Gadgets & "devices"

Most people who know me immediately assume that I will have the latest running gadget, be it a GPS watch, GPS phone with running route tracking, or even as an early adapter of the Nike+ system. You may be surprised to hear that I am now using none of them. Garmin 405 in a drawer, iPhone with Athlinks GPS and MapMyRun left on the counter when I run, and the Nike+ sensors and receivers in a ziplock bag in my "running goodies" drawer. During the "off" season it just doesn't matter. 5.72 miles or 6.12 miles isn't worth all the clicking, uploading, or even the absurd practice of running around the block to get to your 16 mile training goal. Actually, losing your gadgets is also a pretty smart practice during training as you need to learn what your training pace is on your own. Relying on GPS reception is a dangerous proposition. The first 2 miles of MTCM is a jumble of buildings and the GPS signal goes in and out and tells you you are running a completely inaccurate pace. For those of you who think that you are getting an instant GPS "read" of your current pace, be aware that this is virtually impossible with the Garmin watch technology. Set your watches or phones to "average" pace and you will get a much more accurate idea of how you are doing. There is also a very accurate device that seems to get forgotten: it is called a watch and has obscure brand names like "Timex". Hard to find, but retailers such as Target still carry a few. How this device works is that you run a known distance and check your time. I used this device on my run this morning. It was awesome!