To thy own self be true...

Many of you know how adept Marko is at technologies of various kinds. He is a geek - and I say that with much love and admiration. No matter the problem, he'll find a way to fix, manipulate, improve it. Especially if it is remotely related to a computer.
I on the other hand still embrace the pencil as a wonderful example of technology. One that is often used and then tossed aside without a thought. It still works, and usually all you need to fix one is a pencil sharpener, knife or some tape. I can deal with those kinds of fixes. A lot of the time I crave simplicity and no cables.

BUT I must confess, I have a new toy. It is simply remarkable. It has made running enjoyable again and brought back my motivation. It was getting too easy to coast at the end of a run, especially a long one. "You just finished 10.5 k, you should take it easy for the last little bit. Two boys to chase around tomorrow..." Blah, blah, blah. 500 m of slacking turned into more. But now, I have a Garmin Forerunner 110. Yes it has a name AND model number. Crazy. What's more, I am able (yes, I AM ABLE) to plug it into my computer and access the data from the run I just completed and compare it to previous run times. I can see a break down of pace/kilometer, elevation gain and lost, distance, stop times, it is awesome! This thing is like having a trainer on my wrist. It's pretty big and bulky, but not so bad. I'm used to it now after two runs. I love that I can glance down and see how far I've come and how fast I'm running. Keeps me honest. I've been trying to keep my pace at around 6min/k for the long runs and faster for the short ones. It's challenging!! But gives me something to work towards again. Nice.

So thanks Marko, for being on my wrist as I run, coaxing me to go faster. Go Team I. We need teamshirts...