Bye-Bye Garmin

So . . . recently, I went for a hike-run in Wood Canyon, but I can’t tell you for sure what day it was (I believe it was last Wednesday 12/12). I also can’t tell you any other stat, like distance or elevation gain. Why? Because I lost my Garmin on the trail. And sadly, that Garmin had to go. My relationship with that thing was definitely a love-hate relationship. I loved the stats it gave me, and the interface was pretty good. But really, what a pain in the ass it was to charge (very difficult to make the connection), and I can’t tell you how many times I could not upload my info. I had to constantly reset the thing, and then to top it off, the wristband broke, and the stupid thing does not accommodate a replacement band. I was bound to eventually lose my Garmin carrying in my pocket as I did. I suppose the reason I lost my Garmin is because I went crawling around in caves again. I’m pretty sure that’s when it dropped out of my pocket.

So, I set out late morning, Garmin in hand for what I am going to estimate as an 8 mile route. And because of my mood, which was somewhat down, I decided to make my loop include one of the biggest inclines in the park -- steep inclines do wonders for my mood. My route: Aliso Canyon, Wood Canyon, Mathis, Oak Grove, Car Wreck Trail (super steep!), Mathis, Wood Canyon, and finally back to Aliso Canyon. I noticed my Garmin lost in Wood Canyon on the way back, and did not have any time to go back and hunt for it. I had to get back home in time to attend my middle son’s Christmas concert. And frankly, I really didn’t even want to look for it. I am done with Garmin!

Some observations from my hike-run:

First off, I saw 7 (yes seven!) deer grazing in Aliso Canyon. I have seen many deer in those canyons, but never as many as 7 all at once. They didn’t even flinch as I stood there across the field snapping photos of the bunch. They did look up at me here and there, which is much more to than humans on the trail did. Which brings me to my second observation. People in the coastal hills do not look at you when you come up on them on the trails. Nothing, not a word, not a nod, not even a smile. I find that strange. I try to make eye contact with everyone -- and then I nod or smile. This lack of acknowledgement by other hikers and runners would never happen on a mountain trail. When you come up on someone in the mountains, you are bound to stop and chat a bit with them.

Despite losing my Garmin, this hike helped immensely with dealing with my stress. The creeks were full and even rushing over their usual borders in some places.  Green grass was popping up everywhere, including in the black burnt areas. I loved the torture of Car Wreck Trail, and amazingly, it really wasn’t that much torture at all. It was a good thing climbing up that trail, just as it was a good thing that I lost my Garmin.

Familiar Ground

My husband fixed my camera.  He could not fix my garmin .  I’ve heard runners comment that they feel free when they run without their garmins.  This is not the case with me.  In fact, without my garmin, I feel like my freedom had been taken away.  I couldn’t run any route I wanted. No garmin, no stats.  Therefore, I had to run a route that I had data for.  Why?  Because I am a stats person.  I love my stats.  They are part of who I am.

This morning, I hit some familiar ground and ran a loop that I have run many times.  It goes up Aliso Canyon and hits Mentally Sensitive via Meadows Trail.  The route is a tranquil one, that is until I hit the climb on Mentally sensitive.  Then WHAM.  Today, as usual, the climb in parts was such that it’s difficult to stand upright.  Sooooo fun!

The nice n’ easy part of Mentally Sensitive:

The miserable, yet lovely climb on Mentally Sensitive:

My loop continued on along the ridge where I came to my half-way point at Top of the World.  I stopped for a moment to snap a picture, because I take one or two pictures EVERY SINGLE TIME I reach Top of the World. 

From there, the trails ran pretty much downhill.  I took the ridge (West Ridge) to Mathis.  Mathis is a truck trail, not technical at all, and completely exposed.  Fortunately, I had some cloud cover today.  Still, the weather was a bit humid. 

I crossed Wood Creek on Mathis into Wood Canyon where I ran Wood Canyon Trail back to Aliso Canyon and closed up the loop.  I finished much stronger than I have lately.  And I must say, it was nice not to have a clunky garmin strapped to my wrist.  But I still have my stats:  Miles 10.9, with an elevation gain of 2,297 feet.

Thus concludes day 6 of my streak.

Top of the World:

Creek Crossing on Mathis:

What kind Of Garmin Runner Are You?

Lots of people run naked – that is without a garmin.  Some of my friends say that the garmin on their wrist takes the fun out of running.  They become too concerned with stats and don’t enjoy the scenery and the other joys of running. 

I feel differently.  For me, the garmin does not “tie me down.”  The garmin does just the opposite – it sets me free.  I can run anywhere I want to and the garmin knows pretty dang well how far I travelled and more importantly to me, how many feet I climbed.  (I don’t care much about pace unless I’m training, but I do enjoy keeping track of mileage and elevation since I am a long distance runner of pretty extreme trails – extreme for my locale anyway).  Before my garmin days, I would only run routes that I knew the mileage, or a route I could drive to measure the mileage.  Otherwise, I’d use GoogleEarth software to measure miles, which was a pain in the butt, especially on trails.  GoogleEarth looks from above, which makes measuring trails difficult because most of the time all I can see on the screen is tree tops (not trails).

For me, the garmin is a thumbs up!  And if you’ve ever been a spectator at a race, be it trail or road, what do you notice 99.9% of the runners do at the finish line?  They look down at their wrist and stop the garmin.  LOL.

So, I’m wondering this:  What kind of garmin wearer are you?

1.  Are you “The-one-who-forgets-to-start/stop-your-garmin?”  That’s me!! I don’t know how many times I’ve been into my run or race and noticed, yikes!  I didn’t start my garmin.  I’m the one asking, “What does your garmin read?”  That way I know how much to add to my ending mileage.  I’m also the one driving off, having forgotten to stop my garmin.  Of course, that screws up my pace big time.  But at the same time, it’s not too difficult to figure out the actual mileage I ran, judging by the dramatic pace increase on the graph.

2.  Are you “The-one-who-pauses-your-garmin-every-time-you-stop, say to get something out of your pack, or make a pit-stop?”  I don’t do this because they don’t stop the clock when I stop at the outhouse or duck behind a bush in races.  Even though I’m not this garmin user, #2 garmin users suffer from the same thing as #1 above (me).  I don’t know how many times my running friends have exclaimed, “Dang!  I forgot to restart my garmin.”  Like myself, they ask about the group, “What does your garmin read?”  And I have to laugh. 

3.  Or are you “The-one-who-sets-your-garmin-to-pause-every-time-you stop?”  If so, you probably know by now, this doesn’t work well.  Too often, the garmin does not restart when you begin running again.  I know very few garmin runners who still set their garmin this way.   Many have tried, few have succeeded. 

So, what kind of garmin wearer are you?  Or do you even wear a garmin?  And if so, what is the most important stat that it gives you? Mine are mileage and pretty obviously, elevation.  For me, besides discovering trails, the garmin was the best thing that has happened to my running.