Tag Archives: Wearable Technology

Episode 6: Heart Rate Training and Racing, Training Zones, Geoffrey Kamworor & RunScribe, Coaching and Racing at same event, etc.



In episode 6 of the Art and Science or Running, Coaches Malc Kent and Jacob Puzey discuss the pros and cons of training and racing by heart rate.

Malc explains the two fundamental ways to measure heart rate:

  • The classical mode – with a chest strap has two key parts or electrodes on the back of the device to pick up an electrical signal of the heart pumping. In theory, it’s a very simple algorithm of how many peaks were measured in one minute (BPM). However, the simple algorithm depends on the person’s heart. Not all hearts are created equal. Algorithms can be refined to better isolate peak signal of the heart, but that requires knowledge of how the algorithms work.
    • One tip for improving signal pickup with a classical heart rate chest strap is to wet the sensors with saliva or water prior to adhering to the body.
  • Since 2013 there are now optical wrist heart rate sensors which measure different colours of oxygenated blood. This way of measuring heart rate sends out light which in turn is disturbed by a wave of energy in the blood vessel of oxygenated blood. However, this means of measurement is still not as accurate as the traditional electrocardio (chest strap) method.
  • We often hear from our athletes that their optical heart rate data is either off by 5-10 beats per minute or goes in and out in the first few mi/kms of a run. This means that athletes need to be prepared to mentally clean up data when they review it after a run and not rely too heavily upon it during the run.
  • One additional problem with optical heart rate accuracy is that it doesn’t work as effectively with darker tones of skin or tattooed skin.  For more details about this, please read Fitbits and other wearables may not accurately track heart rates in people of color.
  • Read more about the Firstbeat technology contained in most major watches at

    All in a heartbeat: How Firstbeat became the secret sauce in your fitness wearable – The company trying to turn your heart rate into personal feedback

Trail and ultrarunning coach and author, David Roche discusses some of these challenges in his article: Why You Should Be Skeptical About Your Wrist-Based Heart Rate: Wrist-based heart-rate technology is not perfected yet, and it varies based on the watch and athlete.

Malc, who has worked with some of the major players in the watch and wearable technology space, explains that major watch company use published academic papers to formulate algorithms as a means of avoiding liability and litigation:

“When you see something on a watch, that isn’t you specifically. That is a very very simplistic model or algorithm that originated with some studies that didn’t take into extremes from around the world so you have to take it all with a pinch of salt.” – Malc Kent

Most of these studies are very small populations of runners in controlled conditions.

These studies are based on the generally accepted equation that Max Heart Rate = 220 BOM – Age

Both Jacob and Malc explain that they are both outliers for most algorithms. Malc has a small heart and therefore a very high heart rate which means his lactate threshold is also high. Jacob in contrast has a very high VO2 Max, but his lactate threshold is relatively low compared to his VO2 Max.

Jacob shares examples of other outliers in the sport who also happen to be engineers and understand their unique datasets and use their own understanding of their bodies to inform their training and racing:

Gary Gellin is 51 years old and is one of the top trail and ultra athletes in North America. Despite his age, Gary has a Max Heart Rate in the high 190s to low 200s. Consequently, Gary’s lactate threshold is also quite high. Gary is a Stanford educated engineer known for his strict adherence to running by heart rate. In fact, Gary taught Jacob how to run by heart rate early in Jacob’s ultrarunning career. Gary knows the math for his own body and has recorded his own data and created his own ranges.

Malc explains that the heart has an electrical signal that will naturally oscillate even if you switch the brain off for some time which means that there may be certain individuals like Gary who may be able to exceed otherwise normal thresholds of control over the deep brain.

Another example of an outlier in the heart rate realm is Jesse Thomas a Pro Triathlete, Stanford educated engineer, founder of Picky Bars, and podcaster with wife, Lauren Fleshman, on the Work, Play, Love Podcast. Jesse and Lauren are both elite athletes and have been since their teenage years. Jacob ran in the same conference as Jesse in Oregon. Jesse was a multiple time conference and state champion before moving on to run at Stanford. Jesse explains that unlike many other elite endurance athletes he has a really low max heart rate. Both Jesse and Lauren explain what training metrics to use in Episode 28 of the Work, Play, Love Podcast.

Max King is a Cornell educated engineer who also understands his heart rate and body very well. Max’s athletic range is unparalleled in endurance athletics. He has been a world-class 3,000m Steeplechaser, Warrior Day World Champion (5K), XTERRA World Trail Run Champion (Half Marathon), National 50K Trail Champion, Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier, World Cross Country Championship qualifier, World Mountain Running Champion, World 100K Champion, and course record holder of many trail and ultra races around the world.

Jacob recalls watching Max run the Western States 100. He passed through the half way point several minutes up on the next runner and people were encouraging him to slow down. He was running at such a conversational pace that he was able to calmly explain that he could run any slower. His heart rate was an easy 135 BPM.

Read more about Max King’s superhuman accomplishments in Taking It to the Max: An Interview with Max King.

Malc and Jacob agree that like these elite outliers, the best approach to understanding one’s own heart rate algorithm is to collect a lot of data for a long time so that you can look back and determine what your zones are relative to relative perceived exertion.

Malc has always had the philosophy that heart rate has a place to control easy runs – to very quickly bring attention to the fact that someone is training too hard.

Jacob finds heart rate especially helpful in group settings as a means of regulating effort.

Use heart rate effort in racing as a means of controlling effort, metabolism, predict fuelling, etc.

Jacob describes one of his best ultra experiences using heart rate to control effort and fuelling at the Mt. Hood 50 on the undulating Pacific Crest Trail.

Heart rate won the day that day. Focussed on nutrition and controlling the effort. This was Jacob’s second 50 miler, but unlike his first one in which he relied entirely on effort and the heart rate of Gary Gellin, Jacob used his own heart rate data to control effort and focus on fuelling.

“If you are using the heart rate zones assigned by an app or a training system, it is likely not tailored to you, but a rather simplistic way of looking at it. If you have tons of personal data to create your own zones that is best.” – Malc Kent

Heart rate doesn’t take into account where your body is at or where your nervous system is at. Heart rate measuring devices are better for regulating effort (keeping you from running too hard), but if doing intervals, it doesn’t respond quickly enough and therefore it is not accurate enough to account for the variability (lag time, etc.)

There aren’t simple, basic rules. You have to embrace the complexity of it. Part of this is why Jacob and the Peak Run Performance coaches design training plans with a color continuum as well as some of the overlapping efforts. The overlay of heart rate zones work well with rate of perceived exertion, polarized training, 80/20, and the nordic skiing models that Matt Fitzgerald and Stephen Seiler discuss. They have gathered data from best endurance athletes in the world from their training intensities and suggest that amateurs should aim for similar ratios in training.

When it comes to watches, heart rate monitors, and other wearable technology it best to read the owner’s manual and learn how to use it and the limitations of the tool so that you can use it more effectively.

All of this and more in Episode 6 of the Art and Science of Running Podcast.

Intro and outro music by Dallin PuzeyGOIN 4 A WALK.

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Episode 4: Using wearable technology to inform running shoe design



We met with Alex Leuchanka, the Senior Applied Innovation Officer for VF Corp (Altra, The North Face, Timberland, Vans, etc.) to discuss the role of wearable technologies in the development of footwear.

Malc, Jacob, and Alex met at Versa MC in Calgary to discuss biomechanics and footwear development

Alex was in the area attending and presenting at two biomechanics conferences – one specifically for footwear and the other for biomechanics in general.

