It doesn’t make sense to me they have the qual times but limit the amount of entries. Especially with what seems to be harder/faster times than other races yet the majority of participants are random drawing. I suppose it allows for greater participation?
Anyway, good luck at Boston and hopefully you get into NY sooner rather than later.
My buddies also have a tent out there. I would have been out there but it was my daughter’s bday party that afternoon.
You could see a Stryd pod on Gustav Iden’s shoes when they recorded the outside workouts in Sierra Nevada.
Thanks all, my runs are all in the open in a neighborhood with trees, but not a canopy. I think it’s the phone. I’ve read that sometime just a restart can help improve GPS tracking. I typically begin every run with some walking so I assumed that was good enough to get the phone and satelites together.
Ha! I actually came really close to getting something similar. I might actually do it!
I am sure there is someone out there. I ran on a nationally ranked XC & track team, ran on a sponsored post-collegiate team (I was the slow one out there but some qualified & competed in the World Champs and Olympics) under some of the top coaches in the nation. I currently coach, know coaches who are coaching top ranked teams, go to coaching clinics… and no one has ever used “power” as a measurable metric or something they use. To be honest the vast majority don’t even use heart rate. Coaches assign efforts at “tempo” (which actually is a huge range), 10k race pace, 5k race pace, mile pace, etc. It is a different world compared to cycling, which is driven my metrics and data. Running data is from race performance and goal pace. For the most part running is still mostly by feel.
I did this once or twice with my 520+ before I bought a cheap FR45, something didn’t work about it - can’t remember what though.
It will take a marathon WR due to a PM to change that, and I think Nike still have all the available hype for the foreseeable.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t useful though.
How does that work? How many slots are there, and how do you find out?
Also, are you local so you can particpate in the 9+1 program?
Now that I’ve proven to myself that I want to run fairly regularly I might just get a watch unit…
Recommendations for a basic version? Garmin? Others?
My Forerunner 45+ is a few years old but you can still get them cheap.
This is a (quickly googled) cheapish 55:
The lower-end forerunners are great. I have a 35 that’s ~5 years old, and even now I don’t really feel the need for an upgrade.
Just does the basics, but really solidly and with no extra stress. TBH I feel like I get the same amount of actually actionable info as my Fenix-wearing training partners, only I spend 20 minutes less standing around looking at all the other bells and whistles after my run 
There’s no consensus on what running power means or how to measure it. So I am in the camp who consider it not useful. Steve Magness is another member.
Even with a reliable way to measure it, it’s simply unnecessary. Running pace is already a very good indicator of both effort and progress. In runners you do not have the numerous variables such as rolling resistance and substantial aero impact like you have in cycling that limit speed as a useful metric.
Running pace for myself is pretty useless due to the terrain I’m running on. To say power is simply unnecessary and not useful, your welcome to be in whatever camp you want, but it is useful for me and many others. Is it necessary? nothing but your body is necessary for running.
Like all power measurements you want something that is consistent between sessions and I find what it measures is such. I can alter my form and see what effect that has on form power. It does measure “aero” impact, when running into a headwind, to maintain that ‘pace’ more power is required. I can back off and maintain the same effort regardless of external factors, something pace doesn’t provide for me. With the Stryd you do get lots of nerdy data, some I find useful like form power, some less so but interesting to see, vertical oscillation measurements, ground time, leg spring stiffness.
I know you’ll never be able to accurately measure power when running due to the nature of measuring it, but what the Stryd pod captures is useful for me and a great aid in the mountains and wind.
You’ve probably got it there, marketing! Also there is no way I relate it to my bike power. Stryd also tell you not to alter you entered weight once you start using it! So I do see it as that scaled number you mention to work too.
I do relate the Stryd to the cycling Power pod I originally had on my bike. You entered a static CDA value (photoshop measuring here!) , rolling resistance, weight and it did its magic. Downside was power values changed if you altered you CDA during a ride for same effort, also data was inaccurate if you went off road, surface change, or added bags to bike etc.
It gave decent ‘power’ data (Also headwind data) but nowhere near the consistent values I now get from my Quarq. It was something I worked with for a number of years and did me well.
Even without RR and CdA, speed is useless for cycling as a training metric, the landscape and body composition/weight are too variable outside track elites.
Power could allow runners to base training on output rather than resulting speed, eg pacing hills and rough terrain most effectively. Not sure it’s up to that yet, or at least whether coaching with power is.
I reckon TR could convince me to get one if they were committed to it.
First off, for structured training pretty much all serious runners use a track or a nice flat stretch of road. This is a controlled environment that allows good, even pacing. Nobody wants to be staring at a watch every 30 seconds while running.
Second, pacing should be done by feel, in any endurance sport. Relying on numbers from a device is for people who are not experienced enough to know how hard they can push. I personally hate looking at any physiological metrics when racing. That includes heart rate. If they look too good, they can cause me to back down for fear of blowing up. If they look bad, it’s discouraging. I will look at that stuff after the fact, but during a race it’s all judging effort and that’s how I like it.
Back in my racing days I wouldn’t even race with a watch. You got to know your pace. Don’t know how many races I did where mile markers were off and so splits were “estimated” anyways. In cycling there is talk of keeping your watts in training zones and all that. Running is a bit more simple… go out on the trails and run for X amount of time. Before GPS watches we all used “badger miles” where you calculated mileage at 7 min pace (though often it was much faster).
As you said the biggest tool for serious training is the track. Once we got in shape we could get our 400 repeats within a few tenths of what the goal pace was. You just know how the pace feels.
In a race, metrics are useful because i always feel “more powerful” in a race within a group. So i might burn the candle on both ends and it feels AWESOME.
Until it doesn’t. So the watch can help me pace better instead of letting the adrenaline rush dictate my pace.
I can change shoes and my pace increases by 20 seconds at the same heart rate.
Some days i might not “feel” as good but can hit a pace without issue but without the objective metric i might’ve have gone slower than i should’ve just because of how i felt.
Or on my half iron, when doing some hills pn the bike,i felt like death but looking at the power i reminded myself that i’d hit that exact power for 5 minutes in intervals so doing 1 or 2 minutes should be feasible, so it helped me push harder, within my limits
The data is a tool, it’s just a matter of using the tools appropriately to lift your performance to the next level, whether it be just during training or even during a race
Adrenaline? I used to be an 800m runner. That was adrenaline, and at that distance that’s a useful thing. Never felt like that since. I line up for a distance race and I feel nothing. In a half marathon I ease into it for a mile or two. In a marathon, even longer. No reason to push early. Harnessing your emotions is an important part of racing.
I haven’t done track distance races so i wouldn’t know.
All i’ve had in comparison is a feeling that i could go “this fast, forever” due to the crowds as far as the eye can see, running and lining the sides of the streets/course. Lasted about an hour and then my body caught up to me and brought me back to reality.
If i’d listened to my watch it would’ve probably faded away sooner but i would’ve had better overall results as i would’ve run within my limits 
That’s because you were running that 800m on pure hate. 