An athlete that I coach reported to me the other day that she ran 5.161 miles last Monday.  Of course, I was suitable impressed – not by the distance run, but by the precision of the measurement.

Just how can one determine EXACTLY how far he or she has run?  The answer lies in GPS technology.  For a couple of hundred dollars, Nike or Timex will sell you a watch that measures the distance you cover on your daily jaunt down to the step.  Go figure. 

So now the question becomes, “How important is it to measure your training miles with that degree of accuracy?”  (Please note the use of “miles” rather than “kilometers.”  Metrification, after all, was just a plot by the Trudeau Liberals to undermine the traditional fabric of Canadian society.  Ok, maybe it wasn’t, but us truly old school runners will continue to log our distance in imperial units thank you very much!!  But I digress, back to the stated question …)

The answer, young grasshopper, is “It’s not important at all.” 

Put in the time at the appropriate intensity and good results will happen. You’ll have good days where you’ll run fast and cover a lot of ground; you’ll have not-so-good days where your body will demand that you run slow and you’ll cover less ground.  This is normal; don’t fight it.   Ultimately it’s the CONSISTENCY in getting your butt out of the door that leads to improvement.  In the end, the ACCURACY in which you measure what you have done has little relevance.

So save your money on technology; a simple wrist watch is good enough.  Do the time and results will follow.

For help with designing a program to meet your goals, check out a Run Quick program.