Your running test tells you how fast you can run for how long. The race plan applies that to one race: which pace on which kilometre, which heart rate, when to eat, and what to do when the day goes wrong. It is included with every Running Test.
Where to find it
On the running pages, "Race plan" sits in the navigation, and the planner also sits directly under your running report. It works from your newest running test; if you have several, pick one at the top. As a coach you see your athletes' tests there too. A plan is saved with its test, so your athlete sees the plan you made for her, and you see hers.
If your report shows no valid Critical Speed, no race plan is possible. A new test following the protocol fixes that.
The course: a GPX file or a flat distance
For a race with climbs, upload the course as a GPX file. Most organisers put it on the race website; otherwise you will often find it on Strava, Komoot or Garmin Connect. The file can be 20 MB at most. If the course is in Switzerland, the heights come from swisstopo, elsewhere from the file.
For a flat race a distance is enough: 5 km, 10 km, half marathon or marathon.
What to fill in
- Name and date. The name is optional and goes on the PDF.
- Surface. Five grades, from asphalt and track to a mountain path with stones (SAC T2). If the surface changes along the way, enter it per section under "More details", from km to km.
- Target time. As h:mm:ss. Leave it empty and the plan works with the prediction from your test.
- Downhill. How you run downhill: cautious, normal, or confident and sure-footed.
- Aid stations. If the GPX file has waypoints, you can use them as aid stations. Otherwise add them yourself under "More details": the kilometre, a name and how long you stop there.
Also under "More details": the race's official distance and climb, the altitude where you ran your test, and your maximum heart rate if it was measured in a lab or maximal test. Without a measured maximum, the heart rates in the plan are guide values.
What the PDF shows
After "Calculate race plan" the plan appears on the page. You can open it as a PDF or download it, in German or English.
- Overview. Target time with its range, Plan B, intensity and fuelling per hour. Below that, the elevation profile with its sections, and a table with terrain, target, heart rate, feel, time, split, food and a note for each section.
- Pace band. The split for every kilometre, for Plan A with its band and for Plan B. At the bottom there is a strip with the Plan A splits to cut out and take along.
- Fuelling, Plan B and limits. When each gel is due, a table for bad days and fast starts, and what the plan does not know. Weather, for one.
Reading it during the race
Not every section has a pace. Where pace says little, the plan gives you something else to go by:
- Pace: a window in min/km, on the flat and on gentle climbs.
- Climb/h: metres of climb per hour on steep climbs. Walking briskly is allowed.
- Feel: hold the effort where pace tells you nothing.
- Control: downhill and on difficult ground. The time there is what to expect, not a target.
Heart rate lags about a minute behind and drifts up over the hours. Downhill, go by how your legs feel.
When to switch to Plan B
Plan B is the same split of the race, a little easier and more careful downhill. On a bad day or in the heat it applies from the start. During the race you switch when your heart rate in the first third sits above its range at plan pace, or when the plan pace feels too hard early on.
Started too fast? The plan's table tells you how long to run slower before going back to Plan A. If you fall behind, don't make the time up downhill or on a climb; from there on, the Plan B splits count.