Let’s get this out in the open: I’m a gadget and data addict. I love technology and all it’s brought to my running life. Before I had a GPS watch, I used to map out routes, driving them obsessively until I had a perfect 5K or 10K route down. Then had to follow them to a T. If I deviated from the route, I was totally lost as to how many miles I did and what my average pace was, as calculated later by math. This took time. This took effort. This took running obsession.
But then running watches with GPS came into my life and I’ve never been the same. Suddenly I was free. I was free to just run without worrying about my route, distance, and when to turn around for the out-and-back.
My watch would tell me how far I had gone. A revelation!
Need 3 miles? Just run until it says 1.5 and turn around.
Make a wrong turn? No problem!
It’s changed my running life and I have gone through a few different versions of the GPS watch. Currently I wear the Garmin 920XT, which is a triathlete’s dream. We won’t even talk about how I don’t have to count laps any more in the pool – score!
So imagine you’re running gadget-addicted for years. And you don’t look back fondly on the pre-watch days with wistfulness.
And then one day, you find yourself in this situation:
Going for a run and the watch was not with me where I was staying.
Nooooooo! What should I do, I thought to myself?
Maybe I should just forget my run, I thought to myself. I’ll just do a different workout altogether, It thought to myself.
Oh that’s silly – I’ll just run without it!
So I did.
And you know what? I hated every minute of it. I found it unmotivating, hard to pace myself, and slow.
It sucked.
So I went back to my watch for every run after being reunited with the fine gadget.
So then what happens a week later at the track?
No watch again. NO WATCH.
Seriously? Again? No watch and for a track workout? I thought I might seriously implode. How would I pace myself on a track without a watch? How would my coach look at my data in Training Peaks?
Would the world actually end if I were to run a track workout without a Garmin?
No.
It did not end.
In fact, what happened was something quite the opposite. I decided to just have fun. Fun??? On the track??
Yes, fun. I had a 5K and a sprint triathlon that weekend, so I wasn’t supposed to push myself too hard running that day. So I ran with the other ladies, chatted, goofed off, and just had a ton of fun.
Amazing moments like this happened:
No hurdles were harmed in the making of this video. Hey, you gotta have fun if you’re at the track at 5:45am on a weekday. No Garmin today and a triathlon to race this weekend, so I just took it easy and enjoyed the time running in circles with the @teamlunachixdc and friends. by @christinepazmino. Can you actually hurdle one of those things? Tell me if you can and tell me if you’ve tried! #trackworkout #hurdles #lunachix #LUNA #teamlunachix @lunabar #runningfun #fitfluential #sweatpink #motherrunner
Video can be found here if you can’t view it!
I finally learned to run free. To run naked. And to enjoy it.
And I learned all that on a track of all places. A place where I usually rely on the watch for pacing, interval timing, and distance. Everyone at our track workouts know my obsession with the watch – I have to have it end on a round mile count. If we finish our workout at 3.75 miles, I’ll run another loop of cool down to make it an even 4.
I don’t think I’m going to make a habit of the Running Naked phenomenon, but it was nice to discover the joy in that run, and to focus on something other than my pace, time, and distance.
I’m gadget-obsessed. And I’m okay with that. But once in a while, I might ditch the watch. Yes, even me.
I highly recommend giving it a try to see how you react!
Running naked (no watch): Do you love it or loathe it? #running #runchat #fitfluential #motherrunner
Click To Tweet
Do you run with a watch? Do you try running “naked” without it? Love it or loathe it?
The post Running Naked: Yay or Nay? appeared first on You Signed Up For WHAT?!.
This post first appeared on You Signed Up For WHAT?! - Running Long Distances, please read the originial post: here
