Why we created a technology policy for our running and wellness retreats

The sound of running shoes crunching the soft pine needles lining the loamy trail lulls the runners into a relaxed rhythm. A forest thick with conifer tress hugs the trail, so all they can see is the well-worn trail ahead. There’s no sound of cars or traffic of any kind. Their inhalation and exhalation breath cycles fall into a similar rhythm. They’re not all running at the same pace, yet somehow are in a shared state of flow.

That is, until, a digital female voice says “workout paused.” “Workout resumed” the voice followed up.

“Ping” goes another watch from the back of the pack. “Beep, beep beep!” goes another device, its exact location indeterminate.

The group slows to a fast hike as the trail’s pitch kicks up a few notches. “Workout paused,” a sharp digital female voice declares.

• When you don’t know your pace per mile, you are better at noticing the body’s natural feedback system to gauge your effort level. Feeling tired, you slow down. Feeling charged up, you speed up.
  
  
• When you no longer hear a “ping” for each mile completed, you are better able to focus on the process of running rather than the progress from start to finish. Knowing that your running guide is keeping you on track, you are more open to taking in your surroundings, your fellow runners and notice how your body is feeling.
  
  
• Replacing digital cues and alarms with the sounds of nature and your own body’s movement is a powerful experience. When you pay attention, you can hear your breath (is it soft and even, or shallow and ragged?) and the sound of your feet on the ground (are they pounding or tapping lightly?). These sounds are key indicators to the quality of your running form. And you can only improve your form if you develop a high level of body awareness.
  
  
• Metrics have nothing to do with the quality of the running experience. On retreat, we encourage another type of success measurement: your degree of joy. And joy has everything to do with how running makes you feel, and nothing to do with how far or fast you ran.

Fitness writer and author of the book, Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success, Brad Stulberg, who experimented with gadget-less training, reported that he had some performance breakthroughs when he ran by feel (slowing when he felt tired, and speeding up when he felt strong) rather than by pace-per mile.

But more important, in my opinion, was what Noel Brick, a sports psychologist at Ulster University in Northern Ireland, told Stulberg in an interview: “Relying on a watch excessively can promote unhelpful thoughts and emotions, such as anxiety.” This anxiety can even occur on a subconscious level, fueling negative self-talk or judgement without you even realizing it’s happening.”

Another side effect of metrics-driven anxiety is physical tension. “In a recent study, Brick and his colleagues found that runners were a whopping 10 percent faster when they were focused on relaxing or the act of running itself versus external metrics like pace,” reports Stulberg.