Initially we were planning to drive down to Camden for the first time in too many years, so I was going to run 3.0 or so, first thing this morning. That didn’t happen.

When I got up this morning my left knee was a little grumpy and I had slept quite poorly, I had worn the Garmin watch again for the first time in a week and it bothered my sleeping again — I don’t know why but it does. Those two things put together really didn’t put me in a great space to do a run first thing, despite it be just about perfect running weather (59* and sunny, with a slight breeze).

Instead, I did my usual mile wake-up walk, which went better than I thought it would, but I was glad that I decided not to run. If I am honest with myself running first thing in the morning is not something that I’ll ever be all that interested in doing. Though once in a while, I need to do it if I really want to get a run in.

During breakfast, TheWife wasn’t feeling all that great so we decided to do Camden some other day this summer. Which meant I could get a good workout in. Even so, the left knee was still a little more grumpy than I wanted and from past experience, I knew that it needed another day before I ran on it.

So, I did a 3.3 mile walk in 1:04:24. The knee finally loosened up and stopped being so grumpy about halfway through. Sometimes I just have to give it some TLC. The walk did give me a chance to think about some stuff that I have coming up and I came up with a few alternatives that I hadn’t thought about previously. Which is another reason why I walk down-back on the dirt road where the banjos play in the distance or so it seems. It helps me clear my head.

No More Smart Watches

The other thing is I am going to get rid of my Garmin watches. I’ve been vacillating back and forth about this for several months. Maybe it is all in my head, but when I sleep wearing the Garmin watches, I don’t sleep as well or deeply as I do without them. This is not a one-off issue and started a couple of years ago. To me, my sleep is something I work hard to protect and if something is interfering with it, I will make the necessary changes to ensure I get quality sleep.

While the Garmin smart watches provide a lot of great data, and options — I find that it is just too much. The overload of information that they provide really does not do that much for me and I am finding that using my old Timex Ironman watch with a new battery does enough. It doesn’t overwhelm me with data that I don’t find all that useful. Then the ability to connect it to my phone, makes it more of a distraction than I want. Yes, I could dumb the watch down, but then it would just be a rechargeable watch that is inconvenient to maintain, when my Timex will go for probably 5-6 years before I have to change the battery again.

The biggest thing that I will miss the GPS function of the watch more than anything else. Perhaps just finding something like the old Garmin FR-10 would be more along the lines of what I am looking for. Simple, uncomplicated and gives me how far I’ve run without having to guess or rely on my truck’s odometer to get it close. Hmmmm sort of like what I did for most of my running career.

For me, at this point in my life less is more.

Back to the Timex Ironman and dispose of three Garmin watches that otherwise would gather dust in the back of the drawer. If you are a runner in Central Maine and need a Garmin let me know, maybe we can work something out.