A Phenomenological Study of Situated Sensemaking: Negotiating Self-tracking Data Through Embodied Experiences

Wearable technologies are central to endurance running, yet their impact on runners’ embodied experiences remains under-researched. This phenomenological study examines how runners make sense of and negotiate self-tracking data through embodied experience during running. Using a hybrid approach of Micro-Phenomenology Interviews (MPI) and Body Mapping with nine amateur runners, we identify two primary experiential states: resonance, where digital metrics align with felt states and recede into the background, and rupture, where data conflicts with embodied experience, shattering technological transparency. To manage these tensions, runners employ situated negotiation strategies: redirecting attention, reframing metrics via environmental cues, or adjusting movement to comply with or resist digital targets. Our findings reveal that self-tracking data are not neutral reflections but active mediators that shape how bodily states are perceived. By foregrounding runners’ situated sensemaking practices, this study contributes to SportsHCI by showing how technological transparency is fragile in practice, and by outlining design implications that support embodied awareness through more dialogic, context-sensitive interaction.