Power Output in Running – Association with Running Speed, Altitude and Heart Rate

In endurance sports, monitoring power output is a relatively novel practice that allows endurance athletes to quantify the work they generate during running. Therefore, the first aim of this study is to analyze the power output in the running using an ordinary GPS watch. The second aim of this paper is to investigate associations between the running speed, altitude, heart rate, and power output. The participant (age 35, height 1.87m, weight 80kg) ran continuously on trail paths in a hilly terrain for 45 minutes while wearing Garmin Fenix 3 GPS watch. Heart rate showed an initial increase with a steady rate later in the run. Running speed and power output showed variations, mainly due to an altitude change. Altitude difference showed moderate and significant negative correlation with the running speed (p < 0.05), while a large and significant positive correlation was revealed between altitude difference and power output (p < 0.01). Both endurance runners and their coaches can use power output to observe running efficiency or assess the load on skeletal muscles, which cannot be achieved by monitoring heart rate or running speed. The presented analysis can help runners recover faster, thus running more often and achieving better results.