Me "I'll come home earlier if my heart rate is high" Dad "but what would you do in a race?"

Me "I'll come home earlier if my heart rate is high"
Dad "but what would you do in a race?"

This was a conversation I had with my Dad just before a long Sunday run. He was a runner in the 80s and a good runner too.

This reply from my Dad made me smile to begin with because I imagined a silly scenario of looking at my heart rate in a race and giving up due to seeing a number on a device. It just wouldn't happen, for me, so I initially thought.

My Dad and I then chatted a bit about it. He didn't have technology in the 80s and in some ways that was an advantage; he knew how to listen to his body. But in other ways it was a disadvantage, e.g. he didn't always know what his body was saying.

I told him about my last race which was 4 miles. I wore my heart rate monitor and my HR was 195+ most of the time. I didn't look at it in the race but had I what would I have done? Probably nothing because the race was short.

What about an Ultra race of 7 hours, should I let my heart rate influence me? I would say yes, but only a little bit. I don't have all the answers but I'm enjoying the lessons.

Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts.