I enjoy running a lot, it is a great way to clear my head after a work day. That is one of the reasons why I choose to run with a regular watch instead of a smartwatch by Garmin, Coros or Apple. To me running is a sport that is best enjoyed with as little technology as possible, in this post I will explain why.

The first reason I wear a Casio instead of a Garmin or Apple Watch, is the fact that smartwatches track a large amount of data. Heartrate, sleep, steps, and activity are all tracked by even the cheapest of smartwatches. All that data is collected by the manufacturer and possibly sold to others. I don’t want to share all that data with a company, especially not my location data.

The second reason I don’t wear a smartwatch is an extension of the first reason: it tracks everything and makes recommendations based on that data. I am somewhat of a perfectionist, so when a smartwatch says that I am not active enough, I will start running more. But a watch does not actually know what my running level is and how much training my body needs or can handle. So if I start training more just to get a number to go up, it is likely that I will start over-training and get injured.

If a watch says that my sleep was terrible, I am more likely to think I actually slept badly. Even if I feel fine. The placebo effect might cause me to actually feel worse about a mediocre night of sleep even though it wasn’t all that bad.

I wear a simple Casio with a stopwatch instead. It has basic functions like alarms, timers, time, date and a stopwatch. When I start my workout I simply start the stopwatch or timer and start running. No need to wait for GPS connection or heartrate readings, just start and go. There are a few well-known athletes who don’t always use a smartwatch. Courtney Dauwalter mostly trains with a simple Timex, although she is sponsored by Suunto.

A regular watch also does not distract me with unwanted notifications. Of course you can turn on Do-Not-Disturb, but even the possibility of checking notifications is a source of background distraction. My Casio can notify me with an hourly chime. This can be used as a reminder to get up and take a few steps during a workday.

Recommendations for watches

There are a few watches that would be a good replacement for a smartwatch. There are a few things I look for in a watch:

• It should be affordable.
• It should be durable.
• It should have a stopwatch that goes up to at least an hour.
• It should at least have some basic water resistance, preferably 100m.

The Casio F91W is a great example that fits most of these requirements. It is cheap, pretty durable and has a decent stopwatch. My current running watch is a Casio AE1000. I like this watch because it is easy to read during activity, has a stopwatch that goes up to 23:59:59 and is comfortable.

If you want something that is more durable, the G-Shock GW-M5610u is another great option. It has 200 meters of water resistance and a protective case. It also has atomic timekeeping and solar charging, which means that the watch is always on time and charged.

Conclusion

There are many more reasons to opt for a simple watch instead of a smartwatch, this post just highlights a few of them. I invite you to get a basic watch and try running without a Garmin during your next training.