12 o’clock…12 o’clock…12 o’clock…

I have been running for over 20 years without the benefit of any technology. Well, that’s not entirely true..I often train with music and my trusty disposable watch, but aside from that, nothing else. I totally fought the temptation to jump into the world of the GPS enabled watch from they day they where first put on the market.

I mean, when I was looking at them (20 some odd years ago) they were the size of a laptop, they were complicated to program …(I’m talking VCR complicated) …battery life was questionable, satellite reception was inconsistent…and I just couldn’t justify the cost.  Besides, my training was going OK, I knew my race pace for the most part, and if I didn’t then it was just going to be yet another training run…

Fast forward 20 years…and the GPS enabled watch is much improved. They are a very reasonable size and weight, battery and satellite issues have been resolved, programming and tracking data is a snap, and the cost is affordable… so as a gift to myself on my 50th birthday I purchased a GPS watch…and now can’t see ever running without it.  It tracks my every step, logs my training, tells me when I am slacking off…monitors my heart rate, and is much easier to program than my VCR.