Running and Technology

Technology has infiltrated almost all aspects of our everyday lives. For me, running is no exception. GPS watches have made running a very precise science. Many competitive runners use GPS watches during their workouts to get their exact distances and their exact pace during a run. Others feel that running is less of a science and more of an art. They rely on their knowledge of their bodies to tell them what their distances and paces should be.

Personally, I tend to agree with the philosophy that running is an art. GPS watches are a good tool, but should be no substitute for how you feel. For example, if you are getting sick, you can start to feel it in your running a day or two before you actually consider yourself sick. So if you go out for a run and try to run your normal pace it will feel harder than normal. You shouldn’t try to work harder to hit your normal pace, you should figure out what is wrong and try to fix it. Runners who have GPS watches also seem to be insecure runners. They tell themselves that in order to reach their goals, whether it is a certain time in a race or a certain place in race, they need to certain things in training. For example, I might say to myself, to get top 20 at ACC’s next year in cross-country, I need to run 100 miles a week at 6 minute per mile pace. This is a good starting point for a training plan, and I can set my GPS watch so I know exactly how far I’m running and how fast I’m running. However, there will be certain things that come in the way of training. I might get injured at some point during the season, or I might get sick. Runners who rely to heavily on the GPS watch get that in their head. They are thinking solely in the terms of A+B=C, and cannot find any other way to get to C besides A+B. When this happens the runner, who trains with a GPS watch and tries to make running an exact science, gets to the line and is unconfident in his training. He has told himself all season that he needs to do certain things to obtain his goals but at some point during the season, it is inevitable that he got off of his training.

This is not all the fault of the GPS watch, but the watch allows things like this to happen. Technology should not take the place of good judgment. Running, and especially racing, is not an exact science. It is important to have a general plan to training and racing, but you have to be able to roll with the punches and adapt your strategy to every situation.