BUT HOW DO YOU FEEL?

"If you only look at data, you will not win big. You have to listen to your intuition. The data is about the past. Almost everything we do requires a leap of faith."

~ Jeff Bezos

NO WATCHES ON RACE DAY!

This past winter I trained for the Boston marathon. It was my 39th marathon, so the training itself wasn't anything new. But by March, a string of events caught up with me - Indoor Nationals with my track team, a half marathon, a trip to Madrid to visit my daughter. After that three week stretch, no matter what I did - extra days off, easier workouts, massage, more sleep - I just couldn't bounce back. My sleep was off. My HRV was in the tank. Every run felt harder than it should. Workouts were borderline impossible. I got to the point where I genuinely wondered if I could finish or even start the marathon. According to all my data, the answer was no. But, we all know that's not an option. Right? So, two weeks before the race, I took off my WHOOP and stopped tracking everything. I decided that whatever my band was telling me or suggesting I do, I didn't want to know. On race day, I made one simple decision: run by feel. I had no time goal. I never looked at my watch. If I felt good, I pushed. If I didn't, I backed off. It ended up being one of the best marathons I've ever run. From start to finish, I felt incredible. I'm guessing you could have called that one. 

BOSTON 2026

When I was in college, I used a Timex watch. If I wanted to know how far I had run, I typically drove the route in my car. So much gas wasted! After a workout, I couldn't see the full picture of what I'd done as far as my times. And it usually didn't matter as my coach often did the timing. For obvious reasons, the first question I would myself when I was done wasn't, What was my pace? It was, How did that feel? I didn't have my splits. I didn't have a GPS. I probably didn't even know the exact distance of the workout - the horror!  So, yeah, I had to learn what all the different efforts felt like.

*Note the Timex watch with velcro strap (1995)

Somewhere along the way, that skill has faded. We have so much data available that we've started trusting our devices more than ourselves.  But racing isn't won by data alone. To compete, you have to be confident. To be confident, you have to trust yourself. Trusting yourself means knowing how you feel. Knowing how last week's workout felt. Knowing how today's easy run feels. Knowing what marathon pace feels like. Knowing what the first 400m of a race feels like. Knowing what it feels like to chase down the runner in your age group that always beats you. No watch can teach you that. Your coach can't tell you how you feel. Your teammates can't tell you. That's all you. And just because you can run a certain pace in practice doesn't mean that's exactly what you'll run on race day. Racing has variables - weather, nerves, fatigue, competition, emotion. When you stand on the starting line, you have an idea of what you're capable of. But nothing is a sure thing. What matters most is whether you can recognize how you feel that day and trust yourself enough to respond. Every run is an opportunity to practice that skill.

Try it. When you finish, ask yourself:
How did that feel?
If it felt great, why?
If it didn't, why not?
What was different from yesterday?
What can you change tomorrow?

ALL THE WEARABLES

Your watch can't answer those questions. Only your mind can. We live in a data-driven world. Resting heart rate. HRV. VO₂ max. Sleep scores. Recovery scores. Nutrition scores. Every device tells us how we should feel before we've even taken our first step. I'm not against the data. I'm just suggesting you look at it after the run, not before. Wake up. Give yourself a chance. See how you actually feel. Then compare that with the numbers. You might surprise yourself. As far as racing goes, you can't change your the date of your race to work with your data. Not enough sleep? Too bad. Low HRV? So what. Unless something is really wrong, you're probably still going to race. All you can do is show up and get the best out of yourself. Don't let a device decide what that's going to be before you even begin. As you continue to train I challenge you to tap in. Finish your workout. Finish your race. Before you look at your watch, ask yourself one question:

How did that feel?
Remember the answer.
Learn from it.
Trust it.

Listen to this:

Push Through by Darcy Lane

Darcy Lane · Push Through