Why obsess with fluctuating numbers?
I’m usually not one to pay attention to the pace on my Garmin unless I’m 1) trying to hit pace at a race or during speedwork, 2) checking to see if pace has anything to do with why my run feels like crap or 3) trying to get done with my run by a certain time.
Thursday morning’s run fit in the reason #3 category above. I had allotted myself just enough time to get a run in before work if I could stay under 10:00 minute miles. I wasn’t checking my watch that often, but at one point I looked down and saw a 10:23 pace. “WTF!” I thought, “It feels like I am flying! I am going to have to cut this run short!” Then… “Oh wait, I’ll just check again in a few seconds.” Sure enough, the next time I check it was in the 9:40s. Silly watch.
Then I had an “Aha!” moment.
Why are we so obsessed with fluctuating numbers? Is the obsession with fluctuating pace in the same realm as the obsession with fluctuating weight on the scale?
The reason I started to think this is because I used to do “second looks” at my scale, like I did with the watch, hoping for a different number. Sure, with the watch, your pace actually is varying from second to second. Your weight isn’t. But it is a number that goes up and down throughout the day! When I used to be more scale dependent, if I got on it in the am* and didn’t see the number I expected, I would check again after going to the bathroom. Or after going for a run. Because that is a healthy mindset. Not.
Of course, you have much more “in the moment” control over your pace, then your weight. But how silly is it for us to get super obsessed with small changes in numbers, on either apparatus? Why let the numbers on these things tell you how to feel… instead of listening to what you really feel?
What do you think? Any relation, or am I totally off base?
This thought just popped in to my head, and I was kind of hoping the post would write itself, but it didn’t. So I am putting it out there thinking there is much more to be discussed – and probably lots of points I am not considering!
*always in the am, always naked
Themocracy
I think that it’s when we look at these numbers as a sign or metric of success in a certain way is what makes us obsess over them. If you’re just looking to get a general sense of how your doing (on a run or with your weight), you’d check & say “I’m good or not” and then make adjustments.
But when this is the success metric you’re measuring so much more frequently. Which is fine in a race (hey – most races we have a time goal in mind), but not the best on most practice runs.
For me, even though I am aware of weight as it is a correlated to improvements in my health & fitness, it’s not the end all be all. In late 2011 I started focusing again on my weight after I’d put in a hard season of marathon training and wasn’t happy with the lack of progress I’d made. If I was lighter, that was one way to help make progress in a manner different from run training.
I *sometimes infrequenty* obsess over the garmin and scale numbers. But then I remember my weight can easily fluctuate 3-4lbs even if I weigh myself at the same time every morning. Strangly enough the days I “feel fat” are often the days the scale says I’m lighter… As for the garmin I use it for reference but go by feel. Especially working with Britt now and not having a firm goal time for the half (because how can you accurately have a goal time when my PR marathon was 5 months ago+ injury+ time off+ 10k in really bad conditions) she is telling me what kind of effort I should be putting out vs hitting certain paces (which she also gives me as a guide) especially during the summer when it was ridiculously hot, I knew I couldn’t hit my “goal” paces but instead ran the same effort which was up to a minute slower per mile.
With that being said, I will obsess over my “easy” pace today on my long run until I remember this post 😉 but its also 14 degrees out and god only knows if there’s wind too… I’ll just go by feel 🙂
Way to put it out there! When I am running with my Polar I am often checking my HR and calories. I have had multiple WTF moments with my numbers and have to work hard to focus more on my run than on my numbers : ) Way to go you for running in the cold. I am hoping to get out this weekend!
I weigh myself once a week on Weight Watchers, but I’ve thought more than once “I look good, maybe I don’t weigh myself today.”
I find that if I eat well, I can feel better about leaving the scale behind. In college/grad school, I never weighed myself.
The tie in to the Garmin is that I only got one of those suckers for Christmas 2010. I considered it the mark of a serious runner. Now I barely ever run without it. Maybe I should leave it behind every now and then!
I’m definitely torn when it comes to the numbers game with running. I got a garmin last year, and it’s been both positive and negative in terms of my focus on numbers. However, I also know that there are times in my training when I can focus on speed but there are other times when speed is just not happening. That can be frustrating, but it’s also a good lesson to me – speed is not the only factor in what makes a “good” run.
