Stryd EN Members Only Podcast & Geekery

Coach Patrick

Folks, 

Had the chance to connect with Adam Heaney from Stryd today, and do a podcast for Endurance Nation. There's a special "members only" MP3 for download via this link: https://app.box.com/shared/static/0ypf4o32qll3ng03jy5bx5ryifudfp56.mp3

The first half / public half is generic intro and talking about the device, etc. Great overview and helpful. 

The second half I dive into some of your questions and uncover some cool things to focus on. He even hints at some new things coming up (not 100% they are public). 

The sound quality isn't great as he's in a small office (there are only 6 employees!) and my wonderful assistant DaisyCat decided to go AWOL on something. I hope you can learn through it all as there are some real gems there. I have my notes, but really want to hear from you what you think / where to go...

And as always, many thanks to @Mariah_BridgesFor the sponsor love and awesomeness!

~ Coach P

Peter Noyes

I will listen to it tomorrow morning, on the treadmill, while wearing my Stryd.

Tim Sullivan

Thanks, I just listened.  Looking forward to being able to see lap splits and all of the upcoming metrics and analysis tools that result from the use of running power. Coach P, I also heard you ask about aerobic decoupling in the podcast.  TP in the mobile version shows a bar chart for aerobic decoupling under the Laps tab (as long as you have power zones set up for runs I would guess).  I was good until the last mile of the half I did last weekend

Coach Patrick

Peter Noyes said:

I will listen to it tomorrow morning, on the treadmill, while wearing my Stryd.

@Peter Noyes -- picture from the treadmill to the forums or I don't believe you!

[Deleted User]

Good podcast Coach, thanks.  

I received mine about 3 days ago and have only done a single run, so I'm not qualified to have any opinion at this point.  I got this because of the strong headwinds that I am always running in.  Now I can run at a consistent power rather than blindly adjusting my pace.  Although, on my one run, my power was noticeable higher with the headwind against my back while keeping the same pace, which confused me.  Need more runs and data.

Going forward, I'm most interested to see the difference in dynamics between treadmill vs outdoor running.  I do about 65/35, treadmill to outdoor and this data should hopefully tell me how to adjust my treadmill pace/form to more closely simulate outdoor running.       

Robert Sabo

@Ashton Mossy I do not think that the Stryd power numbers are effected by wind. 

Coach Patrick

@Robert Sabo I think his intent is to use the Stryd to keep power constant in winds vs forcing a pace (did it today myself). Interesting exercise. 

Also looking forward to your podcast feedback. 

Ashton Mossy

Right, the goal is to maintain constant effort in headwind or tailwind.  I didn't know why my power was higher with a tailwind at the same pace.  Should be the opposite right.  Sounds like Coach P is not experiencing that though.  Probably my user error. 

Coach Patrick

@Ashton Mossy don't count yourself out...let's see what the others experience!

Peter Noyes

Coach Patrick said:

Peter Noyes said:

I will listen to it tomorrow morning, on the treadmill, while wearing my Stryd.

@Peter Noyes -- picture from the treadmill to the forums or I don't believe you!

I did it! 46 minutes of Coach P and Adam and then 14 minutes of being serenaded by the sweet voice of Mike Patton.

You can sort of see the Stryd in the picture.

I learned a lot. My biggest take-aways are how leg spring stiffness relates to efficiency,  how to improve it, and how easy runs can have a focus. 

Rafe Armstrong

I have used the first gen Stryd chest strap for a year and now also have the new foot pod Stryd.  Pretty sure the new foot pod can account for the headwind and tailwind as the chest strap could not.  Definitely the power should drop in the tail wind and increase in the head wind.  Mine does significantly.  I use mine primarily to calculate efficiency index.  It is a pretty good device on flat to rolling hills.  Not so good on steep hills especially running down steep hills.  Doesn't do a good job of capturing eccentric load on muscles.  Running downhill fast can destroy you but the Stryd device will tell you that you are not working hard.  Best used to keep efforts steady on flat to softly rolling terrain and also to check your efficiency.  Most also find lower numbers at the same pace on a treadmill due to the compliance of the treadmill.  The foot pod can be calibrated outside so then you can also know if your treadmill is accurate.  

Coach Patrick

Thanks @Rafe Armstrong

David Howard

Interesting note about the down hills...I've noticed the same.  Will likely use RPE (as usual) to judge my down hill [> 2%] effort VS PWR (or pace/HR) I definitely have seen wind effects... in the gusty recent runs I will show much lower PWR -maybe 1 watt per MPH? into a headwind vs actual effort (I'm 185# 5'10 so maybe more drag on me!) ...such as 12 mph wind was showing 190 w at the wind/grade slowed pace of 9:00/ml at RPE/HR of Z-low3 when wind paused I was @ 9:00 and 200w at (slight) lower HR (Grade Adjusted Pace 8:50 Z2 BTW)

Looking at possibly running a HM in a couple weeks and will see how the #s track. Not quite locked in on a solid HM Z3 PWR zone that matches historic HR/RPE/Pace.