This year I seem to be constantly training for one sports event or another. Having previously got terrible times for both the London Marathon and Great North Run, I was taking no chances with a 10k in my home city, and with all the gadgets I was taking out for a run, I was resembling Robocop more than Paula Radcliffe. I was pleased to see the Stryd was both a compact and discrete little running gadget.
The Stryd (as the price might suggest) is not for the faint hearted: you get a serious amount of data from this tiny pebble and will need to have a real commitment to your training in order to translate the information and use it to your advantage. Starting with unboxing, the Stryd is nicely packaged, has a cool wireless charger and is very easy to install onto your shoe (spare clip provided), which remains secure even during vigorous training. You will gain roughly one months’ battery life per charge, it is splash-resistant (no running in rivers please) and, created from a strong carbon fibre, weighs just 10g. You won’t even notice it’s there!
The Stryd can connect to either your phone or smart watch and will provide you with information on power, form power, leg spring stiffness and run stress score, as well as ground time, vertical oscillation, cadence, real time pace and distance. The more you use the Stryd the more it will get to know you: it will calibrate to your regular running route and help you tackle undulating terrain. It uses the idea of a ‘power number’ rather than pace or heart rate to help you achieve your personal best. It encourages the right intensity for running up and down hills without risking burn outs, injury and avoid the dreaded ‘wall’. The Stryd can be used for indoor or outdoor training, however it won’t work on inclines on the treadmill. You can view your progress in real-time and analyse at the end of your training.
Once you start training with the power meter tool, you may find you never look back. Yes, the Stryd is another pricey running device, but it’s bringing something new to the table and is extremely accurate. Well worth the money if you’re serious about improving your finish times! RRP £199.99
4.8 out of 5
Pros
Puts your running technique under the microscope
Easy to use
Lightweight and tough
Intuitive and informative app
Power meter
Long battery life
Accurate
Genuinely improved my finishing time
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