Every Little Detail

I am one who loves some good solid concrete numbers. I enjoy feedback on my training and racing in the form of how fast, how far, and how many vertical feet I climbed on a run. When I first started triathloning 17 years ago, there were watches and bike odometers, and cars that could measure courses after to see just how long the "4 mile" run was. But who really checked that stuff anyway? The races that actually got split times for you mailed them a few months later after you had forgotten all the details anyway. And yes, I kept them. For all I know, my fastest half marathon in a half Ironman was half a mile short (oh wait, it was half a mile short, they told us... shhhhh). But nobody had GPSs back then that beeped every mile and told you your training stress afterward. We used to measure training stress by how hungry we were the next morning and how much our quads hurt going down stairs. And that worked for me. 

But I have always enjoyed finding out more details about myself and my biology from testing. I have done many VO2max tests (which are completely useless except for that malleable lactate threshold estimate) through the years as a guinea pig for some study or another. I found DEXAs to be quite interesting, especially when they told me how much fatter my right arm is than every other part of my body (that was a calibration issue I hope). I liked seeing that printout of my miniature skeleton with the soft tissue outline. When I was hospitalized, I pored over my labs, getting that snapshot of what was going on inside. I find X-rays and even cholesterol checks to be fascinating. And now I really wish I'd had a power meter years ago while racing more (and faster). 

I We Jeremy just got a new Garmin for his birthday, and it is one that can even tell you how far you swam. But wait, there's more. It tells you your pace, plus stroke rate, efficiency and something called SWOLF, which I had to look up via a little ? icon (it is average strokes per length plus time in seconds per length). I will admit, it was very motivating to get to the pool to try it out, but I could not stop looking at my stroke rate or average pace per 100yds underwater. It was kind of like running with it, when I cannot stop checking and rechecking my pace. It is maddening, especially when trees and clouds inhibit good satellite connections (cloudless skies and no tree interference were things my Garmin took for granted in New Mexico, as well as little to no sweat accumulation). Maybe I ran faster before all the technology because I didn't have all this feedback, but just relied on feel. I know I could tick off a dozen 400s within a second of each other without having a Garmin telling me my current pace. If I see a pace that's too fast on that big screen, does it cause a psychosomatic response of extra fatigue? I think maybe so sometimes. Other times I think it helps me be less of a slacker. 

We have been talking around here about people who are blissfully ignorant. It must be pleasant, as by definition they are blissful. And if you didn't know you didn't know something, you aren't missing it. Like I said, I want to know about my physiology, and I really prefer to be informed about my food.  But who really has the time to thoroughly research every little detail of every decision and action they take? I do enjoy it when people, for example on parenting-type forums, say they have done "extensive research" on a topic. Really, you have? I'm betting that most of this population does not have the slightest clue how much real research goes into each and every published, peer reviewed study out there. A fraction of that amount of research goes into a review paper by a grad student, and I would probably not call that extensive. And no fair counting any research done outside of academic journals. 

In some areas, I do my best to be relatively informed, and many other areas that I just don't bother with quite as much, and would rather leave up to the experts. Although Jeremy would think otherwise, I do believe, for example, that doctors know more than the average person (and even myself-- really J!) about medicine, and it would take me approximately 4-10 years to catch up with just their training. But I do make some good hypotheses at times. :) I'm trying to leave pediatrics up to him and only ask questions to learn more about it. I don't need every little detail, since at my rate I will have only grown children in the time it would take to learn it all. 

So I'm a little split in my life between wanting more info and knowing when I'd rather not know things. But when it comes to racing, I'm still not sure where I fall. I'd love to know all the details after a race, but I feel like it might be information overload during it. The bottom line question is this: should I wear a Garmin in my upcoming half marathon or not?