Km of effort and Km of effort/hour

The distance and the positive slope are usually the two variables that any organizer of a sporting event in the mountains usually publishes on their website.
Both allow potential participants to get an idea of the hardness of the test and know if they are prepared or not to be able to compete in it.
Distance and positive slope is also usually what we look at once we have arrived home after doing any route through the mountains.

However, if I asked you to compare those workouts to find out the degree of hardness and the degree of intensity that you applied to your activity, would you know how to do it?

With a Stryd you can. Easily. It’s simply a matter of seeing the training stress factor in your app and the higher the number, the more stress you have accumulated.
Likewise, you can compare them using the normalized power of the sessions. The greater the power, the more intensity and therefore, the greater hardness as well.

If you don’t have Stryd (or even if you do) you can use another variable: kilometers of effort and km of effort per hour..

In the first case (kilometers of effort) it will give you an idea of quantitative aspects. That is, the volume. In the second case (km of effort/hour) of qualitative aspects. That is to say, of the intensity. Summing up: how much have you run and at what speed have you done it, respectively.

In a previous article entitled Historical data in which I talked about competition analysis, I already explained the advantages of being able to calculate in kilometers of effort and kilometers of effort per hour.

And it is that thanks to these two variables you will be able to:

1. Analyze each race individually.
2. Compare the races carried out during the same season.
3. Compare those same races in previous seasons.
4. Compare races from one season to other seasons.
5. Evaluate the requirements of future competitions.
6. Schedule training based on future competitions and their requirements.

Now, I leave you in the home of my website this calculator of kilometers of effort so that you can quickly and easily write the two variables in the notes of each training session and competition.

You will also be able to calculate approximately the result of the races in which you participate. In this way you will be able to better manage your effort and more accurately calculate the nutritional needs that each test will require of you.

I hope it is as useful to you as it is to me!