Run power, incline with NPE Runn -- time to do it Zwift developers

Running
1

Hi,

I received the email to purchase the NPE Runn, which of course I snapped up straight away today :slight_smile:

Having said that, I also have a Stryd footpod. So my plan is to still use the Stryd footpod for my speed and cadence data, and of course power data. I will use the NPE Runn for the incline data.

The thing is, like a lot of people, I prefer to train with power. Thereā€™s been previous posts in the past to request including run power in Zwift. For now, power data doesnā€™t exist in Zwift for running activities. Power is neither displayed, nor logged. I see that in the past there were ā€œhacksā€ for the Mac (no longer available) to log the run power.

There is the Runcline app which allows you to manually change the incline to in order to recalculate the power data based on the incline of the treadmill. The Stryd app also allows you manually change the incline to in order to recalculate the power data.

Thereā€™s also Xert which allows you to train and visualize your training by power.

At the moment, for running on a treadmill, thereā€™s no definitive tool to use for training with power and incline.

With Stryd being used by many runners, and now the NPE Runn available and probably become the ā€œmainstreamā€ device for treadmill training on Zwift, now is the time for Zwift to re-devlop their software and become the number one training tool for running on a treadmill with both power and incline :slight_smile:

So, Zwift, please, please, please, please seriously consider the following types of feature updates to fully support power and incline:

  • if the treadmill runner has power meter (such as Stryd footpod) and NPE Runn, recalculate the ā€˜incline compensatedā€™ power (similar to that used by RunCline or Stryd app)

  • power displayed and logged

  • power based training plans created externally in training peaks or Xert to be able to be imported

  • existing run based Zwift run training plans ā€œconvertedā€ so they can be used with a runnerā€™s critical power (referred to as TP in Xert)

This list is a start. Iā€™m sure other runners out there will want to add other items to this feature list :slight_smile:

Thanks !

2

Iā€™ve just paid to upgrade my Stryd Live to include power, so Iā€™m somewhat interested in having power recorded within Zwift (although I donā€™t run on Zwift at the moment due to having no treadmill).

I just started using Xert, but apparently it canā€™t handle mixed activity training. Iā€™m using it for cycling, but seems Iā€™d have to open a second account for running data. =/

3

Yeah, just contact Xert support, and they will make you a second account for free for your ā€˜secondā€™ power based activity :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

How do you like it so far?
How do you see the power for the moment? At your watch? (when running on treadmill)
Also have Stryd Live, but not sure if I really need this upgrade.

5

Iā€™ve took a run in the first stage of Tour de Zwift 2020 run and in the final results on zwiftpower.com there were some people with the power data beside their name.
Is it possible that Zwift records the power from Stryd, but not showing it? Since all the data on zwiftpower.com is coming directly from Zwiftā€¦ Correct?

6

Hi Adam,

I only applied the firmware upgrade last night so I havenā€™t tried it yet. But the reason I upgraded to power is that Iā€™m running more outside and Iā€™m interested in what ā€œrunning powerā€ looks like and whether Xert is helpful in that respect.

I still donā€™t have a treadmill, but because Zwift doesnā€™t display power I expect Iā€™d do what I do with some of my cycling in Zwift: run my Garmin device or phone at the same time in order to see those extra fields.

Depending on the data source and how technical you are, and your Zwift platform, you could probably display additional data in screen overlays or windows.

1 Like
7

Hey Adam,

I read in another post that power data on the Zwift FIT file is only logged when using bluetooth. I was using Ant+ to capture the power data, because I had reserved the bluetooth to connect to my iPhone for use with Xert.

I guess I should clarify that Zwift need to log the power data in the FIT file when using Ant+ :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

Folks, as mentioned in a number of other threads, we are patiently waiting on Stryd to do some additional work to enable accurate power readings from a treadmill. Unfortunately, this work isnā€™t trivial but it does need to be addressed before we can make this happen.

Appreciate there are a number of passionate users awaiting this feature but at the moment, thereā€™s not much we can do to make it happen.

2 Likes
9

Iā€™ve just upgraded my Stryd Live to Stryd and will test it in the following days.
Thanks!

10

I would suggest that Stryd is the source of the accurate power readings in real time and the treadmill is not a source of power readings at all.

11

Hi Brett,

Yes, the treadmill is not at all the source of the power measurement, but Stryd. The point is with Stryd, when it is outside it adjusts (increases) the power when the elevation increases as its internal barometer measures an elevation gain. It canā€™t do this correction on a treadmill because the elevation doesnā€™t change. So Stryd in their application have added a manual incline functionality for treadmill use to adjust (increase) the power to compensate for incline.

Thus, what I am requesting is Zwift to do the same incline power calculation, but automatically because it would have the incline data from NPE Runn plus the zero incline power data from Stryd, which it would incline adjust.

13

Many smart treadmills can be made compatible with Zwift through the RunCline app. If you have a supported treadmill and you run Zwift on PC or Mac, it may even control you treadmillā€™s incline to match Zwiftā€™s route incline. If you prefer, you can pair both a foot pod like Stryd and a smart treadmill and have your power compensated with incline automatically. Not even a need to do anything. All the running metrics can also be saved in a .FIT file in case you want to export it to Strava, Garmin Connect, TP,ā€¦ Enjoy!