Should I Have A Heart Beat?

My heart rate monitor (HRM) has just been returned from having the battery changed. This prompted me to think how I have trained over the last week without it. On the first couple of runs I felt naked, and realised how much I am ruled by my heart rate. So I was forced to run on feel (which is how I ran as a teenager). I've been doing this run thing for so many years I should know how it feels to run at certain paces, but at first it didn't feel right without the HRM.

So I got over that and decided to dumb down the runs. It was a great system, Easy, Solid and Fast were my only guidelines. I found my runs felt better overall, fast was fast, and easy felt easy even though I noticed I was running quicker than usual. I enjoyed the runs more.

Now I have my HRM back, I'm making it a goal this year not to be ruled by it. I'll spend the next couple of weeks wearing it, but will keep the heart rate display covered. It will be interesting to see how everything measures out when I plug all of it into the computer.

It's now raining outside. Looks like perfect weather to try it all out in a fast track session.

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