How to ace your race strategy with Running Power

Run a perfectly paced marathon, half marathon, 10k or 5k with NURVV Run’s newest run metric, Running Power.

Autumn, the season of falling leaves, misty mornings, and loads and loads of running races!

Race season is upon us. And if you’ve been training hard for the past few months for a marathon, half marathon, 10k or 5k, now’s the time to think about your race day strategy.

You’ve probably already considered what you’re going to wear on the big day, how you’re going to get there and how you’re going to fuel. But what about your pacing strategy?

Why is pacing so important in a race?

Nailing your pacing strategy is key to running a consistent race. If your pacing is right, it’ll prevent you burning out half way round, or blowing up in the last few miles and having to slow down, walk or wobble over the line.

Many of us run using Pace on our watches or phones to keep us on track. And while running to pace is great, it has its limitations, especially on a course you don’t know.

Try too hard to stick to a certain pace on any hills or inclines the course throws up, and you’ll be running down your precious energy reserves.

Turn into a headwind, and you’ll exert extra effort if you try to keep on target.

Up the intensity to get your pace back on track after you’ve been caught behind other runners, and that extra burst of speed could cost you later.

So what can you do?
Meet your secret race day weapon – Running Power!

What is Running Power?

Running Power is NURVV Run’s newest running metric.

Measured in Watts, Running Power is a gauge of real time effort. The harder you run, the higher the Watts. The easier you run, the lower the Watts. Simple.

Unlike Pace, Running Power takes external factors such as wind and gradient into account, so you can keep your effort consistent whatever race day throws at you.

Unlike running to Heart Rate, it’s constantly updated, too. No time lag means you’ll always know exactly how much energy you’re using. So you’ll know when you can afford to speed up, and when to conserve energy on tougher sections of the course to meet your race day goal.

How to run your best race with Running Power

1. Practice makes perfect

Just like you wouldn’t run a marathon in brand-new trainers, or fuel your half with untried gels (we hope), the old adage holds. Don’t try anything new on race day! So practice using Running Power in training.

2. Take the Power Test

To get the most out of Running Power, first complete the Power Test on the NURVV Run app.

In this fun but challenging 10-minute workout, you’ll run at an intensity you could just about hold for 45-60 minutes.

NURVV Run will analyse your results and calculate your individual Threshold Running Power. You’ll then be allocated personalised Watt targets for six different Running Power Zones. Zone one being super easy and zone six being flat out.

Use these zones in training to ensure you’re exerting the exact amount of effort you need to meet your goals – whether you’re running an easy run, tempo or speed session.

3. Using Running Power to find your perfect race day effort level

Running Power is available on both Indoor and Outdoor Runs and can be used for interval sessions, progression runs or any other running workouts on your training plan.

To plug in a training session, just hit Power Workouts in the app and you can build any running workout based on effort. So one minute hard, one minute easy for example, or five minutes easy, five minutes steady, five minutes hard.

As you run, NURVV will give you dynamic audio and visual cues to keep you on track. And the more you train, the more you’ll know what kind of effort you can sustain for the duration of your race.

4. How to use Running Power on race day

You’ve got lots to think about on race day – so let Running Power do the pacing work.

Decide which Power Zone you want to run in based on your training, and NURVV Run will keep you on track. So you can run easier on the hills or into headwinds, and harder when you can afford to, without worrying about using vital energy and paying for it later.

All that’s left to do is enjoy the ride – and collect that shiny new medal!