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Ditch the tech?
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How many runners do you know who are slaves to the GPS or HRM?
I bet most of us know a few, or maybe we are slaves ourselves. It's very easy to fall into the trap of allowing the watch to dictate the pace, especially when we set ourselves targets. Sub 45 minute 10k;
"Must stick to the target pace....."
But what if we aren't feeling it on race day? Do we push ourselves to the point of exhaustion? I often wonder how many people run themselves into the ground by pushing themselves too hard? The watch says I'm not on pace; Must push harder - even though the conditions are bad; headwind; poor terrain; poor fuelling strategy; injury; lack of quality training or whatever the reason. We fail to listen to our bodies, and end up suffering injuries or worse. There are plenty of examples of people keeling over during races or at the finish.
And it's not just in races where we fall foul of it; training too. Target heart zones are a brilliant way of improving fitness, and do have their place in a well structured training program. However, we can become blinded by the numbers. We panic about a few BPM over target HR. Our bodies are very good at managing our heart rate, and we have a pretty good barometer of how hard we are working.
Sometimes, our bodies have an off day for some reason or another. Maybe we've not eaten properly or not had enough sleep/recovery between workouts. We still stick to the training plan. Pushing the effort and letting the HRM dictate the pace, even though we may be feeling crap - It must be doing us good, right? Chances are not. Probably doing more harm than good, but the watch say everything is on target. Injury or illness is just around the corner
There are lots or runners new to the sport who are slaves to the technology. They wouldn't be able to tell you how hard they are running without a quick shifty at the Garmin. We don't listen to our bodies anymore. I'm not saying technology is bad. It certainly has its place, but we don't always have to be a slave to it.
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Comments
I know exactly what you mean. Most of my days are spent with people who were fully occupied once fighting a world war. The people you're talking about would pause for thought should you give them the option of death or not having their phone.
🙂
I make do with a stopwatch.
I judge my times by where the sun is in the sky.
That must be difficult indoors on a treadmill...
I can hear the Hovis theme
Hang on a minute. I'm not that old
It's ok you know. The spinning jenny and seed drill are not in fact the work of Satan
I'll have you know just today I ran 5 miles outside .... (but only cause I forgot the gym closed early on Good Friday)
Damn the Industrial Revolution...... and damn technology!
Wait; the internet..... Hmmm?
Alright, I'm not completely against technology. I do have a GPS watch and a HRM, but I haven't used the HRM for a few years, and the GPS gets switched on at the beginning of my run and switched off at the end, with the odd glance in between to check distance. Never really bother with pace or speed. I bought it to save me spending ages at the end of a run tracing my route on a map to work out mileage. I can now just upload my routes to Starva to log my miles. I just don't understand those runners that are constantly looking at the watch to stay on target pace. I'm sure there are physio's out there dealing with issues caused by runners constantly looking at their watches.
...I just don't understand those runners that are constantly looking at the watch to stay on target pace. I'm sure there are physio's out there dealing with issues caused by runners constantly looking at their watches.
Surely those runners need more technology not less... A decent watch would provide, amongst other things, pace alerts... Thus negating the need to ever look at the watch.
I found it funny in a 10 mile race last month, you could literally hear all these vibrating noises all around everytime you passed the mile marker.
Now that sounds like the Auto Lap feature
No, no, no...... More technology indeed!!!
All that beeping and buzzing. The last race I did was a bloody nightmare
I'm with Chris. I would never dream of using a gps watch for feedback or time / distance recording.
I use a little chap with a stop watch and clipboard to follow me around. I write his costs off through my business as a Time & Motion study.
I'd suggest that you need to pump up the volume on your iPod
at the warmup pre manchester a chap clocked my garmin and ventured ' I havd the same watch. Great aren't they?'
" It's ok " I replied, trying not to look fked off at the intrusion (personal space , in the zone, first marathon nerves)
he went in 'erm, you couldn't tell me how to use it could you?'
turns out he'd bought it specially and hadn't figured out the difference between 'swim ' and 'run' modes. All the gear but no idea
Objectively, you logging your miles is no more or less rational than someone else clocking their pace. It's just a different metric.
iPod??????? Grrrr!
In all seriousness, how many people start running in an effort to loose weight and go straight out and buy a GPS/HRM as motivation?
Too bloody many, and it's possibly the worst thing they can do.
How many Couch-to-5k programs use heart rate monitors?
None as far as I can see.
Too many people listen to the technology rather than listening to what their body is telling them. They often end up ill or injured.
How did you collate all these statistics? Where do they come from?Are you sat there with a ledger and quill pen in hand?
Most people I know who start out running go out in a cotton t-shirt, socks and old pair of trainers. The they progress to those daft water bottles that help them hydrate on their 20 min run. (I confess my statistics are based on a sample of 4 people)
I have the option to watch any TV channel I like where I run ...
Just based on my observations over the last few years whilst out running (I note it down in my ledger when I get home, often by the light of a tallow candle
). Loads of (generally unfit) runners beasting themselves to within an inch of their lives, constantly checking the wristwatch. And I know what you mean about the daft water bottle and cotton t-shirt. Often sporting a pair of squash or tennis shoes too.
I think a bit more health and fitness education is required at school. Rather than learning the rules of football or rugby, more emphasis should be put on getting or staying fit, nutrition and general health. It might help out the NHS in the long term.
I'm one of the sad gits who once took a serious fall with concussion and had to get stitched up in an A&E. Miraculously a higher power pressed the stop button just after the fall.
I've just finished a 20 week plan with every session set with a prescribed distance and pace. By about the 5th week I'd totally lost the connection with how I feel, and focused solely on pace. It really doesn't take long to develop a dependency on the tech. If you start out new to running with a gps you skip out on many of the fundamentals.
Agree about the education aspect. If Gove had his way running would now be used up and down the country as a form of punishment.
I did find the garmin and charge it and wear it for VLM but at 16 miles it reckoned i had done 30 miles so i just used it for the time.......
I don't use any aids except my watch - don't have a GPS or a Garmin, haven't used my HRM in probably 5 years. I have an Ipod which I never use, don't even have my mobile phone switched on most of the time.
You must have the same Garmin model as Jason...
didnt he used to play for Wigan Athletic?