Dear Garmin,
The plan was simple, run 8 30-second strides at 200 meter pace at the end of a 6 mile easy run. Yet at no time during any of those strides, did you show my 200 meter pace.
How is it I know you ask? Because I have run this pace dozens of times this year, so I know what it feels like. I don't know what your problem was this morning, but I cannot allow you to do this to me during an event so be put on notice; I may or may not run with you during my races this spring.
There is just way too much at stake to look down at you while racin' my ass off, and see a pace that is a minute slow.
You have no one to blame but yourself for this. I cannot trust you to be there when I need you so just in case, I am bringing my $10 dollar watch to all of my events, which has never went dead during a run, beeped uncontrollably, switched screens or failed to locate a satellite.
I want you to know that I still love you, and am hopeful that we can get through this. Whether we can or not will depend in large part on you.
LRB
PS: I am sorry if this makes you feel some kind of way, but don't be calling my momma house talkin' bout you're gonna break out the windows of my car. Because if you put your hands on it, Imma break my foot off in yo ass.
LOL... Rick...
I've had pretty much the same relationship with my garmin and I still love the darn thing. I guess I like being abused. But I now wear a watch and I have sharpened my ability to count in the event that my garmin decides to go on strike during a race (which is 50% of the time, I guess). In the end, I've always managed to keep track of my pace somehow. Maybe not down to the second, but well enough to feel in control. But that was during my marathons. I don't know if a 5k would be as easy to do without a garmin. Maybe it'd be even easier, I guess?
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
For me, fortunately my training is so low-tech that I have few demands of my watch. My Garmin 210 pretty much does what I need it to.
My main beef is its maddening inability to connect to the computer to upload data, without incessant disconnecting/reconnecting & jiggling of the clip connector. I have read enough from others on these forums to know it is a chronic Garmin issue; I can't imagine how that would be so hard to do in this day & age when everything connects to your computer via USB & seems to work just fine.
Dave
Probably the best thing I ever did for my running - and it was completely unintentional - was to spend the first few months running without a watch. Then, I was maybe two years into it before I got a Timex Ironman. I only got my Garmin this past Christmas. As a result, I have a very good sense of pace and effort. I never look at my Garmin while running but here were my splits from Tuesday after I was warmed up:
7:33.13
7:32.04
7:32.37
7:28.22
7:29.59
Similarly, I did a tempo run on Monday. Splits were:
6:25.61
6:33.64 (a slight uphill in this segment)
6:22.43
6:23.81
6:13.38 (I always try to finish strong)
My point is that you should always run based on how you feel rather than based on what some piece of technology says and the best way to learn running based on how you feel is to run without any technology for a while.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Hip Redux
I ran without my watch for a few races, and it was a good experiment. I went by feel, and it was a nice change to constantly fretting about paces.
I have also left for a run and realized that my Garmin was out of battery life (a few times). Since it was unplanned, it bothered me at first, but you just gotta go with it! Better to run in without a watch then sit at home waiting for the watch to charge before you can do anything, anyway.
Are we there, yet?
No Plan B. Plan A is start the watch when I cross the starting line and stop it when I cross the finish line. That is all.
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.
Super B****
Pretty much it for me. I won't race without it because the one time I did, the timing system got messed up and since I didn't have any proof of my time, it cost me an AG placement.
chasing the impossible
because i never shut up ... i blog
LRB, if you were female I can see you biting off your fingernails and tearing off your hair.
I don't own a GPS watch and probably won't unless someone gives one to me. I just check my time at the mile markers and do the math in my head.
That's funny!
Having run my first 2 years by feel and with a basic stop watch, going back to it for events would not be an issue. I must say though that my garmin has been a great training tool.
I am eying my first 1 mile race later this spring and plan on doing exactly what George said, not looking at my watch once during the event.
I am not yet at the point where I can run all paces by feel, but I am getting really, really close.
Mmmmm...beer
I was thinking about printing out a pace band for my half, just in case. I figure if the GPS stops working, the clock on my Garmin should still be ok (not gonna wear two watches). If all else fails, I'll just go by feel and see how it goes, I usually have a decent feel for my pace.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
Wait, people run without their Garmins? Blasphemy!
I do what George and bluerun do. Start it, stop it.
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
I ran without one for 10 years and wore one for the first time at my 16th half marathon in
August 2010. Hubby had one for years prior to that but i just wasn't interested. I wanted to
go sub2 on that half (which I did by 52 seconds) and he surprised me with the Garmin the
day before the race.
Ove the years I got really good at self pacing and judging my pace by effort.
I am glad to have it now but also glad that I don't really "need" it. It has crapped out on several
races, or I've forgotten to charge it. No big deal. Just kept running.
I run without it purposely at least once every week or so on my easy runs. I am not a big techie
person and don't really like the feeling of being tied into wearing it.
As an addendum to my previous post, I got by fine for about 35 years with a basic watch like a Timex Ironman. For a few years before that, i.e. before digital watches were available, I ran without a watch and had no problems racing everything from 800m on the track to the marathon.
Endomondo start... Endomondo stop., that's my backup.
Dr. Cornsitter
+ 1
Quote from BeachRunner3234 on 6/25/2013 at 8:20 PM:
So I'm currently sitting with a bag of frozen corn in my ass.