December 8th, 2007
I admit it; I’m embarrassingly addicted to my Forerunner 305. I bought it back in March, realizing how valuable a tool it could be; measuring distances, tracking pace, programming workouts, etc. I never run without it and contend that it’s been a huge player in my steady improvement, but the dependency issue has become a real downer.
This was never more obvious than a couple months ago when, days before a big race, it appeared to have died completely. All I saw was a blank screen and panic set in. My first thought was to immediately buy a replacement since there wasn’t time for repair (and with such a high price tag, this was not a healthy reaction). Luckily, the button-press sequence they have on the Garmin site saved the day, but it hit home how utterly lost I’d be without this bulky bit of wrist hardware.
I brought it up at the coaching session, and he suggested I leave it at home for a while. Leave it at home?!? Terror-struck, I whined that my logs are made from this data and I need the details it gives me. Patiently, he said then wear it, but don’t look at it till the run’s over. Weighing the fact that I’m working on base miles for the next month and don’t need to beat any time limits for a while, it was now or never.
And so it was that yesterday, on an 8-mile run, I managed to ignore the friendly monster completely. I did it! The strangest part about it was the outcome…my pace was totally in line with my usual runs. I do have a weird habit (when I don’t bring my mp3 player, and yesterday I didn’t) of singing a song in the back of my head, even while thinking about all kinds of stuff, so there’s a constant beat going on. Maybe that helped or maybe I’m not so detached from my inner pace clock as I thought. Whatever, it was a surprise.
So I’m going out for 12 today, and again will ignore any gathering numbers accumulating on my wrist. I still don’t know how I will ever be able to race without it, it’s the magic pill for starting out too fast, and god forbid I should have to learn how my Timex Ironman works (bought while run/walking to C25K podcasts and before the Garmin purchase). But that’s something for the future.
Meanwhile, I will surreptitiously continue to log my miles in SportTracks, marvel or wilt at my average pace that day and waste valuable time analyzing split information. And while I may never completely rid myself of Garminoholism completely, I will do my best to rise above this addiction and fight the demons it brings. Or, failing that, just try not to look at it so often.
Posted in Running
Hah! This is funny. This is the second “garminaholic” type post I’ve read in the past week.
I’m more of a “just run” type of runner (not even an ipod), but I think i’m getting an ipod this xmas..probably cause i asked for it (for long runs), but I’m afraid I’m also going to get the nike log chip, which is somewhat fascinating and a bit worrisome at the same time. I’m afraid I’ll slip into the obsession over mile/splits and all that other junk as well.
If your tech-obsession gets out of hand, I’d agree with your coach. Just leave it at home. Tell someone to “steal” it from you, so that you HAVE to do without. I’m guessing after 3 days you’ll adjust fine. Humans are very adaptable creatures.
I figured I wasn’t alone in my techno-addiction (regarding the other post you saw), and congrats on successfully avoiding the hullabaloo yourself. I wouldn’t be completely afraid of split info, etc. – it can be valuable info. So enjoy your new ipod if Santa gives you one (music is great for long runs, btw).
I must say, I had a fun run on my 12 today, the splits weren’t as even as when I check myself, but I had some faster miles than usual, so all is well in runningland.
Nice post!
I have a multi-purpose GPS, but it really doesn’t work too well on many of my runs. I’m not sure if it’s the houses and trees, or my hands covering the antenna. So, I usually like my Nike+ instead.
My principal problem is that I have no sense of pace–my assessment of perceived effort varies by a minute per mile depending upon the day.