Measuring and Managing

 

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." That's been my mantra for several decades now, and it applies to life and my working career as well as to running. But since this is a running blog, we will mercifully constrain the discussion to that activity.

A great many excellent runners choose not to measure anything at all, or at least very little. A couple million East African runners come to mind, but there have also been some Westerners who eschew measurement. With the advent of GPS wearable devices, it's become easier and more prevalent to track distance and time, however, and this has changed things in our part of the planet. Nowadays I am able to tell you with great accuracy exactly how slow, fat, ugly, and bald I am. But I do use measurement to manage and (to try to) improve my running. I do believe it (measurement) works.

Allow me to now focus in on some things I'm measuring these days. I'm not especially proud of any of these numbers, but they do provide some insight into where I am right now.

* 48.8 - My mileage for this past week. It's the most in about a year. But I still have a long way to go. 

Mileage

* 172 -  My current weight on a good day. That's the lowest it's been since the surgery, but still a good 12 pounds over what I'd consider a decent weight.

Weight

* 11 - That's what I crank the music up to, when the other dials only go to 10. It's also my average mile pace during a good run these days. I can only rarely get under ten minutes per mile. This is all pretty darn slow, but at least it's improving.

Detailed running info to show pace

* 23 of 72 - The approximate number of days I've been at home out of the total number of days so far this year. Traveling is great and wonderful, but it takes a toll with regards to running. 

And that's it for numbers for now. I'll just keep measuring and managing. Even when I don't like the numbers, I think it helps.