Marathon Training and Technology…does tech help or hinder?

I’ve been training for the London Marathon for the past four months…and there’s not long to go now, which scares the living daylights out of me!…during my training, I’ve been noticing more and more runners who seem to have all sorts of tech hooked up to them.

Now, despite my career and background, I’m actually a little bit of a new-tech cynic! (I blame the grumpy old man in me). I have always been one to enjoy running for what it is, my break away! With a busy job and a family, running really gives me the opportunity to go out and escape. It’s very therapeutic…painful…but therapeutic. Normally, I plot my route and then just head out and run. The height of my tech-usage was an ancient iPod nano and a classic Casio watch. Very hipster!

However, with training for the marathon, this has changed somewhat…over 3 hours with just myself and an ever deteriorating iPod for company is quite frankly too much for anyone! Plus, with this type of training comes a new level of understanding and metrics that are needed to make sure I’m not burning myself out and keeping consistent pace to save from injuries.

I have now been converted to using Strava, mapping apps, metronome apps, social groups and even replaced my dear old iPod for my usual Spotify playlists. However, as I was out running with all these data points tracking my every move I still found I was doing the same old things in my mind…doing sums in my head to work out my pace and distance. So I got to thinking is it really worth me changing my old habits using all this tech and is it helping or distracting me?

As a marketer, I should be heavily driven by stats and facts…which I am, but should tech be the one doing all this for me when it comes to exercise? I just wasn’t sure!

In all honesty, once the marathon has been and gone, I probably won’t use Strava all that much and as for the social groups, they will have stopped and therefore disappear. What does that leave me with? The same old formula? Probably not. I think tech can have such a big advantage in terms of exercise. Just look at the amount of tech that professional athletes use nowadays and it is crazy, but their performance has been vastly enhanced.

Why am I prattling on about all of this? It actually came to me during one of my dreaded ‘long runs’ that without the very simplest of technological advancements people like me wouldn’t previously have even been able to contemplate completing a marathon in the time and comfort (if there is such a thing during a marathon) that I am doing. All of the advancements within clothing, entertainment, health and wellbeing have lead to a point where pretty much anyone can actually go out and complete a marathon. All it takes is the mental strength to get past what you’re taking on! So despite the fact I may think I’m running and moving forward with little technological advancement…it’s all the small elements of evolution that have allowed me to utilise the physiotherapy, running techniques, trainers and clothing that I take for granted!

I am actually running the marathon to raise money for the MS Society and the technological advancements in health have been huge over the past year. Stem cell transplants have been the latest of these breakthroughs and the MS Society have been critical to the success of the research as well as providing families with the support and advice they require.

In summary, I think there’s some incredible advancements that have really helped us all achieve the things we previously would never have thought possible. This whole journey has actually opened me up to stop being such a grumpy old fart and be more open to the “new-tech” that is out there but it will forever remain the small and minute evolutions that will forever blow my mind as to what we are achieving technologically as a society!