I’m an obsessor on both, because I thrive on competition and metrics. I’ve realized that it’s not that healthy for me to obsess so I try to only weigh myself 1-2 times per week and sometimes run without my Garmin. That keeps me in check. 🙂
It’s easy to obsess, especially if these #s are the “M” in a SMART goal!
I’m a numbers FREAK!!!! (I think I may have said this before…)
I am proud to say I’m still keeping true to my “not weighing myself the entire month of February” thing. And it has been freeing to say the least! (I even kept it in my bathroom!)
I run with my Garmin on every run though. I don’t look at it as much anymore, I try to run by feel, but I do have to keep up with my distance when I’m out, especially if I’m running a new route or if I’m with my dog.
I think they are related especially when people are obsessed with numbers like myself. It’s just one of those things I suppose!
I tend to be a numbers person, so I am totally guilty of this. I guess the scientist in me wants to record every last piece of data available. I definitely check my heart rate a lot when I’m trying to get in my run at a certain effort level. I guess the first step to moving beyond the numbers is to be aware of how obsessed we are with them. 🙂
Reading all of these comments, I realize that I am constantly checking on stuff like this because I’m just a numbers person. The exception is the scale, since I don’t weigh myself more than maybe once a week. But not only do I run with my Garmin, I also track my runs on an app on my phone. And map them out when I get home, to make sure I got the distance right. And then enter it into a couple different places. And write it down. I also keep track of calories burned, just to get a gauge for how hard I’m working. And that gets entered in several places as well. Good god do I like to track things! I sound a little obsessive when I write it all out like that! 🙂
You map your runs a second time? That is hard core! And how many places do you record? I know a few other people who record in multiple places too. I use Garmin Connect, a spreadsheet, and the blog.
I decided not to bring my scale to Chicago. Best decision ever…
My Garmin doesn’t give me instantaneous pace, it tells me what my average pace over the current mile (or other interval) is so it doesn’t fluctuate that much from second to second. I can control it more if I speed up or slow down towards the beginning of the mile or interval though.
As for the scale, I try to only weigh myself once a week but usually do two mornings in a row. I don’t compare my weights throughout the day or anything because I know that’s not really telling me anything. Also, I just bought a scale for the first time in January so this is all pretty new to me. I used to occasionally weigh myself at the gym (before I cancelled that membership).
I’m a total slave to the scale, but with my Garmin I completely ignore the current pace and focus on the average pace. There are times when I KNOW I’m running a steady pace and my stupid Garmin will show anywhere from 8:30 to 11:30 all within a few seconds.
I have my garmin set to over all pace for my run and I don’t have it set to lap at each mile so I see my total pace for the whole run. I think it fluctuates less that way. Some days though it seems the satellites are just off and my watch goes crazy. I try not to focus too much on the numbers so that’s why I love running in the pre-dawn darkness, helps me not to see my slower pace!
I love running in the dark and not being able to see it! I think I actually run faster then! I still have my splits on though 🙂
I used to have pace alerts enabled, but I found it way too annoying. I really don’t need to know that I was a bit slow on that uphill or through that turn. I did a 5K last year with it enabled and it alerted me that I was running too fast the entire time because the excitement of multiple people caused my dog to run faster than usual, pulling me a long a bit.
There was a really good article in the Chicago Tribune (I think) this past week about the co-founder of Trulia and his obsession with numbers and data regarding his workouts. It was really interesting. Basically it said that sometimes people get too obsessed with them to the detriment of health and safety.
I wish I could find the article online but I’m failing at the moment.
I would love to read that! Please let me know if you run by it!
I was even starting to think about how obsessing with numbers could relate to obsessing with blog stats… but I had that thought too late after posting this, lol.
[…] sure if it was intended as a quesitoning or criticism, but Kim’s post made me think and want to share my reasoning behind tracking my weight & body fat when I shared […]
I am very anti numbers. I get weighed once a year at the lady doctors office, and don’t care to bother the rest of year. I only use my garmin when i am running a course i don’t know and need to track distance. (And there was that one time i tried speed training. ha!) For me, chasing numbers stresses me the F out. I usually live happier not knowing what i weigh, or what pace i am running. To quote “Lost” – ” THE NUMBERS ARE CURSED!”