RPE is a perfect way to introduce a athlete to the sport. cheap and one of the most important aspect to know yourself.

In my group of athletes, i would say the high performing one are the one that rely the less on power/hr or other tools and have a very strong sence of RPE. They get to know themself extremly well and even if we will still use power from time to time or other metrics, they become secondary now to RPE.

this isnt a hard rules....different personalitys required different approach and way of coaching/training

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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Yes, in swimming first of all because that's the only way to gauge your effort. YOu can only look at your watch when you stop swimming and determine if you did it right, or not.

I go by RPE mostly on my runs as well because I have some rollers on my regular route (and some real hills) and they screw up the pace and HR.

On the bike it's all about watts and to a much lesser degree about HR. However if my RPE doesn't line up (say in a race I think I'm going too hard) I will normally adjust.

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Don't forget to attack!

I use it all. RPE is just another metric in the toolbox. HRM and PM are not the holy grail in racing. RPE measures the heart, the will and the human spirit, not just the human mechanics.

Yes. I used to wear a gps for every run, now only take a watch to know how long I've been out for. Am a marathon pacer in May so will use the GPS for practice pace runs and for the event itself, otherwise easy and hard runs are all dictated by perceived exertion. I collect power and heart rate on the bike but ride by feel.

I have a friend that does ultra marathons that I ride with. We have done several bike tours where we ride 1000 miles or so in 12 days. This guy is a runner who does ultras which he is not competitive in 100 mile races, but anything over that he wins.. I asked him what is your training plan leading up to races.. He said he just runs, never a plan. If he feels like going fast , then he goes fast. He runs a lot.. While touring he drank at least six german beers every night. Some days after riding 60 miles he would go for a 3 hour run.. I asked about nutrition and he raised his shirt and grabbed a roll of skin, fat and said that was what he burned.. He never planned for nutrition and ate what ever was on the course. never gels or gu,s.. I would never have believed this guy if I had not seen it ...Also, we were camping and every night, we would stop at a grocery store and he bought a couple of pieces of bread and salami, plus beer and that was it..

You bet. 100% by RPE (plus environmental conditions) in all 3 sports. That, and speed. Because races aren't won by power output. Well, sometimes (steep climbs) they're won by power output per kg, but mostly they're won by speed over distance.

Plus, I get tired changing all those extra batteries ... :^)


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RPE and a clock.

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There aren't exactly that many races over 100 miles. Sure it's growing but they are few and far between.

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This . I train using power and heart rate but when I race I rely more on RPE to judge what I'm capable of achieving If I raced going by only power and HR I would never achieved a bunch of PR's while racing. We are all able to do better than our training goals when that adrenaline boost carries us beyond.

I'm not saying every race is that way bt we do need to listen to our bodies and dig deep sometimes

Yes. For all distances for several years. Now going to do some training by power so that I can track progress with more concrete numbers. My other parameters tend to vary more. No HR except when building running base and the ocassional ride. Electronics do have issues. Learn to listen to your body and you'll be better able to adapt to the conditions. Numbers cannot think for you and account for high temps, elevation, etc. Only you can judge that. After years of this, I can tell you what my HR is at given efforts within a couple of beats.

Yep, train and race totally this way.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I do it all by RPE. Nothing on the bike, swim with a squad, and for running I wear a garmin 405, but that's just to track distance and time if I'm in a rush. no hrm or anything.

I think its a great way to train. You get to know yourself very well. You never feel "naked" if your electronics dies on you or something. Also, I find you get to enjoy your training time more instead of worrying about metrics and staring at a screen.

I always kind of chuckle to myself when I see people, especially newbies, loaded up with power, heart rate, GPS, all this stuff... I think "when did all this become necessary?" Is it really helping you maximize your results? Can you learn to train without these gagets?

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Long Chile was a silly place.

No way. Power primarily, rpe only in so much as "do I feel like riding or not feel like riding?".

RPE only would be a monumental waste of time.

Question: Should RPE be judged during the workout or after? For instance, I did a 80+ mile ride that felt like a 6, but by the evening I would rank it a 7+.

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Team Zoot So Cal

During training I focus a little more on measurables for key sessions. For anything over an Oly I use things like power and pace as limits. During the key sessions I found where my limits are so o stay around there. If I am feeling really good I'll ignore everything but that's rare

Use it all (RPE, power, heart rate, pace) as each is a little glimpse at the bigger picture.

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"Just don’t abandon everything you’ve ever learned because of something someone said on the internet." - Eric McGinnis

I have one RPE week a month during season where I take nothing but a GPS for logging purposes. I do all my off season training RPE.

Always having a power or pace readout creates a mental feedback loop where you limit yourself to your established performance levels. You see 4:00min/kms for example and sub consciously tell yourself that you are hurting and need to slow down where in actual fact physically you are still performing fine.

I often find I am capable of more after a data free week.

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I learned a long time ago that the only pertinent information you offer is found within the last sentence.

I think you have to be proficient with RPE or you never really race. Otherwise you are just watching numbers. I think you can train effectively with the numbers, but need to race with RPE, with numbers providing info that may or may not alter your effort.

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Simplify, Train, Live

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.....

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Jonathan Caron / Professional Coach / ironman champions / age group world champions
Jonnyo Coaching
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Thanks, very helpful!
I have found that the power meter is most helpful after a ride or race. I also like it the first 20 minutes of a half or full ironman to keep my pace in check. My RPE sucks on long races, most noticeably on the bike.

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Team Zoot So Cal

YES!!! :-) .... AND WILL BE FOREVER.

I use my powertap almost exclusively to see what I did after a workout or occasionally to see where I'm at during a workout rather than a guide during a workout. RPE is reallly the only thing that matters and other metrics are simply a way of tying RPE to actual output. In other words, you can only do what you can do. I will use the power meter to bag a workout once in a while if an effort feels hard, yet I'm only in zone 2 or 3, but during intervals or hard efforts, I use RPE during the workout and the power meter after the workout to see what I actually did.

Everybody trains by RPE. One of the things that differentiates elite athletes is what they interpret as "very, very hard" as compared to the rest of us.

Early in my tri career I trained and raced by HR. I eventually went back to RPE. I still record my data to analyze later, but pace myself through workouts and races with RPE. I've discovered over the years that my brain is pretty good at figuring out things on it's own if I let it.

Mark