Tuesday, August 16, 2011

To Garmin or not to Garmin?

I have been a really bad blogger lately.  For some reason I’ve been really tired and my brain is mush. 

Since my last post I’ve been all over the web looking at prices on Garmins, Timex Iron Mans, and Nike Plus.  Nike has already been crossed off the list since I have it on good authority that it isn’t at all accurate.  But I’m still not sold on getting a Garmin. 

I have already trained for and completed two previous marathons without the wonders of technology.  Right now, I only have Daily Mile feeding me numbers and to be honest, those numbers stress me out sometimes.  Sometimes I say myself, “if you don’t get a run in tonight, your Daily Mileage is going to look really shitty”.  How would it be in the middle of a run if I were constantly checking numbers, making sure my pace stayed exactly where I wanted it?  Also, this is suppose to be a cheap hobby.  Given, the 205 is only little more than $100 (Bahaha!  ONLY?!) 

I don’t know.  I keep fluctuating from one end of the spectrum to the other.  The Angel (or devil) on my shoulder says maybe I should go all out Zen runner and even stop keeping track of my mileage.  Instead just going out for an amount of time.  It would be, like, totally freeing me from the shackles of conformity man.  Then the Devil (or angel) on my shoulder says that I really, really want to run a sub 5 in Chicago and it’s totally doable if I could just keep better track of my pace.  It was also very frustrating to not know how far I was going last weekend when my route changed.

Zen runner?  Or Geeked out runner? 

Tread it up

6 comments:

  1. that's hard. I am a recovering Garmin user. I ran every step by that thing. Now I only use it occasionally.

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  2. Go in between, low-tech. Learn your mile markers based on landmarks, measured with the path tool in Google Earth. Having too many markers causes you to check your watch constantly - I know this because I do this, I know every 1/8 mile from my house out to 4 miles. I did it originally to use for interval work, but I can't help checking every 1/4 mile or so during other runs as well, unless I force myself not to.

    Also, learn to be more flexible when things change on a run - don't let little things like last weekend frustrate you!

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  3. I am a full fledged active geek (software developer by trade), so I totally geek out writing some complex and fun spreadsheets to track my stuff, and usually take the garmin 205 out for bike rides or runs. Currently I am lusting over the Garmin 310xt, as it is waterproof so I can wear it in open water swims and triathlons as well as standard runs.

    Garmins have advantages in races, esp longer ones. I know when I start out too quickly and burn out by mile 10 that I should have paid more attention. So if I'm trying to hit a certain pace, like breaking a 4 hour marathon, then they come in really handy. They'll have to pry my 205 from my cold, dead wrist.

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  4. I love all these points of view!!!!

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  5. Get the Garmin!!! It's so less frustrating than any other software I have used. And I agree with Carolina John on all of his points!

    I'm definitely not a zen runner. I like to know specifics :)

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  6. I love my garmin. I occasionally go zen, but mostly I like to just have an idea how far I've gone. Sometimes I use it to do speedwork, sometimes I use it to slow myself down, but mostly it's just so I can see distance. I guess you'd call it an expensive pedometer LOL.

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