My brain's about to explode wrote:
Kudzurunner, what awards do they give out for highest heartrate? Lowest heartrate? I thought so.
To each his own. Some runners care about crunching numbers--HR numbers, millimoles of lactate, fractions of a second by which somebody beats a world record, etc.--and others are "Just run" types. I'm both types, frankly: I like running because it lets me get nerdy when I want to, but also lets me head out the door and pound brainwaves to a standstill when that's what I feel like doing.
Nerds who center investigations in their own experience as runners--Lydiard, Daniels, etc.--have their place in the sport. As do the irritable, just-do-it types who get their jollies from telling the nerds to shut up. I'm with you, bud.