His presentations can be found through the links below:

Use of Wearable Sensors for Measurement of Spatiotemporal Variables During Marathon Race Poster

Use of Wearable Sensors for Measurement of Spatiotemporal Variables During Marathon Race Abstract

Exploring Kinematic Asymmetry by Means of Wearable Sensors During Marathon Race Poster

Exploring KinematicAsymmetry by Means of a Wearable Sensors During Marathon Race Abstract

Alex describes the work he does using wearable technologies to determine how the body responds to certain types of footwear, terrain, etc. Whereas in the past one had to do all of the testing in a lab, with advancements in technology he can now measure 4D movement of an individual with incredible accuracy to determine how to improve footwear development.

Jacob plans to use RunScribe sensors in training and Alex and Malc will review the data to determine which shoe models work best for him and what injury prevention protocols to follow.

Malc uses wearable technology to help runners from all over the avoid injury.

Alex uses wearable technology specifically to inform footwear development and will be working with Jacob and other VF athletes (The North Face and Altra) to gather training and racing data to hopefully create better shoes to meet their training and racing demands.

Wearable technology has been overly simplistic in the past, but RunScribe now has the ability to look at up to 35 – 40 parameters.

Recently, Alex has been comparing the Nike Vaporfly 4% Flyknit shoe and the Altra Escalante Racer.  His posters and presentations (above) show some of his findings.

Alex suggests that the gains made by the 4% are not simply due to the carbon plate, but primarily due to the newer Pbax foam compound.

As an undergraduate and graduate student and the University of New Hampshire, Alex studied zero drop technology and how the body responds to it.  In fact, his department developed a transition protocol from traditional shoes to zero drop over the course of several weeks.

Alex describes the process of shoe development and modification.

A team of developers puts the shoe together, creates prototypes, test prototypes, and gets feedback from wear testers, but to make even minor modifications comes at a great cost and generally takes time.

All of this and more in Episode 4 of the Art and Science of Running Podcast.

Intro and outro music by Dallin PuzeyGOIN 4 A WALK.

Please listen, subscribe and rate this podcast on Apple PodcastsSpotifyStitcherYouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Episode 3: GPS, Pace, Indoor Running, Treadmill Training



Have you ever run a race & noticed that your watch didn’t match the mile markers or give you the same distance as someone else who ran the race?

Which is more reliable – the treadmill or your watch’s indoor running mode?

In episode 3 of The Art and Science of Running Podcast​, Malc Kent​ & Jacob Puzey​ discuss GPS, indoor running metrics, treadmill training, race course certification & other running metrics and technologies.

Listen, subscribe, rate & review the show at Apple Podcasts​, Spotify​, Stitcher​ or wherever you listen to podcasts!

Continue reading Episode 3: GPS, Pace, Indoor Running, Treadmill Training


Episode 2: Group Training, NN Running, Recovery, Trusting the Process



Live from Malc’s basement in Cochrane, Alberta, co-hosts Malc Kent and Jacob Puzey discuss group training, specifically the NN Running Team, with whom Malc has been working in Kenya.

 

Malc originally moved to the area because a research and development center for Garmin is located in Cochrane. Malc’s wife worked as a wireless developer for Garmin and Malc did some consulting and testing work on wearable running technologies.

Over the years, Malc has worked as a consultant for a number of companies and groups.

Most recently, Malc has been working in Kaptagat, Kenya with NN Running, the training group with which marathon world record holder, Eliud Kipchoge, trains.

Coach Patrick and team physio, Marc, monitoring a team track session in rural Kenya. Photo by Malc Kent.

Malc discusses some unique features of the group that help make it so successful:

  • Everyone accepts the process.
  • Everybody does their job.
  • They don’t burden themselves with over analysis.
  • Often in training, the superstars are in the middle and not out front pushing the pace on every run.
  • There are no secrets.
  • The training is essentially the same workouts on the same days every week.
    • The track workout happens on one day.
    • The fartleks happen on another day.
    • The long run happens at another day.
  • This routine helps make recovery predictable and manageable.
  • They just consistently do the work and consistently recover from the work.
  • The altitude and dirt roads help, but the group mentality is what really sets NN Running apart.
  • Running camps are almost military style and foster camaraderie.
  • When not running, the athletes are fine doing nothing.
  • One key to success is recovering from hard work.
  • The group dynamic is one of constructive interference.

