a breakthrough on either and understand what factors are impacting both of these threshold types.
It will be interesting to envision what’s possible with the multitude of metrics Stryd generates: Power, Form Power, Ground Contact Time, Leg Spring Stiffness and Vertical Oscillation.
I’ll follow up with a more detailed post when I get the data assimilated into the System. Please note Strava doesn’t as yet support this device but I was able to confirm the power stream is populated on the activities I used my Stryd. At minimum we’ll be able to measure power and hopefully the other metrics when Strava fully supports it.