A New Toy

After much thought and consideration, my wife and I decided to spend the money and buy a new Garmin Forerunner 305. It arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon and has already been on three runs in the past 24 hours (2 by Leslie, one by yours truly). In looking at which Garmin to buy, it became obvious that the sky is the limit in terms of cost. You have everything from the ultra-sleek Forerunner 310XT to the simple-yet-functional Forerunner 110. We decided to go for a mid-range model because we liked the feature-set that this particular watch includes. Overall, our cost shipped was about $150 and so far I couldn't be happier.

In my excitement to use it for today's run, I actually forgot to "start" my workout when I started running. It wasn't until I was about 1/2 a mile into my run that I realized this...ah modern technology. I was too busy marveling at the near-real-time pace display. Anyway. I don't really have many complaints about it so far, it is a little bulky, but despite it's size, it doesn't weight much more than a regular watch. And besides, I really like having the large display because instead of straining to see the numbers while you're running, it's an easy flick of the wrist to see where you're at. If I have one small complaint so far, it's that it doesn't seem to grab a satellite signal very quickly. Today I stood outside in the rain for a good 2-3 minutes waiting for it to grab a signal so I could start my workout (and then I forgot to actually press "start"). That's a minor thing, however, that could simply be dependent on where the satellites actually are.

This "toy" is really more of a tool, and a useful one at that. If you use all of it's features it will tell you your heart rate, you average pace for the run, you fastest pace, total distance (to the hundredth of a mile), it will give you a map of your run and it will tell you the overall terrain of your run (elevation change), you can save a "course" and then use previous runs of that course as a "workout buddy" - the watch will actually tell you where you were at on the run last time vs. this time at any given point - this thing is amazing. For those of you who do triathlon, you can set it to seamlessly detect and switch between running and biking. It has a feature where it automatically stops the stopwatch if you drop below a certain speed (handy for those running in urban or suburban areas). I could go on and on I suppose, needless to say, it's a great tool to have. I'm looking forward to using it and training with it.

Running as Therapy

I alluded to this in my last post but I thought I would go a little more in-depth. I mentioned that during my lunch-time runs it's "me" time and a chance to re-charge my batteries mid-day, and most of the time is it that. Sometimes though, it's more than that. Way more than that. Sometimes, something ticks me off or really gets my blood boiling and it is during those times that running actually becomes therapeutic...and usually my times for those runs are really fast...fueled by rage and emotion. There will be other random times when I'm angry about something and I think to myself, "man, it would be really great to go for a run right now." Running allows me to act out my anger in a physical way that isn't destructive and for me, that is sometimes necessary. I'm not a violent person, but sometimes when I'm really mad I just want to hit something...I think everyone can probably relate to that.

Angry runs are probably not especially great for my joints, but they are great for my soul and for my peace-of-mind, particularly because by the time I'm done with an angry-run, I'm exhausted and I feel like I have a clear head. When I used to listen to music while running, I would crank up some Disturbed, Metallica or Korn during those angry runs and things would get especially black. But I always felt better afterwards and that was what I was after.

On the flip-side, running can also be an outlet for joy. For example, my brother qualified for the Boston Marathon two years ago and ran in it this past April. I had this tracking number pulled up all morning, furiously clicking 'refresh' to get the latest updates and cheering him along from my desk at work in Chicago. He got done about mid-morning (3 hours, 5 minutes and something) and by the time my lunchtime workout came along, I was feeling inspired. I set PBs that day for 4, 5 and 6 miles and managed to match his first 10K from the marathon earlier that morning. Running helped me live out my inspiration that day and when I talked to him on the phone later that evening, I was able to tell him about that - when I was running it kinda felt like we were running together.

Running can be therapeutic in a variety of different ways and I think that's why people who stick with it for awhile usually come to love it. It can be fun, it can be relaxing, it can clear your mind, it can challenge you, it can push you to the brink, and it can bring you peace-of-mind. How many activities can claim to be able to do all of those things? Anyway, as I wrap this up I'm realizing this is kind of a wishy-washy piece. I guess it was just one of those days...