Wednesday, February 15, 2017

To plug in, or not to plug in?

Some people love gadgets. They have to have the latest and greatest items to make their lives more efficient or simply to be on the cutting edge of technology. I am not this person, but I am married to one. I swear I would not know about even half of the electronic doohickies available in this world if not for my husband. In fact, it is very likely I would still be happily using a flip phone, and quite certainly nothing in my home would be automated. (Have you ever seen the movie Demon Seed? That’s creepy stuff!)

While I’m much slower to warm to new technology than some, I will concede that I love my iPhone and the convenience AppleTV affords us (No commercials? Yes, please!). When it comes to running, though, I just can’t break that barrier. So far, I’ve managed to avoid a GPS watch, heart rate monitor, fitbit, Apple watch, and whatever else is en vogue for athletes these days. (It’s probably telling that I have been a regular reader of Runner’s World magazine for decades, and a member of many online running groups that cover just this sort of thing, yet I still have no idea what’s going on in this area. Selective memory, I think it’s called…) This isn't out of any aversion to technology in principle, nor do I actively seek to keep this kind of thing out of my workouts; I simply do not actively seek to put them in, which to me seems like a lot more work. I don't want to figure out how to use it all, and have to connect gadgets up to my computer after every workout. I don't have time for that. Plus, as I mentioned in my last blog post about becoming semi-zen with regards to my running, keeping track of all that stuff stresses me out anyway. As far as music goes, I've lived/spent time in too many large cities and lonely trails to want to impede my hearing during a run. If there's a car, or sketchy dude, or bear approaching, I want to know about it as soon as possible! So, no earbuds for this gal.  In any case, there is so much happening in my head at any given time, I rarely hear silence. And it gives me some much-needed time to work out problems, develop new ideas, and flesh out old ones.

I do confess to having pulled out my smartphone to call upon the wisdom of various mapping services to assist me on a trail run from time to time, for which I was grateful, but overall I think I’m doing just fine without all the wires and chips. Maybe it’s part of the whole “Zen Running” thing I posted about in my last blog, or maybe I’m just lazy. It’s probably a combination of the two, but either way my years-old Timex Ironman watch and I have been through too much for me to move on quite yet. (Note the toddler hair tie serving as the strap thing that holds the end of the watch band down, since mine broke at some point that eludes current memory.)




What’s a running gadget you can’t live without? Tell us about it in the comments!

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