The Techie-Geeky Aspect

So I was reading my friend Keakman’s blog tonight. It was a great story about her learning to drive a Model T. She drew a grand analogy about how tough those old cars were and how you also had to be tough and willing to go through those ruts and mud to get where you wanted to go. It made me think again about tools and gadgets.

When I began this journey I had no special equipment, nothing to monitor my progress (outside SparkPeople). So when I reactivated, I was excited to see some of the changes in Spark-land, primarily the ability to sync my Fit Bit to the tracker. It is a nice feature that never occurred to me the first time around.

But it also made me think about the fact that I didn’t need such a thing the first time around. As I progressed in my journey I sometimes rewarded myself with tools along the way. Once I was more focused on my “self” and my comfort, I invested in shorts for my workouts. When I learned about staying within a target heart rate (THR), I invested in a heart rate monitor, then a better one, and so on.

The reality is I don’t need those tools. You don’t need those tools. And thinking we do leads to excuses when we don’t have them. Yet I’ve seen people absolutely panicked that they didn’t have their (insert tracker/tool name) when they realized they didn’t have it at the ready. The fact of the matter is I know when what I’m doing is kinda hard, and I know when it’s really hard. I know when “I’m going to feel that tomorrow”, and I know when I’m breathing hard. So while I enjoy the techie-geeky aspect of syncing my Fit Bit, I know that I don’t have to wear it to get my workout.