Notes
Went for a run with NO Garmin, NO iPod. Just me and my body! As I expected, it was quite a liberating feeling. I had to really listen to my body more so than I do with a Garmin, where a simple glance down tells me how fast I'm going and how hard my heart is working. Without my watch, I had to feel my heart beat, feel the burn (or lack thereof) in my legs, pace my breathing more carefully. It was a great way to get back in touch with my body, and its nice to know I can still speak the same language as my legs, lungs and heart.
I need to run more often without the iPod, this I already know. But I'm addicted to my Garmin. When I stepped outside and it beeped "Low Battery" at me, I panicked, and honestly, the thought of skipping the run DID cross my mind. I'm not going to know how far I've gone, how fast I'm going or how much is left!
Well, considering I've run this same area a gazillion times, I have an idea of how far I'm going. And I hope to God I can still tell when I'm running too fast or too slow! I shaved 5 minutes off of the time I was actually GONE from the apartment (ie: I left at 11:10 and returned at 12:20 - 70 minutes. However, there were multiple stop lights along the way and I must have spent AT LEAST 5 minutes waiting at them overall, so being conservative, I gave myself 65 minutes, or an hour and a 5 minutes on my feet).
The one thing I would really like to know, which is much more difficult to calculate without my Garmin, is my pace. Because whatever I was doing today was amazing. I never felt burning in my legs and I really flew through the last mile or so of the run, and it felt great. Wish I knew how fast i was going...I can only estimate.