Saturday, September 4, 2010

Anti-Garmin

A few weeks ago (while trying to get organized), I found my old Garmin. It's one of the older versions, but it still works. Of course, I immediately became entranced in figuring out how to get the thing working (instead of cleaning out some boxes of junk - I can be such a good avoider of mundane tasks). Despite the fact that the Garmin was twice the size of my wrist and basically looked like some kind of James Bond gadget, I decided to use it to pace my runs.

I discovered that I do not like it one bit.

The Garmin completely sucked the joy of running right out of me. I mean seriously - do I really need to know how slowly I'm running up a hill or how erratic my pace can really be? I don't think so. I found myself checking my pace about every other minute. What I should've been doing - which I've done all my life - is to rely on how I feel. Do I feel like I could hold this pace all day or do I feel like I might pass out?And most importantly - am I enjoying this experience?

Before the Garmin, the only time I even thought about about my pace was a) during a track workout or b) in a race. And these days (considering what my knees have been through), I don't give my pace much thought.

I just run because I like it - and I can (thankfully) do it again.

This morning I put the Garmin back in the box I found it in. I laced up my running shoes and headed out on a run. I took in the gorgeous blue sky and felt the strong breeze on my face. Yup - I enjoyed that experience.

2 comments:

Scarlett said...

I've been anti-Garmin for a long time, but lately I've been thinking I might have to get one. Everyone is like "you must! you must!" And it's nice to read your post and remember how great being a running luddite can be.

o2bhiking said...

Hi Susie - enjoyed your post. I don't own one (well, for hiking, but that does give all kinds of valuable information, such as exactly where you are, which is useful to know if you are five miles from your car out in the woods somewhere). But you gave me a lot to think about should I think of getting a running GPS. Running should be fun - why else do it? Art