At this point of the season there
is a likelihood you’ve been wearing a watch or more specifically a running
watch for quite some while. Up until recently I hadn’t been, instead I’d been
wearing a Casio – the hero of watches, that gives has the time, the date, a
stopwatch and a light that is at the blunt edge of technology. Still, it is
robust, cheap, light and guaranteed to be one of the few things that would
survive a nuclear holocaust along with cockroaches and the 1995 Toyota Corolla
that your farming uncle still drives.
The reason I had a Casio was
because my own watch had long since gone to the great Garmin in the sky. And it
was only last week I return to the running watch world, first by borrowing my
wife’s, and then a short time later with a gift of a new Garmin off my wife –
partly driven by love, partly driven by wanting her own friggin’ watch back.
So running watches – good or evil?
The arguments for good:
·
They can
tell you how fast you are running, which is especially great for preventing you
from taking off too quick at the start of races.
·
They can
tell you how far you have ran, excellent for record-keeing.
·
They are fun
in how they store your fastest 1k, 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon.
·
They can
tell you your heart-beat, which not only helps you identify if you are
technically dead can be exceptionally useful in getting you to train at your
most optimal level. This is done by getting you to run in a heart zone, which
is important on days when you are tired and days when you could perhaps push
yourself a little bit more.
·
They can
receive text alerts for when someone goes into labour.
The arguments for evil (okay,
maybe evil is a little strong, bad so):
·
They can
tell you how fast you are running, which is depressing when you are going
backwards with 5 miles to go.
·
They can
tell you how far you have ran, which is not always fun when you just want to go
out for the sheer hell of it.
·
They are not
fun in how they store the fastest 1k, 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon of
your older brother or sister who borrowed it because they couldn’t find their
own and now owns all your PB’s!
·
They can
tell you your heart-beat, which might be a little unnerving when it drops down
under 40 during an episode of Nationwide or up past 175 on a hills session.
·
They can
receive text alerts. I mean seriously, why would you want anyone to contact you
while you’re out and if someone is about to go into labour run laps of the
garden with the window open.
I ran my fastest half-marathon
wearing a watch and my second fastest half-marathon wearing none. Despite being
only two seconds slower on the latter it still was one of the most enjoyable
races I’ve ever ran. Perhaps that was due to the company or perhaps it was also
due to the fact that I listened to the body all the way round and as the finish
came, instead of hanging on I was pushing forward.
That all being said, if I were to
choose, it would be on the side of wearing a watch but just not during an
episode of Nationwide.
Yesterday’s training
13.5 in one of the most disjointed sessions
for a while. With wet almost wintry rain – a first for this year – and a
half-marathon due on Saturday there were not as many at training as per usual.
Of those who were there they had a faster session or sessions in mind so I
found myself going from one crew to another until I finally realised that
everyone was running too fast for me. After that and 6 k I decided I would just
have to finish the remainder on my own. 7 k on very tired legs. Bring on the
rest day.
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