If you follow any online (or print, that is still a thing) running-oriented sites, you will see quite a few exhortations to “leave the technology at home” for a more relaxing run, and other possible advantages. That’s fine, but I think that as long as you manage the relationship, technology can be your friend and running buddy.
I don’t want to say here that any brand is better than
another, but I’ve been a Garmin user for so many years I can’t remember how
long it’s actually been. It all started maybe 15 years ago with the
Forerunner 305, but that is not the story I want to tell here. (Can you believe I actually ran with this huge thing on my wrist?)
A quick Google search of “run without technology” will turn
up a number of headlines exhorting us to unplug. Here are but a few:
The Benefits of Running Without Technology
Ditch the Technology to Improve Your Running
Yes, you can go running without technology
Minimalist Running: Ditch the Technology and Run Free
But my thinking is that like anything else, as long as you can control yourself, technology can be your friend and faithful running sidekick. Here's a quick overview of some of the great things I think running technology has to offer.
Elapsed Time
This has been available on digital watches pretty much since
we first saw digital watches. So I don’t think this one counts as “technology”
any more.
Distance
When I started running, I had to get in the car first and go
measure the route using my car’s odometer. Luckily I was young and could
remember where most of the mile splits were. Having this data on my watch saves
me time & gas now! I set my watch to do an automatic lap every half mile by
default. But when I’m doing speedwork, I create a workout with the appropriate
intervals. This way, I don’t have to go sneak onto a school track after hours
to do intervals. Also, the watch tells me when to start and stop each interval,
so I don’t even really need to look at it. But it’s there, watching me run. This
feature also allows me to run in circles at the end of a run to end up with a
total distance that is an even number of miles. Everyone does that, right?
Pace
This can be instantaneous or averaged by the lap, by the
mile, by the run. I use this during tempo runs to know that I am staying on the
prescribed pace. Instantaneous pace changes way too often to be useful.
Conversely, the pace for the entire run is also not useful because it’s too
late to do anything about my pace at that point. I have one of the watch’s data
screens tell me the Current Lap Pace. With the default auto-lap set at every
half-mile, I get a good average of my pace over the last zero to five or so
minutes as that half-mile progresses. That gives me a chance to see something meaningful and adjust as
needed without trying to figure it out with constantly changing instant data.
Heart Rate
Knowing my heart rate at any given moment is a great tool
for keeping my easy runs easy. On Easy Run Days I can use my heart rate data to
slow down. Many different things can affect your heart rate during a run: the
terrain, the wind, the temperature, the humidity, your hydration, how much
sleep you had the night before. Are you overtraining? That can also be
reflected in your heart rate. I also like to train myself for good endurance by
starting long runs slow – by keeping my heart rate lower, and then speeding up
at the halfway point by just enough to end with a negative split – the second
half faster than the first half of the run.
Beyond the above four data items, some watches can start getting complicated.
WARNING! Science and Math in Use Ahead!
Power
Do you remember your high school Physics? “Power” is defined
as the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. What does that mean in English? In other
words, “Power” is the rate with respect to time at which “Work” is done.
“Work”, involves moving something through a distance. When you consider how
long it takes to move that thing, you’re talking about “Power”. So, running is
”Work”; the force is basically the weight of your body and the distance is how
far you are running. When you also consider your pace, now you’re talking about
“Power.” The thing is, having to move your body during a run changes based on
going uphill or downhill, having a headwind or a tailwind, and even how
slippery a wet path or sandy trail might be. I have added an app to my
watch that can estimate the Power I’m using. This works because the GPS watch
knows how fast I’m moving, whether I’m going uphill or down, and even what the
wind is. We all know that running uphill or into a headwind is more difficult.
That’s because we have to generate more POWER to move at the same pace uphill
than we do on a flat path. While this is more often used by cyclists, some
runners train by power output, slowing down when going uphill to keep their
power output as close to constant as possible. At the very least, it’s
interesting just to see the data showing how much more power it takes to run
uphill!
VO2 & VO2Max
I have another watch app that uses a tried-and-true 53-year-old method to estimate my body’s maximum use of oxygen and estimate in real time how my current efforts measures up to that. The Cooper Test is a test of physical fitness. It was designed by Kenneth H. Cooper in 1968 for US military use. The point of the test is to run as far as possible within 12 minutes. The outcome is based on the distance the test person ran, their age and their gender. The results of the Cooper Test do a fair job at estimating VO2Max, which – oversimplified - is how much oxygen your body uses over time. [1] Professional athletes have this measured in a lab running on a treadmill wearing a breathing apparatus. Thank you very much, I’ll settle for the estimate. Some watches have a built-in estimate of VO2Max. The watch calculates and adjusts this value over time, based on your running pace, distance, and heartrate data. Some research has shown this well-known formula to be up to 90% accurate. My watch tells me that my own VO2Max “is superior for men in my age range,” that “my fitness age is 20,” and that “that’s the top 5% for your age and gender.” Well, thank you, Watch for making me feel great about myself! But I’ve noticed that my watch can change it’s opinion of me after a few easy runs. But it does track in line with my fitness over time, fluctuating along with the intensity of my training, so I’ll keep watching it. If I start running harder & faster but see my VO2Max decrease, maybe then I’ll start to be concerned.
The above list of data points only scratched the surface of what's available with modern technology. There are runners who never use anything more than a simple wrist stopwatch. Yes, they exist - I know one of them personally. But I love my advanced-feature watch and will likely always run with one. The type of run I’m doing at any given time will determine how much I look at it while running, but I will look back and evaluate the reams of data after pretty much every run. I still use “old fashioned” technology – an Excel spreadsheet – to log my daily runs. The spreadsheet calculates so many data points: weekly, monthly, annual mileage; daily averages, and the number of miles left in my annual goal are some of the things I track.
Call me a Nerd, but I enjoy looking back at the data to see how far I’ve come, and to aim for where I’m headed. I think you should, too. Tech can be your friend.
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