The Body as Its Own Best Sensor - An Autoethnographic Study of the Sensitivities of the Body in Long-Distance Running

Long-distance running is introduced as an example of a sport-specific somatic and embodied data practice that may expand the repertoire of techniques and methods of embodied interaction design and provide insights into the design of technologies for running specifically and sports technology more broadly. Through an autobiographic study of everyday experiences of running and the use of a basic sports watch, a number of themes revolving around the multi-sensoriality of running are introduced. Reflections on the intimate coupling of digital data, running skills, and somatic sensing in the practice of ’doing endurance running’ are provided in order to conceptualise the specific sensitivities, perceptions and experiences of body-data-environment entanglements that emerge during long-distance running. By unpacking a number of such sports-specific skills and data practices involved in long-distance running, six themes for novel perspectives on the design of sports technology are discussed.