running watchless

Watches are not meant to be constantly monitored. I use mine to make sure I don't go out too hard in interval workouts, races, tempos and easy runs. I also use it to record splits/distance/time for my training log. If I have someone giving me splits in a race, the I don't use a watch, but if am racing 1500 and don't have someone for splits, I will wear it and use it for the first part of the race to make sure I don't go out too hard, I just race the middle and end.

Dick Puke wrote:

You're probably the type of guy to complain that "Facebook wastes so much of my time, I never get anything done" instead of just not going on Facebook. There's a good handful of advantages to wearing a watch and not a single disadvantage.

uhhh... wrote:

You kinda contradict yourself here. You imply people should just get off facebook if it's a problem for them and they don't have control... but then they should just wear a watch and deal with it, even if they can't control themselves. Two different ideas.

Dick Puke wrote:

Uhhhhh.... No I don't, dummy.

Actually, you do. Your parallel is there being a good handful of advantages to going on FB and not a single disadvantage, but instead of that you advocate not going on FB, but wearing a watch and dealing with it.

I can attest to the validity of some of your concerns, on behalf of my mother. She used to get migraines all the time, but once she stopped wearing a watch, her vitamin D intake increased and they went away. She also had rotator cuff problems, which have since gone away since she stopped wearing a watch.

Beyond these concerns, another is the accursed watch tan. A friend of mine was single for years until he stopped wearing his watch. The watch tan must have been a huge turnoff. Don't wear a watch, kids.

Old Man Winter wrote:

Beyond these concerns, another is the accursed watch tan. A friend of mine was single for years until he stopped wearing his watch. The watch tan must have been a huge turnoff. Don't wear a watch, kids.

How exactly do people notice the watch tan if there's a watch covering it?

I never wore a watch during a run. Ran for 14 years. I only held one in my hand (not on my wrist) during interval sessions where I did not have a coach or someone else with me. Which was very very rare. Watches are useless. Sure sometimes long runs were way too fast, and sometimes a bit too slow, but your body tells you what's right for the day.

For me the watch was a huge detriment. i always wanted my easy run paces to be under 7min per mile, and if they weren't i'd get frustrated and either run harder, or just lost motivation because i wasn't feeling fit enough. it's a great feeling to not worry about stopping in the middle of a run to quick do stuff because you'll feel like you're cheating your overall pace by getting a break.

when i start doing workouts again I think mentally it'll be a lot easier to not let myself be controlled by my watch now that i stopped using it on easy days.

i won't always feel the need to go all out on workouts and i'll be able to recover better as a result.

People on here need to understand that for a certain (obsessive) personality type, a watch is a very very bad thing.

Things i think about when wearing a watch on runs:

- a truck/car made me slow down i should deduct a second from my pace

- i took a tangent (secant?) here i should maybe subtract time/distance from my run

- i only ran my first half mile in 3:38 and i felt pretty crappy i need to speed up

- i'm going 6min pace right now i wonder if i look fast to the person i just passed

- i only ran 7:30 for the last mile, i should be going faster

- i should run my last half mile hard on this run because i feel good and want to see what time i can hit.

i know some of these sound kind of nuts but it's just the way i am. and when i don't have a watch on these things don't pop into my head.

Agreed that you don't want a watch in short races. I'd say 800, 1500, mile, only bring a watch if the meet is poorly run/managed.

3000/2-mile on the track, it could be good to have a watch for your mile split, but if someone reliable can call it, that is better.

Sometimes, even in a 10K, if I'm really going after it, I look at mile or kilometer splits and do the math wrong in my head!

I've done that too. It's a reflex

old guy 70 wrote:

A few years ago I realized I was being controlled by my watch. I was running on a narrow trail when I tripped on a root. On my way down I stopped by watch.

As a young man, I'd always hear the splits in a mile race, but almost never noticed them in a half mile race. Go figure.