I took my Garmin off on Ash Wednesday and kept it off for 40 days (with the exception of Laetarie Sunday). After wearing the device for the past 2 years, it felt a little unusual. When I decided to set aside my obsession with metrics for Lent, I knew the only way that would happen would be if I physically removed the device and stuck it in a drawer.
I found my routes to be much simpler without the Garmin measuring my steps, cadence, stride length, heart rate, location and all the other data points. Rather than cut through neighborhoods, I more often stuck to main roads. I noticed I settled into going south on Mannion more often at the start of my runs rather than one of the other 3 directions I can choose from when I step out of my garage. A decision to start in a different direction required a very conscious decision.
Right now I am not training for any specific race, so that made the situation more tenable. I could freely speculate about my pacing based on effort but didn't have the affirmation that comes with the digital readout of my watch. One problem (if it could be called a problem) is my runs all felt very similar. I was less likely to push harder or for that matter, ease my tempo. I still worked on having a "long" run and a little more up tempo run, but the lines one day to the next blurred a bit.
A secondary consequence of not wearing the Garmin was dropping off the face of Strava. One less app to scroll and tap. I missed some of the checking in with others, but the experience helped ensure I ran because I wanted to run (and like to) rather than for the little bits of dopamine that come with a 'thumbs up'.
At the end of the day, the exercise did what Lent is designed to do, seperate for the purpose of greater attention to Christ. Every run I'd didn't have my watch, it was a small little reminder of the season.