Malc relates his experience as an elite climber to trusting one’s teammates or coach. The stakes in climbing are extremely high. There is no middle ground. You’re trusting your life with a person hundreds of thousands of times in one trip.

Jacob describes some of the groups of athletes with whom he has worked and how important trusting the process, trusting the training, trusting your teammates, and trusting the coach can be.

Outro music by Dallin Puzey, GOIN 4 A WALK

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Intro to the Art and Science of Running Podcast



In this episode of the The Art and Science of Running, coaches Malc Kent and Jacob Puzey share their histories as athletes and coaches in the sport of running.
 
Jacob began running in middle school to get in shape for basketball. He ran in high school in the state of Oregon, USA before walking onto a Junior College Cross Country team at Ricks College where he was part of 2 x National Championship Team.
 
Even at 18, Jacob noticed differences in coaching styles between his high school and college coach. After a 2 year break from running and university studies, Jacob resumed his studies and began volunteer coaching and learned everything that he could from myriad mentors and books.
After a few years of pre-medicine and Exercise Science course work, Jacob gravitated toward the humanities and social sciences – cultural studies, anthropology, world languages, linguistics, language learning, and biolinguistic revitalization, etc.
During this time, Jacob coached high school teams and athletes throughout rural America to their first state track and cross country team and individual titles. He was also actively training and racing toward his own athletic goals and coaching other adults on the side. He continued to learn all that he could through books, articles, mentors, and coaching certification programs.
These experiences have led Jacob to approach running and coaching through a holistic lens trying to balance both qualitative and quantitative aspects of running and life.
 
After about 10 years of coaching high school and collegiate athletes, Jacob began coaching athletes remotely under the direction of Greg McMillan and Ian Torrence at McMillan Running.
After two years at McMillan Running, Jacob started his own online coaching company, Peak Run Performance, through which he, Malc, and other professionals coach athletes of all ages, abilities, and ambitions from all over the world.
Malc started running cross country in the UK as a young kid. Gradually worked his way up to the English School’s championships as a teenager where he ran against the likes of Mo Farah. He was also a national champion in orienteering at the age of 16.
 
His analytical mind helped him outperform even those who were fitter or more athletic. Malc started strength training as a rugby player in his teenage years. He began formally strength coaching in his early 20s.
 
Malc’s academic background is in applied physics and biomechanics. He has worked the last 14 years as an applied scientist or in biomechanics or mechanics.
Malc noted a BIG turning point 8 years ago when measuring with wearable technology which allows runners and scientists to get outside lab and measure in an authentic environment.
Jacob and Malc discuss the evolution of wearable technologies from Garmin footpods and basic GPS watches to power meters.
 
Malc asks: What is your philosophy on data? Do you treat all data the same or do you value some data more than others?
 
Jacob explains that time is the number one metric he relies upon in his own training and when designing training for athletes. He details his rationale in this article: DURATION vs. DISTANCE
 
Malc discusses the gait metrics he measures when performing a gait analysis.
 
  • Power is not the best metric for runners. It has been overhyped.
  • It changes quickly & is impacted by looking at watch. It also doesn’t take into account fatigue, etc.
  • How do you adjust training to life when based on power?
 
Malc subscribes to a systems thinking in the body like Stuart McMillan of Altis, in which the body is set of complicated systems that all interact. If you change one they all have to adjust and compensate.
 
Malc recommends that athletes collect all the data possible to understand a complex system with more than one stream of data.
 
Jacob and Malc began collaborating because Malc offers a service with technology that exceeds Jacob’s training and level of expertise and there was a demand for gait analysis services that Jacob could not meet. Both have enjoyed helping athletes from all over the world.
 
Intro & Outro music, “Goin 4 a Walk” by Dallin Puzey Music
 

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