Just Run

Tonight's run was a bit of a puzzler. I forgot to take my heart rate monitor or my metronome when I left the house and couldn't be bothered to go back for them, so I just did my best to stick to 180 steps per minute based on my best guess, and regulated my heart rate by just shortening my stride whenever my breathing got too laboured. I was rewarded with my best time so far for this distance. I wondered if this is because I have been trying too hard to use all the available technology and training advice, when what I should have been doing is to 'just run'.

That got me thinking in a more philosophical way about what I am trying to achieve here. Sure, I want to get fit and lose weight, and also to measure my progress by running the odd race, but is that really what I am doing this for? I think I also want to get in touch with some more primitive way of moving about, which is why I found Born to Run so enthralling, and why I have enjoyed finding out about natural running form, and why I plan to give barefoot running a go at some point. If this is the case, then using heart rate monitors etc. is not really in keeping with this ethos, and if I get better times anyway without using technology, then maybe I shouldn't bother ...

I think an experiment is in order. I will do some runs with both the metronome and HRM, some with just the metronome and some with neither, and see how the results compare.