Editorial
Like it or not, for the majority of us, technology has profoundly changed how we experience the act of running as of 2019.
According to a 2018 survey conducted by running website Podium Runner, a whopping 96 per cent of 5 ,000 survey respondents said they used some form of fitness-training technology when running. Smartwatches, mobile phones, and the exercise apps within are phones, that track our distance, pace, location, cadence, heart rate and everything else under the sun, have greatly inf luenced how, when, where and why we run in the last decade or so.
These st at ist ics shouldn’t come as a surprise. We run with technolog y for good reason: Our iPhones and gps watches become lifelines in the event we get injured or lost on the road or trail. Social media facilitates f inding and befriending fellow runners online, as well as group runs and club social events in the real world. And if you’re like me, the kilometres peel away more quickly on those long, lonely runs in the dead of winter when accompanied by a curated Spotify soundtrack.
Yet, after a decade of training for an average of about of three to four races per year, I question if the personal metrics my devices spit out, still add real value to my running experience. As a distance runner, I spend the majority of my time running at the same relatively slow, consistent pace over the same distances, mostly on the same routes near my home in Toronto’s east end. I don’t need a buzzing watch, or chipper voice in my earbuds to tell me how fast I’m running per kilometre; my body and brain already know, give or take a few seconds, through years of repetition, leading to distraction-free runs. With only so many running routes in my neighbourhood, I also don’t need a phone to tell me after a decade of running along the Waterfront trail that, there-and-back from my house to Rosetta McClain Gardens, is exactly 9.7 kilometres. This leaves me free to focus on my breathing or cadence, eventually falling into a mindful rhythm, or to chat with old running mates I haven’t seen in a while. There’s no app for that. This issue is, however, packed with guidance on how to optimally integrate technology within your running routine as the weather changes. Dave Robertson’s feature focuses on technologies that allow us to run and race where, how and when we want in virtual worlds (p. 40). Matt Hosford delves into the pros and cons of technology’s role in facilit at ing r unners’ abilit y to access some of Canada’s most remote running locations (p.30). We also have gift ideas for runners, in time for the holiday season in our annual winter running shoe review (p.54) and holiday gift guide (p. 44).
From luddite to technophile, happy running this fall and winter.