In the age of technology, athletes have plenty of data at hand to measure their performance and progress. Whether you're a seasoned marathoner or a beginner striving for personal bests, understanding and using data can be a game-changer in your training. Let’s dive a bit deeper into the topic to help you understand your data and how you can benefit from it.

Data-driven training involves using various metrics collected from wearable devices, apps and other tools to analyse your running performance. These metrics can include pace, distance, heart rate, cadence, elevation and more. By systematically tracking this data, you can gain insights into your running habits, strengths and areas for improvement.

Benefits of data-driven training

Tracking progress

Data allows you to accurately track your progress over time. Whether you're looking to improve your race times, increase your distance or improve your overall fitness, tracking metrics gives you a clear picture of your progress. KULG visualises your long-term running trends and lets you compare your runs by showing the big picture. This visibility can be incredibly motivating as you see the actual results of your hard work.

Personalised training plans

Analytics can help you create a personalised training plan that’s tailored to your specific needs and goals. By analysing your past performance data, you can identify trends and patterns that will help you manage your training intensity, duration and recovery periods. This personalised approach ensures you're training at the right intensity to improve without overtraining.

Improving running efficiency

By looking at metrics such as cadence and stride length, you can make adjustments to your running form that reduce energy consumption and improve speed. For example, increasing your cadence (strides per minute) can help you run more efficiently and with less impact, and reduce the risk of injury.

Injury prevention

Monitoring data such as heart rate variability, sleep patterns and recovery metrics can help prevent injury. By understanding how your body responds to different training loads, you can adjust your schedule to avoid overtraining and ensure proper recovery. This proactive approach reduces the risk of injury and keeps you running consistently.

Key metrics to monitor

Pace and distance

Tracking your duration, distance and pace is key to understanding your performance. These metrics help you see how your speed changes in different conditions and courses, so you can adjust your training accordingly.

Heart rate

Heart rate monitoring is essential for understanding your cardiovascular fitness and training intensity. By keeping your heart rate within certain zones, you can train more effectively and avoid overdoing it.

Feeling and perception of effort

Other useful data to measure is your feeling and the rate of perceived exertion (RPE). RPE is a measure of how hard you feel your body is working during physical exercise. It's very subjective data, but it's useful to see the bigger picture. KULG visualises this data.

Cadence and stride length

Monitoring cadence and stride length helps improve your running efficiency. A higher cadence means less impact on your body. This improves your running economy and reduces the risk of injury.

Elevation gain

If you train on varied terrain, understanding how elevation changes affect your performance helps you plan better training sessions and race strategies.

Tools for data-driven training

There are several tools available to help you collect and analyse your running data. Wearable devices such as GPS watches and heart rate monitors are popular with runners. Apps such as Strava, Garmin Connect and TrainingPeaks provide detailed analysis and insights to help you make informed decisions about your training.

KULG integrates various data points and compares your training data with your subjective feedback. The visualisation of your long-term running trends provides individual insights into your performance to help you run better. So, you can easily monitor your progress and adjust your training.

For runners who are training with a goal, whether it's completing a marathon or setting a new personal record, using data is the key to reach new heights in your running journey.

At KULG, we're passionate about data and empowering runners. We help you embrace the journey, track your progress and understand it better so you can effectively optimise your training and stay committed. Join us to understand your training progress with ease and train smarter or check out what we offer.

Katharina is a passionate runner who has been running since her teenage years and is also a certified running coach. She loves empowering others to achieve their goals, find joy in activity, and to become better and more balanced runners. You can find her on Instagram @madkaddi.

Data-driven training: Using analytics to improve running efficiency and track progress