Training Log

I have logged every run since March 1, 2008. 1,318 runs totaling 6,283 miles over 1,029 hours, 29 minutes and 9 seconds. You might think this is an obsession and you might be right. But tracking my workouts and periodically reviewing them helps me stay motivated. I log my runs on RunningAHEAD, a website I recommend to runners. It doesn’t use the latest web technology and it doesn’t integrate with all of my electronic devices. But it is reliable and provides just enough functionality to give me the insights I like to have in order to monitor my progress. And the person that developed & supports the site, Eric Yee, is a really good guy who jumps on the very rare problems that occur with the site and gets them resolved quickly. But I digress.

This morning I set out for an easy 3 mile loop around my neighborhood. Within minutes my Garmin GPS watch, which is what I use to collect the data for my training log, displayed a “low battery” message. I figured it could make it for the 26 or so minutes left. I was wrong. It was dead about a minute later. I had no choice but to estimate my distance (not hard because I’ve run the same 3 mile loop hundreds of times) and pace. This is probably only the 3rd or 4th time I’ve ever had to do this. It took me just a bit out of my obsessive-compulsive comfort zone. A mile or so later I realized that without my watch to check, and with the album I chose to listen to (“Shut Down” by that beloved classic rock group “Various Artists”) done playing (because 12 songs from the 50’s & 60’s total about 18 minutes) I had nothing to do but take in the sights, sounds and scents of a late spring morning. It was kind of nice. I might do it again. Deliberately.