We have shifted up a gear in recent months, you probably noticed that already. So again you will find an app update in the App and Play Store. We’d like to give some extra info about the changes.
_ A new layout for ‘My activities’
It won’t be the most visited page within the app at the moment, but we’d like to change that. Where your training calendar is mainly a representation of your training plan and the training sessions that you completed within that plan, ‘My activities’ should become the overview of your historical activities. We often received emails that you thought it was a shame that part of your history – the green dots – disappeared in the training calendar when you started a new schedule.
That’s why we gave ‘My Activities’ a recognizable makeover, because the page now looks like your training calendar. That means a handy overview of your complete (running) history and, for example, the RPE scores for those who have Peak Pro. Very useful. Especially if you know what developments are yet to come – more about that below.
_ Overruling the algorithm
“The app says I can’t make that time, but I’m sure I can,” is a comment we often hear. There can be several reasons why the algorithm does not see a certain time as achievable at a certain point in time. In the blog post about the recovery plans, we already explained that our calculations are related to the Acute Training Load and the Chronic Training Load. If one peaks, or the other is too low, certain goals are not achievable – or can not be calculated. In that case patience is a virtue, but it’s hard…
That is why from now on we will conjure up a new button when we judge your goal as unattainable, namely the button to be, er, stubborn: ‘I’ll take my time’. In this way you overrule the algorithm and you agree that we will no longer check the feasibility of that goal.
This is an feature that is not so obvious, but which we do support. There are situations in which it is justifiable to be ‘stubborn’. Suppose, for example, that you are an excellent endurance athlete, but in recent months the emphasis has been less on running (and perhaps more on hiking or cycling). So why should we stop you from setting a goal in the long run (pun intended) that you know is attainable?
_ (almost) In development
Just briefly about what is still on the development table in September and available in the app in October – if all goes well.
A lot of attention for our subscribers this time, because thanks to them we’re able to develop Trenara. Ready for a tour behind the scenes? 😉
1. RPE – phase 2.
For several months now, Peak Pro members have been able to assign a ‘perceived exertion’ score to their activities. We’ll use that input in phase 2. If you repeatedly score too high, we will suggest you to adjust the plan. You get the choice between certain adjustments, or of course the option to ignore these adjustments. This is a huge step in the field of training guidance, because from then on we really make the leap from being a training app (one-way street: ‘this is what you need to do’) to a coaching app (two-way street: ‘we suggested this, but see that you’re reacting well/poorly – can we give this alternative route a try?’). Nowhere else can you, as a user, exert such influence on the trajectory towards your goal.
2. More stats
We analyze your training sessions as the best. But you hardly see any information in the app about your own, completed, training sessions. Bit of a contradiction, no? And so we are gradually going to show more stats, depending on your subscription type. We are finally going to show maps, but also more training data (heart rate, lap times, altimeters, …) and plan data (How many kilometers should you run this week? Or this month?). It is not yet certain whether all those stats are included in this development round. But certainly a few of them.
3. Pacing plans
Also a very nice one, especially from a technical point of view. Plotting a race effort is an art, so the question for ‘pacing plans’ has been asked before. A pacing plan comes down to dividing your race into blocks or parts, linked to a certain pace. That way you have to reach the finish as optimally as possible: tired, but with a good result.
Anyone who has Peak Pro will soon see 2 target screens between which they can swipe. The first one being the screen as is, the other with the pacing plan that I suggest. I can provide additional, textual, info for each block in that pacing plan. In addition, you get the option to export the pacing plan to your Garmin instead of the standard activity (if you see how well our developers think along with us to give you those choices, I can only say this: 😍).
4. Goal summaries
How many workouts did you complete towards your goal? How many hours did you train for it? And how many kilometers did it all take? Anyone who has Peak or Peak Pro will receive a (digital) medal from us after completing his or her goal, with a short summary of the trajectory towards it. That medal ends up in your medal cabinet (‘My medals’). Always nice to share or look back at, don’t you think?
Four great features if you ask me. So definitely something to look forward to!
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