I remember when I first started distance running as a first-year high school student in 1995. The closest approximation I had for the distance of my runs came from riding in the car, and then eventually driving myself, the course in reverse order and using the odometer to measure distance. At best, I ended up with what was always a flawed and exaggerated estimate, given the tighter line of running on the shoulder compared to driving in the lane. Sometimes I used the stopwatch function on my Timex wrist watch to get a cumulative time, which, with quick math, I could use to get estimated mileage splits at landmarks. Most of the time it wasn’t worth wearing the watch, and I could measure runs in a few easy ways: estimated distance, total time (using the kitchen microwave clock when I left the house and returned), and perceived effort (easy, moderate, or hard).

Cross country and track practices included far more attention to times, especially for interval workouts. On a 400 meter track, if the workout was 20 x 400 with an 80 second target, it was easy to know if we were coming in too fast or a few seconds too slow. Most workouts didn’t require such precise timing.

On Monday night, upon seeing Northern Arizona University won their fourth men’s NCAA cross country title in five years, I went to YouTube to watch a recent FloTrack video from March 10, “Workout Wednesday: NAU Hill Repeats at 7,000ft for NCAA XC Champs,” and I was struck by the simplicity of the workout. In Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, the team ran hill circuits on a loop which, according to coach Mike Smith, was “900 meters” and then with “a little add-on at the top.” His description of the course seemed familiar, too, as they were starting at a tree, taking the first left at the boulder, then heading down the hill, before turning left to the regular loop. Sometimes we use fire hydrants, utility poles, trees, or other landmarks to mark our courses. If we’re not on a track or a marked course (quarter mile marks on a greenline, for instance), we often use the targets the course gives us.

The NAU workout focused on finding a feeling. It included 4 reps (4 loops followed by 3-4 minutes rest, 2 x 3 loops followed by 3-4 minutes, and 2 loops). At the top, on the straightaway–marked with cones at each end, the runners aimed for threshold pace, using only an optional self-checked split as a place marker to adjust later in the workout if necessary. Smith set the workout with the goal of finding the feel of running hard coming off the hill and maintaining the effort through the straightaway. The best moment in the video comes when someone, presumably the person behind the camera, asks Smith, who has been visibly holding a stopwatch the entire workout, “What does the stopwatch say right now?” And Smith holds up the watch and responds, “Oh, it says 0:00:00. Do You know why? We’re not timing any of this.”

The lesson here is that we don’t need exact data on every run. The biggest change between when I started running in high school and now is that now my GPS watch will give me all sorts of data for every run, and then GarminConnect and Strava will provide more: moving time, total time, distance, pace, grade adjusted pace, cadence, vertical gain, and heart rate; moreover, based on these numbers, the watch will recommend rest time and Strava will offer a monthly fitness number.

On the whole, much of this information can be helpful. Training for road races of any distance involves running workouts at a tempo pace faster than goal race pace or at a certain pace over goal marathon pace. The watch can help find that pace, but I find myself too often looking at my watch to see where I am at in terms of time, pace, or distance. I can start responding to the number on my wrist, which sometimes interferes with finding the feeling of the pace and effort. Our watches will inspire us to make strange choices. We have all seen the people running loops around the parking lot to get from 8.91 to 9 miles, yet most of the world might be wondering why you stopped at 14.48 kilometers. Some of you are those runners (no judgment). After reconnecting my Garmin and Strava accounts recently, after they stopped syncing, I now get watch alerts during my run when I’m approaching a Strava segment. In the area where I run, sometimes I go for segment times if I’m in a hard effort. But on an easy run, the last thing I want to know is how far over the segment pace I am at during the segment or even where the segment is. I’ll go into my settings and disable this new default, which I didn’t need or want.

I’ve often admired Mario Fraioli’s conscious effort to leave the watch behind on some runs, and just go out and run a course for which he knows the approximate distance and then to log the activity in Strava manually by distance and duration.

Of course, NAU certainly tracks times and distances meticulously on some workouts, but we would all do well to remember that many runs–especially our easy and recovery efforts but also some tough workouts–can be run on perceived effort: does it feel easy, moderate, or hard? Can I speak in full sentences and carry on a conversation? If so, then I’m running at an easy effort. Can I speak in phrases but find it somewhat labored? Then maybe it’s a moderate effort. Can I barely get words out? It’s hard. Runs like fartleks with timed speed play at “easy” and “harder” efforts take advantage of this perceived effort. In Flagstaff, Smith’s NAU team trains at 7,000 feet altitude, which affects perception of effort. We might be running in the heat, wind, humidity, rain, or snow, each of which affects our effort in different ways, but we can still trust ourselves whether it’s an easy run, medium run, or hard run. When the temperature drops under or surpasses 50 degrees, we can expect some degradation in performance. Therefore, last week’s 8 minute/mile pace could be an 8:30 pace in warmer conditions this week. A watch pace alert might make you feel you’re not working hard enough, but your perceived effort might be the same or even harder in the warmer conditions. We shouldn’t let our watches tell us how we did, at least not all the time. Try checking in with your body rather than your watch to see how you’re doing for any particular run’s goals.

Our data and Strava training logs can be great for tracking time, vertical gain, distance, and progress. But used incorrectly, it can also produce unnecessary anxiety or push us to run too hard–probably a more common mistake than running too easy. Once or twice a week, if not more, try to make your run about “trying to find that feeling,” as Smith instructs his team in setting up a challenging workout. And as long as we’re not using Strava to compete in unhealthy or unnecessary ways, let’s acknowledge it also provides us with community. Getting the kudos and support from virtual training partners all over can make up for the isolation we might feel from training group runs during the pandemic. It’s great to have a log of our progress and the data to make that possible. Just don’t run through your wearable technology rather than in your body.

Inspiration of the Week

In keeping with the Strava theme, Desiree Linden’s comment last week described her run that showed up as 26.19 miles as “the ultimate Strava tax.” But the inspiring part is that Linden ran a marathon-length training effort in 2:36:17 in preparation for a planned attempt at the 50K World Record in April. In chasing the record of 3:07:20, Linden continues a pattern of record attempts and fastest known times that have taken the space of bigger races during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Jim Walmsley’s abandoned FKT attempt on the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run course, Walmsley’s US 100K record and near miss of the world record in Carbon X2, Kaytlyn Gerbin’s Wonderland Trail FKT, intra-squad track meets and YouTube live streamed meets (more Kyle Merber commentary and more actual coverage of full races are both needed), the Marathon Project, and more, we have seen runners seek new challenges. And Linden, who is one of the grittiest and fastest marathoners in US history, is the latest to push her limits and go for something big. Seeing runners at any level set big goals can inspire all of us to do the same, in our own ways.

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Newsletter 4: “‘It Doesn’t Have to be Exact’: Back Off the Data”