both can be done.
during workout: it s very important. if i ask you to run 1h with 20min at your half marathon effort, you need to be able to get right into that zone without second guessing or stressing out about if this is the right pace or not. Of course, it does take practice and experience to get good at this but it s very important for a athlete to learnt o know themself, there limites and not rely exclusively on other tools.
Another aspect i like is to ask athelte to ride at a specific wattage on the bike for some 20-30 40min intervals but without having access to the head computer. they will only see the data after the ride. Once again, a athlete should be able to get right into the demanded zone without seeing the numbers on the screen. It takes time, experience, but very important.
After workout, well, this is a dicussion i have with athletes every week. How tired on a scale of 1 to 10. how motivated. how good is your sleep on a scale of 1 to 10? did you eat junk food 1/10..... do you procrastinate this week? etc.
all those amazing data will provide me important info that the powermeter wont. I need to know before you physically break down if you are losing it mentally etc...
So as far as i m concern, RPE is vital to the developpement of a athlete. Riding wihtout your powermeter is important for those that have dependency to it.....
Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching Instargram