Running Watchless….

I planned to do anything but run today. I’d expected the weather to still be rainy, and God knows I could NEVER run on my lunch hour in the rain and be able to put myself back together for the rest of the work day. So, I did the next best thing: I brought my yoga mat to work with me, but I left my Garmin at home, figuring I wouldn’t be running anyway.

Then it turned out to be an awesome day, so I decided to get in an easy run in deference to the 12-miler I’ll be doing tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. As I changed clothes, I remembered I’d left my watch at home. It bears mentioning here, that I would generally rather run stark naked than to run without my Garmin. I am a data junkie. I have to know how far, how fast, and how many calories I’ve burned on every single run (bad, I know). So today was a unique opportunity for me to run in a state of true oblivion. Much to my surprise, I discovered I enjoyed running in blissful ignorance of my pace. (Of course, I immediately checked my distance at MapMyRun.com, when I returned to my office).

But the beauty of today’s run is that I really tuned into my body and my breathing. I was able to make the necessary adjustments as I ran, without worrying how it would impact my pace. And perhaps the best thing of all is that as I tuned into my breath, a breathing mantra just came to me, and I used the words “power,” “energy,” and “life” to regulate my breathing and finish the run. Good stuff.

Will I wear my watch for tomorrow’s 12-miler? You betcha! But I will dedicate at least one run a week as a watchless run.

Namaste.