Do you run with your smart phone?

I highly recommend stuffing your phone down your shorts. You really won't notice it's there.

The reason I do this is because I typically don't wear a shirt in summer. In the winter I just tuck it in a zippered breast pocket.

two foot deuce wrote:

The internet is just bizarre. People getting all worked up about what anonymous strangers do that has no effect whatsoever on their own lives.

Unfortunately, it does have an impact. For those of us who don't care to be constantly connected, society has changed in unpleasant ways.

Also a dad wrote:

Another Dad wrote:

As a dad, I'll just chime in to say that this might be hard to understand if you don't have kids. It isn't that a dad is worried that he can't be reached in the event of an emergency, it is that he 100% WANTS to be reached in the event of an emergency. So it's less about responsibility and more about wanting to be there when your family needs you.

No, it's still hard to understand even if you have kids. Heck, I had to bury one of my young kids. I know all about worry and emergencies.

If you want to carry a phone, be my guest -- I don't care. But don't claim you do so because you are responsible or as you claim "to be there when your family needs you".

Holy shit man, I am really sorry to hear about your experience. I cannot imagine that and my heart goes out to you.

I don't run with a phone, either. I think I was agreeing with you overall. I just meant that some people might want to be there in the event of an emergency; that it is more than being pu**ywhipped. I think getting out for a run while not connected is fine, but if you have a kid with bad epilepsy or a wife who is pregnant, something of that nature, running with a phone might enable you to go longer and not worry so much.

Again, I do not run with a phone, but I was trying to explain that as a father, there might be a reason why some other dads do...

Ole Timer wrote:

Unfortunately, it does have an impact. For those of us who don't care to be constantly connected, society has changed in unpleasant ways.

Here's a hint you're a crackpot: people you don't know running with phones has you bent out of shape.

crackpot detector wrote:

Ole Timer wrote:

Unfortunately, it does have an impact. For those of us who don't care to be constantly connected, society has changed in unpleasant ways.

Here's a hint you're a crackpot: people you don't know running with phones has you bent out of shape.

I think it's pretty obvious from my comment that I was speaking in a broader sense about smart phones, not specifically about running with a phone, but I appreciate your feedback nonetheless.

Of COURSE you run with a phone, how else can you take a selfie and post it to instagram and tell everyone you are running????

ataglance wrote:

Of COURSE you run with a phone, how else can you take a selfie and post it to instagram and tell everyone you are running????

Blame Strava. They're all posting their instagrams to their runs!

Ole Timer wrote:

two foot deuce wrote:

The internet is just bizarre. People getting all worked up about what anonymous strangers do that has no effect whatsoever on their own lives.

Unfortunately, it does have an impact. For those of us who don't care to be constantly connected, society has changed in unpleasant ways.

Exactly. This discussion (e.g. being told I have a "hang-up about responsibility" because I spend an hour a day without a telephone") is symptomatic of these new views.

As I said, I don't care what anonymous strangers put on their arm or in their shorts. I do care when someone implies that the rest of us are irresponsible fathers for questioning the need to do so.

FWIW the only time I carry a phone is when I'm running.

Interesting how work can never wait.

You are not irresponsible for not carrying a phone. It's just not important to you or your family.

If you do ever go missing it would be interesting to see their reaction.

A Dad wrote:

Ole Timer wrote:

Unfortunately, it does have an impact. For those of us who don't care to be constantly connected, society has changed in unpleasant ways.

Exactly. This discussion (e.g. being told I have a "hang-up about responsibility" because I spend an hour a day without a telephone") is symptomatic of these new views.

As I said, I don't care what anonymous strangers put on their arm or in their shorts. I do care when someone implies that the rest of us are irresponsible fathers for questioning the need to do so.

Where was this "implied"? Most people simply stated why they feel more comfortable having their phone with them. You seem to be projecting and overly sensitive, making their personal choices insinuations against you. Nobody said you had a hang up with "responsibility", but against "responsible people".

Had you simply stated that, "while I can appreciate while someone may feel the need to have their phone, I enjoy my alone time, and feel that the benefits of carrying the phone don't outweigh the negatives", and moved on, he wouldn't have commented. Instead you responded condescendingly ("Come on... you're probably one of those people... the world won't stop if I can't be reached..."), and turned the whole tone to the conversation negative.

I personally don't run with a phone. I find them too bulky for the benefit they provide, and I worry about water damage from sweat. A water-proof, VoIP smart-watch with GPS to track mileage would be very intriguing, however.

Steve Martin wrote:

Captain Oblivious wrote:

No, it's because it's really not a big deal to carry a phone.

