BELIEVE THE SYSTEM

My goal was to finish my half marathon under 2 hours. I decided I had more than 267 watts and went hard the last half of the race.

I set multiple personal records in this race. I went from 0:50 to 0:48 over 10K. 1:32 to 1:12 over 15K and 1:58 to 1:45 over the half marathon. Thanks Stryd.

PREDICTABLE PERSONAL RECORDS

After my last race, a 10k on 1st May @ 361W, my coach agreed it was 350W or bust for my last race of the spring, my local London Half Marathon.

That was a challenge but mission accomplished. A 32s PB and a three watt improvement over my last half marathon.

TRUST THE PLAN

I just completed the 88km Comrades Ultra using Stryd. Stryd was absolutely critical to holding back in the first half of the race so I could conserve energy for the second half.

The result? 41 minutes faster than 2017. I set PRs on all the segments in the second half. Thanks Stryd.

PRESSURE FREE RACING

I had a plan to only run by power. No pace, time, or distance on my watch. That was really interesting, and that strategy actually seemed to take the pressure off of running. I liked it.

At the finish, I felt really good. The best I've felt at the end of a race yet. My feet were hurting, but I finished at a good sprint, just in front of the 4:30 pacer.

No PR here, but I can say that running with power is pretty cool. I am looking forward to the next race.

18 MINUTES FASTER

So I just finished my second road HM ever, the worlds biggest - Göteborgsvarvet, in the time 1:21:05. Almost 18 minutes faster than the same race last year, so I am really happy with my result and especially my training that got me here really fast.

My estimated CP from a 10K race two months ago gave me a power target for a HM of 282, my average after the race was 287 (so not very far away). This is a quite hilly race around 180m elevation though so it actually went better then I expected.

 REVIVING RUNNING DREAMS

Without being able to keep an eye on my average pace and by relying solely on my goal power zone, I did:

- a personal record on my half marathon by nearly a minute; my old PR was 4 years ago.

- a 26'54" Parkrun: my second fastest to date and third fastest 5k overall. Again, my previous fastest times were 4-5 years ago.

All my best times had been achieved immediately before I got pregnant. After that I had to quit running due to physical reasons and I didn't resume running seriously until this past spring.

RELAXED RUNNING ON TRICKY ROUTES

To my utter surprise, I did not only finish the 18K with tons of energy left (well...a good amount of energy), but I found out that my pace was more than 10s per km faster than I had achieved on the same route in the past.

I honestly could not believe this!

Not only was the route trickier than I usually would have chosen for an 18K run, but it turned out that I was much faster than usual yet I had more energy left!

Running with power took all the mental effort out of my training as I did not have to gauge how fast to go uphill.

I just ran, enjoyed the environment, stopped thinking, and I was faster. I am really liking this!

THE NEXT PERSONAL RECORD IS MY FAVORITE

I set a new 5K personal record executed to power.

I was a 20:30 runner in February of this year so sub-19 is my next goal. My final time was a HEARTBREAKER as I finished in 19:01.

I will surely run under 19:00 soon. I have set 4 personal records in 4 consecutive months on same course ... 20:20, 19:54, 19:15, 19:01.

MIRACLE IMPROVEMENTS

I set a personal records at Ironman Cairns over the weekend. I ran a 4:19 marathon. This was a 31 minutes improvement from my previous Ironman marathon.

My strategy? I was patient during my first 10K by focusing on my run power target and maintaining my run form.

CARRYING THE CREW

I ran the Alresford 10K this weekend with my racing club.

As there was a more insane event happening at the same time, we'd lost all the big hitters in the club as they were racing that instead.

So, it was down to us slower runners to grab as many points as we could.

Stryd did the usual by keeping me back on the hills, with many other runners passing me by.

By the half way mark, I was beginning to reel people back in and managed to continually pick up places from there to the finish. I ran 16 seconds faster than my last 10k a month ago and I turned in the 3rd best entry for my club. It was a good day out.

FUEL IN THE TANK

It was weird running without knowing my pace or time. Instead, my focus was running based on my power target: around 320 watts.

In the hills, it was difficult to keep to the target.

After 4 miles, I even thought of just walking to the end.

But after the last hill, I decided to finish and I kept going to the finish line.

My final kilometer was faster than all previous ones, apart of the typical 1st kilometer when we all get the run buzz.

So, I guess thanks to Stryd I paced myself and I had the blind trust that there is fuel in the tank (even when your brain is convinced that your body is empty)