Runners are addicted to numbers. It doesn’t matter what device we choose to record them on, the digital age feeds our habit ceaselessly. Distance travelled… best time…heart rate…..steps taken…calories burnt…elevation climbed…and so the list goes on. Numbers are everywhere. It’s hard to imagine a time now when runners measured their progress by a stopwatch and nothing else.

 

Digital technology has definitely helped measure and improve the performance of runners/joggers/plodders everywhere. There’s nothing like the thrill of seeing on our shiny screens that we’ve run our furthest distance ever or achieved a new personal best. It’s what many people run for. It’s what motivates us to keep getting out there week on week, year on year. These achievements are exhilarating. They inspire us to keep going, make us realise we can achieve goals we never thought possible, and are permanent reminders of our personal triumphs.

 

When I started running, I genuinely don’t think I could have done it without my phone. The Couch to 5k app provided a plan, a focus, and – most importantly of all for me – affirmation. Each week, I ticked off completed runs, gave myself five stars when asked how I felt about my run, and took pleasure and pride in measuring my progress. It was an essential aspect of my motivation.

 

But that’s not the whole picture, particularly when considering the mental health benefits of running and jogging. Numbers are most definitely a double-edged sword. For while they can exhilarate us when they’re saying what we want them to say, they have the potential to cause an equal measure of misery when they’re heading in the opposite direction.

 

When I was planning the Why Run? podcast, I remember going for a walk with an old friend of mine and we chatted about the benefits of running and why I wanted to do the show. When I said that life always feels better after a run, my friend laughed and replied: ‘Until you look at your time and see it was slower than the previous week!’

 

And that is so true.

 

So should we be checking our distances and times routinely? Is this just a part of running in the 21st century? Or should running be embraced as the opportunity it is to escape the digital world? After all, running is one of the few opportunities we have in life to connect with nature and the outdoor world… both of which are vital for our mental health and well-being.

 

Having run for several years now, I believe it is very important to consider what you want to achieve with running and what measurements are helpful and which are not. If you’re training for a marathon, you obviously need to be able to know how far you’re running and, if you care about time, to know how fast you’re going, and to adjust your programme accordingly.

 

 

If, like me though, you’re running to keep fit and to improve mental health then these numbers just aren’t important. In fact, they definitely add to stress levels. I think my problems started when I began upping my distances to train for a 10k. Nothing wrong in that, but it definitely shifted my mindset. Then I was injured (unrelated) for six weeks and since then I’ve been struggling to regain my natural pattern. Lately running has been feeling much more effortful, much more hard work.

 

I’m not sure of the solution. I’m trying a few new things. But one thing I do know though is that, at the moment, I don’t need to know-  the distance travelled, how fast I’ve gone, how many calories I’ve burned, how many stairs I’ve climbed or how many steps I’ve taken - to feel this.  These measurements are just adding to my stress levels.

 

So for now, I’m going back to basics and this morning I went running without my phone. Yeah, I did it! It felt slightly unsettling and as though I’d left an essential limb behind, but it was OK. I took a route that I’ve taken a hundred times before, so I didn’t feel completely spooked and could judge the distance reasonably accurately.

 

But just running without my phone this morning, meant my distance wasn’t added to my total steps for the day. Just knowing I’m sticking two fingers up at my phone’s passive-aggressive message that ‘your average steps are down this month’…feels like a minor victory in the on-going battle with technology.

 

I’m not saying I’m going to run “naked”  - without my phone not clothes! – forever. In fact, I’m sure I won’t. But just trying to think more consciously about what I want from my phone, what I want from my running, feels like a step in a positive direction.

 

Oh, and I’m going to do my best to tap on that little Health app heart icon far, far less often. I don’t need these numbers. I’ll let you know how it goes…

 

 

 

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