on my way to badass
I've been debating whether I want to race with or without my Garmin. I wonder if I am better off not knowing my status (pace, time etc.). What say you?
Still waiting for the perfect race picture. 5K PR-33:52 , 10K PR 1:11:16, First HM 2:42:28
Super B****
I don't not wear my Garmin because I want to have the data to parse after the fact. But there have been times that I've run a race without looking at my watch... that's usually when I PR in short distances.
chasing the impossible
because i never shut up ... i blog
I always have my Garmin for mileage if nothing else. But for easy runs, I typically don't look at the pace much.
Dave
NEVER! I don't even know how I ever ran without it!
I really like to see the data post run/race. After all, without the Garmin and the HRM, I wouldn't have found some asthma triggers during the runs and races and would not have the tools to prevent attacks.
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
Barking Mad To Run
I don't even own a garmin or any kind of timing device like that. Just my good ole watch that counts down my running minutes, beeps for walk break, beeps again when walk break is over, and then starts the ritual all over again. Very simplistic.
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
I once forgot my Garmin for a 5k. I ended up PRing. But I don't think that was due to not having the Garmin. And I missed having splits afterwards to analyze.
I ran without my Garmin this morning - though not intentionally. It just wouldn't turn on. And being in marathon recovery mode this week, I really didn't care. I was running with a group and just went with the flow.
There is a local 5k that is a prediction race with additional prizes for those who come the closest to their predicted time. Watches, of course, are not allowed. I don't think it is a coincidence that all of my 5k PRs (as I've lower my time) have been in that race. Had I been wearing my Garmin, I'm sure I'd have looked down, thought "I can't hold this pace" and then backed off. Instead, I just ran by feel and had great races. Of course, the PRs are also because I was in shape at the time TO run a PR race.
20,000 miles behind me, the world still to see.
Walk-Jogger
I would never leave the Garmin at home when I race, but I also don't look at it much during a race. It's main function is to collect the mile splits data and final race time for later analysis. My Garmin does not set my race pace, ever. I race based on how I feel, how hard I'm breathing and how much further I have to go to finish the race - the Garmin doesn't have a clue about those first two things. I try to look at it only once a mile at the mile splits. That's my goal anyway, but I allow myself a peek at around half mile into the current mile IF I happen to think about it and feel the need. Usually I'm so busy focusing on running hard and fast that I don't think about it or I'm in so much race-pain that I don't care about it.
Edit: It just occurred to me that if I were running a marathon, I would rely on the Garmin to set my pace during the race. My comments above were all based on running shorter races. I have less experience running marathons and setting pace by the Garmin during the race was helpful at my one and only marathon last summer.
Retired & Loving It
While I have had mixed results when racing without my watch, there is little debate that you will get the most out of your ability without it. This becomes a bit complicated the longer the distance obviously but in this case sure, go for it.
In my case my mile PR came without looking at my watch a single time and I didn't just eek by my former PR, I completely smoked it.
I have also blasted PR's while using my watch as an aid but you can do that without being a slave to it, it took me a while to figure that out though.
I do like to analyze race data but I am at a point in my running where that stuff still matters to me. It is possible there will come a time when it won't but I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
I have been running since 2009 and bought my first Garmin about three months ago. So sure, I have run a bunch of races without it.
I would want to wear my Garmin either if I was planning to do walk/run intervals or if I had a very specific time goal in mind. The watch has alerts for both of those functions. Otherwise, it is not really necessary.
Upcoming:
July 27 - San Francisco marathon
uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
I always take it with me. The only time I don't check my pace is when I am doing some easy miles.
Are we there, yet?
I raced for almost 40 years without a Garmin. I could do so again if I chose, however it's easier to get splits with a Garmin than to manually take splits with my Timex Ironman, assuming all the mile splits are marked and I don't miss any.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
I leave it at home more often than not. While it could be a useful tool during a race, I'd rather not be a slave to the data it gives.
I tend to look at it much too often.
Trail and Ultra Running User Group
That reminds me of when I first started doing speed work with a stop watch and would memorize my splits until I got to pen and paper. It actually worked just fine really.
I don't really look at my Garmin except when it beeps each mile. I enjoy it for after the run analysis, but have yet to really use it to set my pace, either for easy runs or for races. I only got it after I had been running a while and have only worn it during two races. For 5ks I absolutely run by feel, without looking at my watch at all, and for my HM I was curious as to what it said in the beginning, when it felt easy but I was going pretty fast, but I didn't really use it to slow me down much. Later on in the race, when I was slowing down because of the hills, I barely even looked at it. But I did like having my chip time at the end of the race without having to wait until it got put online, and having the numbers to see what my splits had been, just for fun. On a previous 15k race I wished afterwards that I knew the splits instead of just the overall time for the race, which is why I got the Garmin.