Which watch to wear?

It’s a question I have to answer every time I run a race. Last November, I wore my smart Apple watch during a 10K. It insisted (inaccurately) I was running a slower pace than I wanted, goading me forward to a personal best. But in April, I chose instead my unsmart Timex for the Illinois Marathon. Beeping the split every mile gave me something to do, even though the final time it showed disappointed me by three minutes.

Whether it’s tricking me into thinking I’m going a lot slower than I want or dutifully telling me to speed it up, a watch keeps me on pace.

Today, I’m about to run the Chicago Bank of America Half Marathon, and I’m not wearing my smart watch or my not-smart stop watch. I’m wearing a big old Swatch I just inherited because I don’t want to know my pace.

Since the Illinois Marathon, I’ve not been feeling like myself. Slow runs have been hard and fast runs have been quickly downgraded to slow runs. I went through a few weeks when my whole being approached my daily run with “Don’t make me do that.” Finally, I just took a few weeks off. It’s never taken me this long to recover from a marathon, but I can’t force my body into a health that’s just not there.  

This half marathon…I have no idea how it’s going to go. I’ve barely run for two weeks. I’m going back to a goal I had for my first triathlon: Finish and have fun.

I love running as fast as I can. I hope I get back there. For today, though, I’ll have this weird watch on my wrist and a song in my head as I run the streets of west Chicago: Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand, sometimes you turn your back to the wind.