People also survived before there were doctors and antibiotics.

Do you never use those?

I could not agree more. Those who scoff at phone carrying runners ignore the fact that many might never have run in the times before cell phones due to fear of an emergency and not being found. Today, they can go out for a run anywhere without fear of not being able to get help.

Those people probably shouldn't be running then. They should stay home on the couch so they can respond immediately to any BIG emergency that might pop up.

But really, who is that scared to go out w/o their phone for 30 - 45 minutes?

If you want gps, music or whatever fine. The ones that I don't understand are those, as mentioned above, who are too scared to be without their phone.

get a grip wrote:

Those people probably shouldn't be running then. They should stay home on the couch so they can respond immediately to any BIG emergency that might pop up.

But really, who is that scared to go out w/o their phone for 30 - 45 minutes?

If you want gps, music or whatever fine. The ones that I don't understand are those, as mentioned above, who are too scared to be without their phone.

Yes, you should be able to declare who is worthy of going on a run and who isn't. What if they have a medical issue? What if they have migraines or panic attacks?

Do people like you really exist?

No, I don't run with a cell phone and no I don't care who does run with a cell phone.

Me and my tribe never run with phones. Its too bad you white people never learned how to send smoke signals to each other.

aasdd wrote:

Where was this "implied"? Most people simply stated why they feel more comfortable having their phone with them. You seem to be projecting and overly sensitive, making their personal choices insinuations against you.

Interest dad wrote: "What's your hang-up with responsible people?"

Implying those that don't run with a cell phone are irresponsible people.

greg hill wrote:

aasdd wrote:

Where was this "implied"? Most people simply stated why they feel more comfortable having their phone with them. You seem to be projecting and overly sensitive, making their personal choices insinuations against you.

Interest dad wrote: "What's your hang-up with responsible people?"

Implying those that don't run with a cell phone are irresponsible people.

That is a big jump, and not the inference I made from "Interest dad"'s comment given the context. "Interest dad" wrote that following "A dad"'s confrontational and condescending response to someone giving their reason for bringing their phone. "Interest dad" was effectively asking "why are you acting like a jerk towards people who are trying to do something positive?". "A dad" responded to level-headed people like a jerk, and then took offense when people asked him why he was acting like a jerk.

Anyway, we've spent too much time on "A dad" and his comments anyway. This is an interesting discussion that has been mostly going well, especially for message board standards.

Captain Oblivious wrote:

FWIW the only time I carry a phone is when I'm running.

Interesting how work can never wait.

You are not irresponsible for not carrying a phone. It's just not important to you or your family.

If you do ever go missing it would be interesting to see their reaction.

You seem like a completely reasonable guy, and I'm sorry for riding you so hard about taking your phone on runs. Of course you should if you want your family to be able to reach you. Sounds good to me.

Work can definitely wait for a run for more of us. In the extraordinarily unlikely event that I "go missing", I am sure that my family would call the police, hospitals, etc.

Since you don't carry a phone when you drive in traffic (which is of course more dangerous than running), should we note it would be "interesting" to see your family's reaction if you didn't make it home? I'll refrain. That's pretty morbid, my man.

It seems like many people's decisions to carry phones on the run are related to their assessments of risk (realistic or not).

A Dad wrote:

As I said, I don't care what anonymous strangers put on their arm or in their shorts. I do care when someone implies that the rest of us are irresponsible fathers for questioning the need to do so.

aasdd wrote:

Where was this "implied"?

To use the popular Letsrun parlance: read more carefully. Examples have been posted and quoted above, and posters other than me have noted the negative tone and implication.

aasdd wrote:

Nobody said you had a hang up with "responsibility", but against "responsible people".

I laughed at this. Are you being serious? This is your semantic approach?

aasdd wrote:

you responded condescendingly ("you're probably one of those people... "

That was someone else. Read more carefully. I'll say it again, please run with whatever you want.

Thanks for taking the time to scold a forum poster for tone. I will leave you to the thousands of other threads you must be patrolling.

I think I'd cut the string before than happened, mr. smarty pants.

Deadly Twine wrote:

Call me old fashioned wrote:

I run with a ball of twine. I tie one end to my car and the other end to my wrist. If anyone needs to find me, they just follow the string. Much more precise than someone trying to triangulate my phone signal if I end up hurt.

Yeah, real helpful until someone decides to steal your car and you end up dragging helplessly through the woods for 15 miles by the same string.

Probably in the minority here but way back at the turn of the century if you ran with even head phones you were a joke and considered a jogger. I've never ran with anything more than a watch and don't plan on changing. A real runner needs to be in tune with their body and the environment. Lame.