Let’s Set Some Boundaries With Your Data

If you’re a triathlete, you probably love data. I get it. I’m not here to take your Garmin away.

But I am here to tell you this:

Not every metric deserves your attention during a workout.
Some numbers help you execute. Others make you spiral, chase the wrong thing, and turn a great session into a mess.

So today’s blog is about setting boundaries with your watch and your ego.

It’s called “None of Your Business” because some metrics are literally not your business mid-session. They’re post-workout information at best—and distractions at worst.

Let’s break this down by sport.

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🚴 BIKE: Speed Is None of Your Business

I’m going to say this loudly for the athletes in the back:

Bike speed is almost never useful.

Why? Because it’s influenced by too many things you can’t control:

• wind direction and gusts
• road surface
• traffic / turns
• temperature
• elevation and grade
• tire pressure and rolling resistance
• your position in the group (drafting)
• even how “clean” your bike is

You can do the exact same effort and see wildly different speeds on different days. So if you use speed as your guide, you’ll do one of two things:

1. push too hard to “make the number look good,” or
2. feel discouraged when you’re actually riding correctly.

What to focus on instead

Best: Power (watts)
Power is your most reliable real-time pacing tool because it measures work—not conditions.

Next best: Heart rate
If you don’t have a power meter, heart rate is a solid guide for steady efforts. It’s not perfect, but it’s far more meaningful than speed.

Best practice on variable courses: Power + Heart Rate
On hilly courses or windy days, a combination of HR + power is gold:

• Power helps you avoid over-biking climbs
• HR helps you recognize heat, fatigue, and fueling issues

Example: If power is on target but HR is drifting unusually high, your “problem” might not be fitness—it could be hydration, heat, stress, or under-fueling.

Do this today: remove speed from your bike screen

Here’s your new rule: If speed makes you chase effort, it doesn’t belong on your main screen.

Change your bike computer screens so you don’t even see speed.
It’s not helpful, and it’s one of the easiest ways to get pulled into racing your computer instead of riding your plan.

Suggested main bike screen (race + key workouts):

• Power (3-sec or 10-sec average)
• Lap/interval time
• Heart rate
• Cadence (if you’ve learned the right way to use it)

(If you like speed, it can live on a secondary page you never touch until you’re done.)

Also “none of your business” mid-ride:

• Average speed (especially early in the ride)
• Current speed (same reason)
• Comparing your speed to last week (different conditions)
• Cadence obsession (cadence is an important tool when used right, obsessing about it is not helpful)

Bike rule: Ride the effort. Let speed be the outcome.

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🏊 SWIM: Pace Anxiety and “Perfect Splits” Are None of Your Business

Swim data can be helpful… and also wildly misleading.

Pool pace is affected by:

• lane traffic
• push-off strength
• turns
• pool length accuracy
• stop/starts and rest timing
• whether you started your watch at the wall or mid-stroke

Open water pace? Even more chaotic:

• currents
• chop
• sighting frequency
• wetsuit buoyancy
• how straight you swim

If you stare at your watch every 25 or 50, you’ll interrupt the one thing that actually makes you better in the water:

Relaxed, efficient form.

What to focus on instead

Best: Effort + form cues
Swim improvements come from:

• breathing control
• relaxed exhale
• stable body position
• steady rhythm
• long, connected strokes

If you need one metric, use:

• RPE (effort) or
• stroke count/feel (are you slipping water or holding it?)

Swim “none of your business” list:

• instant pace during the set
• trying to “win” warmup pace
• comparing pace in a crowded lane to a solo lane
• panic-checking your watch every rep

Swim rule: The purpose is rhythm and efficiency. The pace comes later.

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🏃 RUN: Stop Letting Your Watch Pick Your Mood

Runners love to judge a run in the first 3 minutes.

Here’s what happens:

• You start running
• Your watch shows a pace you don’t like
• You either speed up too much… or decide the whole run is doomed

But early-run pace is noisy. It’s affected by:

• GPS settling
• wind
• terrain
• temperature
• stiffness in the first mile
• heart rate lag
• yesterday’s training load

The first 10 minutes of most runs are about finding rhythm—not proving fitness.

For heart rate runs: show ONE thing only

If the workout is a heart rate run, you do not need pace, distance, cadence, or anything else shouting at you.

Your only job is to stay in the right heart rate zone.

That’s it.

If you keep pace on the screen, you’ll chase it. If you keep cadence on the screen, you’ll overthink it. If you keep distance, you’ll bargain.

Heart rate run = one target.

Suggested HR run screen:

• Current heart rate (or HR zone)
• Lap time (optional)

Nothing else.

Let the run be what it’s supposed to be: controlled aerobic work that you can recover from.

What to focus on instead (for non-HR runs)

Best: Effort / RPE + terrain-aware pacing
For easy runs, use:

• conversational breathing
• relaxed cadence
• “I could do this for a long time” feel

For steady or tempo runs, use:

• controlled discomfort (not desperate)
• even effort across hills
• ability to finish stronger than you started

Run “none of your business” list:

• first-mile pace (especially when you’re cold/tight)
• instant pace on rolling terrain
• comparing today’s pace to a different weather day
• mid-run pace panic that causes surging

Run rule: Run the effort. Let pace be the result.

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A Simple Rule for Data Junkies

Before you look at a metric mid-session, ask:

Does this number help me execute the purpose of this workout right now?

If yes → use it.
If no → none of your business.

Because the goal isn’t to produce a pretty file.
The goal is to produce a strong athlete.

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Want Help Picking the Right Metrics for Your Training?

This is one of the reasons athletes love a structured system: it takes the guesswork (and the overthinking) out of execution.

If you want a simple, beginner-friendly structure so you’re not guessing each day, start with Beginner Triathlon Training Plan.

If you want a plan that tells you what matters today—and what to ignore—get a free 2-Month Personalized Training Plan:

Train smarter. Race calmer. Let the “noise” stay in the background.