why you don't need a running watch
This came up while talking with a guy who just started running. He told me he was avoiding some drills because he didn't have a running watch. Those can cost over US$600 here, which is steep, especially if you're not sure you'll stick with running.
I told him he didn't need to. Not showing up will kill more progress than running 50 meters more. Staying in bed is worse than running in zone 3 or zone 1 or walking because you feel tired. Nothing beats just moving.
And yet, we are led to believe that we need the tech to optimize based on our energy levels, align our runs with moon phases, or follow whatever dubious trend has gone viral this week based on misrepresented research.
It's simple. Just show up. Just do the stuff.
and it isn't just running
It's everything. From food to exercise, to sleep, to productivity.
Again and again we are stuck in the cycle of optimizing, of adding gadgets and complexity on top of things that are simple by nature.
I also like to cook (if it wasn't obvious that I like to run) and eat healthy, as those things usually go hand in hand.
You don't need to count macros or micros or have AI analyze your plate, generate a diet loaded with today's trending ingredients (notice a pattern?), or search for recipes for every meal. Just grab whatever vegetables you have, some legumes straight from the can, and toss in a small amount of any meat on hand. Mostly veggies; don't overdo the meat.
And that's all. You'll be more set back by a greasy burger with fries and coke than by not eating enough kale or too many chickpeas. And also you won't! Because it doesn't matter to have an unhealthy meal from time to time if you stick to whole foods for most of the meals. So basically, the more it resembles the thing that comes out of the earth, the better (lettuce good, Skittles bad).
one more, productivity
Don't want to extend a lot here, as I've already written here, but it's the same with productivity.
There's a reason there are more productivity methods than productive people: doing the stuff beats any system. The method is often retrofitted to the results. What matters is starting; once you're doing it, you can invent whatever explanation you need for your TED talk later.
That leaves me to...
on how we got here
Consumerism and content pumping. We don't need twice a week videos on the latest whatever. Truths are simple and pretty much unchanged. Sleep enough (7-9 hours), eat well (see above), exercise regularly (20 minutes a day and you're golden). Maybe meditate? Or pray.
But the cycle of ever-repeating consumption of content, of that search for more, for the new, leads us to invent a moving goalpost of methods that produce more noise and distract us from the simple, bare truth of just doing the stuff.
ending
So I think it's up to us to get off this current train of always trying to see what's new, derived by our current situation of content-pumping, and just accept that, luckily, truths are usually simple and unchanged. And that's pretty much it.