Why Your Running Stats Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Ever finish a run disappointed because the numbers weren’t what you hoped? Here’s why the data doesn’t always tell the full story—and what really matters instead.
There’s this desire to track everything. I am guilty of it, especially having worked as the head of data & analytics at a startup for 2+ years (and formerly working in product management where I had to track every single aspect of a product daily, if not hourly).
I have been consistently running for 2.5 years now (and running on/off for 20+ years) and have learned that, like everything, there’s a plus and negative to tracking your runs. I love that I can know if I’m getting stronger at a route, or faster up a hill, or that my HR has dropped over time. But it can also be quite restrictive, and it turns a hugely complex activity such as running down to a single number to track.
We are far more complex than a single number. There’s so many factors that go into whether or not a run was a success. There’s the bigger picture to factor in, the context, how you slept, how you’re feeling, how your life is going, how the weather is, how your body is feeling, what you ate last night, what you ate this morning...the list is infinitely long of all these micro-factors that add up to whether or not you were ‘feeling it’ today. That’s ridiculously hard to filter down to one or two numbers on a screen, but that’s basically what we do every time we track a run. We grade ourselves based on some really mechanical numbers -- the distance, our heart rate, the pace. Those are great and all, but again... they don’t even scratch the surface of how your run actually went.
I hope you consider yourself a winner for showing up to a run at all. There’s so many people out there who actively choose not to (even when they’re fully able) so you should feel extra proud of yourself for getting even a few steps in, if that’s all you could do. The point of running is building and cementing the habit of choosing hard things, and getting yourself out the door (or on the treadmill) even when you don’t want to. All the numbers and metrics are secondary to this, and are a reward for doing something long enough.
If this perspective resonated with you, tune into the Super Awesome You podcast! We talk openly about finding motivation, joy, and meaning beyond the numbers. Listen now and start embracing your journey!