If you’ve ever been out on a run, feeling good…
Your breathing is steady.
Your legs feel strong.
Nothing feels off.

And then you look down at your watch…

…and suddenly your brain goes,
“Oh no. That’s too fast.”
or
“That heart rate is too high.”
or
“There’s no way I can keep this pace up.”

And within minutes – sometimes seconds – the wheels completely come off your run.

If that sounds familiar, stick around, because today we’re talking about why so many runners can’t hold a pace that physically feels fine – and how your watch might be quietly hijacking your performance.

This is especially for you if you feel fit, you’ve been running consistently, you know you should be able to hold a certain pace, but the moment you see the numbers – pace, heart rate, distance – your confidence drops and suddenly running feels hard – harder than it did 30 seconds ago!

This is not about fitness. This is not about needing to run more.
This is about mindset, trust, and outsourcing your performance.

I had a consult recently with a runner – let’s call him Steve.

Steve was fit.
He’d been running for years. He’d done, I think it was just under 10 marathons.
He wasn’t a beginner, and he wasn’t under-trained.

But he kept telling me, “I just can’t hold pace. Running feels hard.”

Here’s what was interesting: when Steve described his runs, he’d say things like: “I felt fine.”, “My breathing was controlled.”, “It wasn’t uncomfortable.”, “My body felt like it could do more.”

But during his runs, he’d look at his watch, and the moment he saw the pace or heart rate, his brain would spin into overdrive.

Suddenly:

• He’d physically tense up,
• His breathing would get shallow and quick,
• His thoughts would spiral – often to the extreme thinking his heart would stop if the kept this pace up.

And within a minute or 2, he’d pull back or even stop completely.

Nothing physical had changed. He was feeling great and in a flash he’d stop running.
The only thing that had changed was the data he had.

Steve had stopped listening to his body –  he was outsourcing his performance to his watch. And that’s the moment when running feels hard!

This is something I see quite a lot with runners.

The watch goes from being a data collection tool that can help support your runs to a decision-maker.

The moment when that shifts, that’s when I see confidence decrease because “running feels hard“.

You stop asking: “How do I feel?”, “Is my breathing as it should be for this type of run?“, “What’s my RPE right now?“

And start asking: “What do the numbers say I should feel?”

And before you go into judgement mode and think, “Ugh, I shouldn’t be doing this…”

Let me tell you, I’ve been there too, oh many many times before I became consciously aware of how I was sabotaging myself.

One run that stands out, I was training for my 3rd marathon. On one of my faster tempo runs, I was cruising along, feeling strong, breathing was heavy but I could still say a sentence or 2, my RPE was a solid 7.

I glanced at my watch and saw pace numbers I had never run before…well, out with sprinting for like 50 meters.

And instead of thinking, “Oh wow, look what my body can do, my training is working…”

My brain went, “You’re not a fast runner, there’s no way you can keep this pace up – way way.”

Can you guess what happened next?

Within less than a minute, I couldn’t hold onto that pace.

Not because my body failed – but because my belief did.

Had I not looked at my watch, I know that I would have gotten a PB on that run, I was running so well.

And this lines up with what runners all over the internet are asking:

“Why can’t I hold a pace that feels comfortable?”
“Why do I feel fine, but still have to slow down?”
“Should I run by feel or by my watch?”

What’s fascinating is that many runners feel like this is a fitness issue – but it’s often not.

It’s a perception of effort problem, not a capacity problem.
Your running feels hard because your brain says so!

Your brain is constantly predicting effort and danger.
When it sees a number it interprets as “too much, too fast, or something new and different,” it steps in to protect you.

Even if your body is perfectly capable, your brain says no.

Here’s the reframe I want you to hear: pace and heart rate are information.

Your watch doesn’t know you – especially if you don’t wear your watch 24/7 like me:

It doesn’t know how well you slept
It doesn’t know what stress you’re under
It doesn’t know what you fueled your body with … or if you’re underfueled
And your watch doesn’t know what confidence you’re carrying into that run

But your body does.

And yet, so many runners override bodily cues in favour of watch numbers.

This is why so many people say:  “I was fine… until I looked at my watch.” or even, running the whole run with one eye on the watch adjusting speed continuously. I dunno about you, but that would suck the joy out of my run if I was constantly looking at my watch.

This tends to show up runners who know what certain numbers mean, they’ve attached identity to pace, and have labelled certain HR zones without confidently knowing if their watch is even calaborated correctly or recording the data accurately.

So instead of running, they’re constantly evaluating. And evaluation kills flow.

Here are a few mindset shifts I coach runners through:

1️⃣ Stop asking “Can I hold this pace?”

Start asking: “How does this feel right now?” and “What is my effort right now and is that inline with the type of run I’m running?“

The moment you jump too far ahead mentally, your nervous system panics. Stay present in the moment.

2️⃣ Let the watch record – not dictate

Try runs where the watch is:

Covered – or I regularly run with my watch face on the inside of my wrist making it not as natural or easy to see the screen, or check your watch at the end of your run, not during.

You don’t need to abandon data, data is a fantastic tool – just change the relationship.

3️⃣ Build trust in perceived effort

Perceived effort is a trainable skill.
The more you practise it, the more confident and consistent your pacing becomes.

If you’ve never run by effort, and aren’t sure where to start, grab some time with me – details are in the show notes – and we can chat about how that shift can really help you make progress but also enjoy running so much more. 

Here’s the section of the podcast where I give you some journal prompts. So grab yourself pen & paper, or your notes app, let’s do some reflecting. Remember, judgement free, we’re becoming consciously aware of patters so we can make shifts to change them.

• In an average week, how often do I believe my watch more than my body?
• What numbers trigger self-doubt for me?
• How do I want to feel when I’m running strong?
• What would change if I trusted effort over numbers?

You don’t need to answer them perfectly.
Just honestly.

This isn’t just about pacing.

It’s about identity.

Are you a runner who needs permission from a device, or one who leads from embodied trust?

Because the strongest runners I know don’t outsource belief.

They integrate data after the run — not during it.

And if this made you realise, “Wow… this isn’t about my legs at all.”

That’s the exact work we do inside The Runner Identity Project (aka TRIP). Rebuilding trust, confidence, and leadership in how you run – so pace becomes an expression of who you are, not something you chase.

You can use this link to schedule a call with me if you want to explore what 3 months in this program can do for you.

Next time you’re out running and you feel good…

Before you look at your watch, ask yourself: “What if my body already knows what it’s doing?”