I love data! Or, how activity-tracking apps motivate me.
I was dragging my butt up the mountain one day and thought, “I wonder how far I’ve gone today.” I had only been out 25 minutes so I knew it wasn’t that far. Nonetheless I was curious for a number. Then I thought, “I wonder how fast, or more accurately, how slow I’m going.” I was sweating like crazy and huffing and puffing, so I was thinking I was probably going Superman-fast. I realized that I needed to collect some data during my excursions. Later at home, I found an app that promised to track my location on a map, create routes, and save stats while I ran these routes. I learned I could do the same routes repeatedly and compare my pace from run to run. That’s a certifiable progress report! It’s like a mini challenge every time I go out. Fun! Sure, I don’t need something like this to know whether or not I’m improving. Seeing a…