If I am tracking my run in terms of minutes, should I stop my watch after my final step or once my heart rate returns to normal?
If I am tracking my run in terms of minutes, should I stop my watch after my final step or once my heart rate returns to normal?
Training ends when you stop running. Are you worried about your exercise or your training?
If you define what "tracking" means to you then you will have the answer to your question. What are you intending to measure.
Whether what you are measuring has any value is an entirely different discussion.
What will you do with the data that you collect?
That's a whole can of worms.
My vote: track minutes spent working at each distinct intensity - best of both worlds. The intensity tells you how hard, and the minutes tell you how much. You are now tracking volume and intensity, eg 30 minutes easy, 10 minutes @ critical velocity, etc. It's very hard to infer the exact physiological response and record THAT in your training log, so just write down the stuff you CAN measure (or estimate with OK precision).
P.S. That is a rhetorical question. I don't care what you do with the data. I am skeptical that anything worthwhile will come of it.
Change to stretching when you stop running. Count your pulse as a different exercise. If you run for a hour and stretch for 15 then your total time of training is 75 min, but 60 min of running
Just run baby