Can You Feel It?

Why You Should Trust Your Body Rather Than Technology To Regulate Effort
 

- Elinor Fish

Technology makes it easier than ever to log a myriad of running metrics: weekly mileage, average pace per mile, mean heart rate, maximum heart rate and more. There’s no shortage of numbers to track and training targets to aim for. Given our unprecedented access to data, it stands to reason that you’d know your body better than ever. But do you really?

The downside to all this data is how it distracts you from the data your body sends you in the form of sensations, perceived effort, motivation and enjoyment. Compared to the hard data delivered by an external device, this type of feedback can seem too subjective to be of use. However, knowing how to accurately perceive your body’s feedback in training is the most effective way to train intelligently and reach your maximum potential.

Listen Up

Mindful running is the process of learning how to listen to your body’s signals and using that information to make better and more effective training decisions. And this is important because a training plan is not meant to be followed to a “T,” rather it’s a suggestion for the overall direction of your training and should be followed in the context of what your body is telling you.