The Dutch version of our new book is expected in March 2021. ‘Your Fast Track to a PB: Running on Power’ is free as an e-book. You can pre-register and be the first to receive this free e-book about running with power’. Leave your email address at ProRun (click). Other language versions will follow later. We will keep you informed via this website!
Hans van Dijk, Ron van Megen and Koen de Jong are writing a book about running with power. A new way of training that is conquering the running world.
Is training on heartbeat or on pace a thing of the past?
Running on power is gaining popularity. More and more runners swear by their power meter and no longer train on heart rate or pace. There is a turnaround going on and there is a good chance that in a few years’ time training on power will have become the norm.
With a heart rate monitor and enough knowledge you can train on flat terrain. In many cases, however, a heart rate monitor is unusable. For example, for interval training of 200 or 400 meters. By the time your heart rate is high, you are already at the end of your acceleration. Even uphill or in strong winds, it is difficult to train focused on heart rate, your pace drops, your heart rate skyrockets and you have little in comparison to your flat, windless training laps.
If you want to go uphill at the same pace in a race, you will have a red head and sour thighs. Inevitably you want to catch your breath downhill, when you could have saved some time. With head wind or a tail wind, this is the same.
With a power meter you can run with a constant wattage. In this way you can keep running with the hills facing you and with wind or wind against you, you can easily run your intended wattage. Which wattage you have to run in your training or during your competition, you do not have to (sports) do it yourself. Nowadays there are good tools available to do this. Another advantage of running on power: your power reacts immediately, so you can also train your 200-meter interval on power. And running on power is not complicated. That’s what the new e-book is all about, practical and accessible to a wide audience.
Many runners already know Hans van Dijk and Ron van Megen from their books ‘The Secret of Running’ (multiple languages) and ‘Running with Power!, a running revolution’ (in Dutch). The two wrote hundreds of columns and articles on all possible aspects that influence running performance.
Accessible
What was seen as revolutionary when their book was published in 2016, has now gained a firm foothold in the world of running. Hans and Ron turned out to have a visionary outlook when they introduced running on power to Dutch runners. Initially, the American Stryd was the only one to offer a good running power meter. Stryd is still a forerunner, but sees that the watch brands Polar, Coros, Garmin and Apple Watch now also offer Running Power. Even more important than the increased offer is the improved accessibility. If in the past you had some affinity with the physical concepts of power (wattage) and energy, the accompanying apps have been developed so far that it can be understood and used by everyone.
New book
Meanwhile, a new book is in the pipeline. Mid March it will appear as an e-book in Dutch. Free of charge. Other languages will follow soon (Spanish, French and German).
Hans and Ron have a weekly column at ProRun.nl. This running website is enthusiastic about the possibilities of running power meters and makes the new book possible. ProRun is also helping the well-known running author Koen de Jong to write the book.
Improve
Koen de Jong was never such a fan of physics at school. “What I do have an interest in, except languages: running, understanding progress and ways to improve my sports performance”.
In order to train with power, you don’t need to know what Watt is. Even without knowing what Watt is, you can improve personal records and make progress. As long as you know what wattage you need to run when training to make progress or what power you can run on a 5 km, 10 km, half marathon or full marathon.
Already interested in the Dutch edition?
You can pre-register and be the first to receive the free e-book about running with power (in Dutch). Leave your email address at ProRun (click here).
Our book ‘The Secret of Running’ is for sale in our webshop. Also available in German as ‘Das Geheimnis des Laufens’, and in Italian as ‘Manuale completo della corsa’.