[bondiben]

Hey Matt and Dave,

I have a question that I was hoping you would be able to answer for me. After having conversations with Dave before and listening to both of you on podcasts it is clear that pace is the best matric to use through training. My question/s relate to this. I am an athlete based predominantly around water sports. I have to account for tidal water and wind. This makes the metric of pace sometimes very hard to follow without working very hard to maintain the same pace.

I have not been able to find anything relating to this during running. But obviously, if you are running or paddling at a set pace then our predicted work level should be X. However when it is winding to keep the set pace the predicted work level rises, sometimes dramatically. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Ben

[Matt Fitzgerald]

Hi Ben,

I wouldn’t say that pace is the best intensity metric for running.It just happens to be my preferred metric because I grew up with it. All four major intensity metrics for running–have pros and cons. I would say that HR has the fewest pros and the most cons. Pace does become less useful on hills, in high winds, and on challenging surfaces. In such circumstances you can either make commonsense adjustments (e.g., slowing down enough to maintain a consistent RPE) or switch to HR or power. Power is the metric that best accounts for such conditions.

Coach Matt

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