Suunto Coach 2024

ODo67

Hello! I’ve noticed, without really being surprised, a discrepancy between the Suunto coach indications (which I find very close to my feelings and in line with my experience) and the “progress” shortcut (CTL ATL FSB).
To put it simply, after a week of high intensity 100 km trail running, loss of fitness on the one hand, high intensity this week/plan less intense training on the other (quite right, that’s the idea).
It reminded me of my previous world with a brand that I won’t name, which displayed “non-productive training” after a 50 km trail run or after a marathon.
So the Suunto coach seems to be in line with my experience as a runner, but the scores seem rather enigmatic to me.
But that’s just my personal feeling as an amateur runner

Brad_Olwin

@ODo67 I know that other brand:)
You need to have correct HR zones/Pace zones and Power Zones set up on the watch under intensity zones. I am also a trail and ultra runner. My CTL/ATL/TSB match that in Training Peaks so you should not have a loss of fitness.
I can share some more information if you like. Welcome!

ODo67

@Brad_Olwin Thanks ! I’ll have a look! I did fill in my maximum heart rate though… well, it doesn’t really matter anyway, I’m pretty distant from those numbers. But I still think it’s weird. For an ultra, you sometimes do volume blocks, at moderate intensity, and to read after a week at over 100km that you’re not progressing, it’s strange. The Suunto coach assesses the type of training more correctly than these scores do. I think these algorithms (Ctl and co ) are more suited to road races (marathons) than to ultra trails. But I could be wrong !!

Brad_Olwin

@ODo67 I am doing volume blocks as well, I did high intensity workouts in blocks at the beginning, generally following suggestions in Koops book. I am now in SSR (Steady State Run) blocks. Koop makes a point that HR does not adequately assess effort and instead suggests RPE. I fill in RPE in TrainingPeaks. I add 10 TSS to hrTSS for every 300m elevation gain and loss (total 600m; 300m up and 300m down) for my Endurance runs. This better matches my perceived effort.
In SA I use METS for TSS, this matches almost exactly the hrTSS when I add 10 TSS for every 300m gain+300m loss in elevation for a run. The reason for adding is uphill I am slower and hr is lower even though I am working hard. Downhill similar, working harder than hr will indicate.

ODo67

@Brad_Olwin thanks ! Let’s go!

Sergei Ladeishchikov

@Brad_Olwin Are you not using power data instead of heart rate?

Brad_Olwin

@Sergei-Ladeishchikov I only use power for uphill interval running. Power is essentially useless for trail running that I do as it is poor at gauging effort downhill and cannot account for terrain (rocks roots, etc.). Only usefull on smooth hard trail.