Running uphill is often a daunting task for most runners. And even the runners who enjoy running up the hills, they often struggle to pace themselves correcrtly so as not to burn themselves out during the course of the hill. In many of the marathons, there are sections of uphills which often require the most planning of pacing, so that you do not hit the wall for the rest of the marathon.
The miracle answer to this puzzle is one : POWER. Yes, dear runners, POWER is the holy grail in any sport. In the sport of Cycling, power has since many years helped the cyclists pace themselves during training and races. Now with STRYD, even runners have the advantage of using the Power metric to improve their running form.
So when you run uphill, how do you decide your pace? How do you decide the intensity when the terrain gets hilly? If you decide on feel, you never know how your body will react AFTER the hill segment is over. If you decide on Heart Rate, there is every chance that the heart rate number is not the correct picture because heart rate varies on number of parameters like sleep pattern, fatigue levels, weather conditions, nutrition, health, etc. But there is one metric which doesn't change - POWER. The watts which your legs generate while running or cycling never change. Power always depicts the absolute true picture of the intensity load your body is taking and also gives you an accurate idea of how much fuel is left in your body tank for the rest of the marathon!
So when you run uphill, just look at the power number on your wrist. By maintaining a certain power number on the basis of your training, you will exactly know the intensity to maintain. Forget the pace, forget the time, just maintain your target power number, and you will sail through. If you train your legs to generate the same watts whther you are running uphill or downhill or on flats, you will never hit the wall in your race!