Training and Racing with a Power Meter (2nd ed)
Just got my copy of Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Hunter Allen and Dr. Andrew Coggan (2nd ed.) fresh from the presses and signed by both authors-- skimming Google Wattage paid off for once!
I just cracked the book this evening, but I'll share any thoughts or revelations that I have while I go through the book. I don't know if there are any dramatic changes but I know that the section on Triathlon has been expanded and sure enough, check out the Acknowledgements and what do I see:
"Thanks to Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann for their input on using power meters in Triathlon"
I don't have the first edition so that may be old news, but props to RnP anyway, I saw that Sawiris had a shout out too.
Anyway, back to reading for me...
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Comments
Trevor. Thankyou for the information. I'm currently waiting for a copy coming in the post but I'm not expecting it to be be signed. I'm new to training and racing with power and I've devoured all the EN material. What I'm hoping to gain is a better understanding of is interpreting the different charts and information generated. Good to hear that R&P are acknowledged in the book as well. Cheers. Terry
Paul,
I just got the version 2 book. I've had the v. 1 book for a couple of years and refer to it still. I think you can learn a ton about power and power meters just by hanging out in the EN forums and asking questions, but if you want a great overview from the guys who really invented power meter analysis then I would highly recommend the book. It just depends on much much you really want to know/learn.
In order
(1) EN
(2) Training and Racing with a Power Meter
(3) Lurk on Google Wattage Forum
(4) Become regular poster on (3)
I'm at level 3
tom
Ditto, I lurk the Wattage forum but rarely post. Definitely some cool discussion there though, Dr Coggan (co-author) posts there all the time. That's where I saw that if you pre-ordered the 2nd ed. direct through Peaks both Hunter and Dr. Coggan would sign it. Having Dr Coggan's autograph, now that's tri-dorkdom.
I didn't get too far last night, but the book definitely has a lot more meat too it than Dr. Skibas book which I also read, "The Triathlete's Guide to Training With Power". I thought Dr. Skiba's book was a good primer but I don't believe it is as detailed. It's a very good companion book to explain the science if you are going to be using the RaceDay software but since I ended up going with WKO hopefully this will help me get the most out of it.
Hunter sent me a copy, I have it right here, but haven't opened it up.
William, I certainly found no mercy there, I was (still am) dumb about a lot of biking stuff, man I asked a question about wko once that came across as if I was putting it down, I got a tongue lashing there, and then I responded poorly, and got scolded at like a 5 year old. I learned my lesson!!! (there anyway!)
Dan
Props to R&P for the nod. Well deserved.
It's no sink hole of time like EN for me
@Dan - sorry to hear about bad experience. They are a tough crowd for sure. If you read long enough, you'll see the WKO+ guys post there that they view the Wattage list as their target market for WKO and it's to them that they respond in development.
So before I search us out and see if he "got it right," can someone tell me if they did EN justice? I spent about an hour on the phone with Hunter explaining how do the racing with power thing, reviewed his chapter, etc. I got that sense that he just didn't "get" pacing an IM with power so curious to see how it shook out in the book. Thanks.
Also...to blatantly toot our own horns...Hunter had, like, zero quality triathlon files. We gave him Mancona's IMWI'09 file, Patrick's CDA'08, a few others, as well as some from Chris Whyte. It's just scary (but good for you folks) to think how many people are out there racing long course tri with no clue about the basics of power, much less how to race with it.
Hunter said good things about you, Patrick and EN in general. I think he made you look like an overcomplicated techie running all athlete data through complicated formulas which I don't think was necessary. He also shows a power file where I guy knows he's going to hard, ends up with an IF of 0.75 but still qualifies for Kona. The file analysts, IMHO negatives the entire discussion. He ends with the fact you can run with higher IFs, but that's for Pros only.
Tom
Ok. PnI have talked about publishing our own addendum to whatever he says in the book so sounds like there is an opportunity for us to do that.
Tom
I cracked open the book again tonight and skipped ahead to chapter 11 to get the scoop on their Triathlon chapter. Though my EN-fu is not nearly as strong as Tom's, I agree with what he said. Overall I think the authors portrayed EN in a positive light (threw in a bonus link to the site) and seemed to agree with the principals. Personally, I wish they would have elaborated more on how a TSS "budget" is assigned rather than somewhat implying that RnP give you this number don't ask why just go with it. Likewise on the formulas, they give the formulas to calculate a target IF for your race but I'm not sure they give you enough background information on how or why you arrive at the numbers you plug into the formulas, i.e. they didn't mention that a lot of RnPs methods are backed up by years and years of power files from IM athletes and not just theorized.
Lastly, I totally agree about the examples he uses, his "heres what NOT to do" athlete decides ignore all advice and pacing and goes all out on the bike, loses only 15 minutes off her target run time and still qualifies for Kona. A disastrous run meltdown would have been a much easier to have people proclaim "Gee I don't want that to be me!" than someone who is going to Kona.
Let's hope that our racing competitors who look to this book for advice do what a typical triathlete will do: push advice right to the upper limits, and maybe a little beyond. Like if the training plan says run for 2 hours 30 minutes, then 2:45 must be better. Or if IF of 75% worked for her, then 77% might be better. Seriously; I love it when I run people down at the end of a race.