The first rule of run club

99% market share...OH YEAH!

  What is the first rule of Run Club? If you answered: "Don't talk about Run Club," you'd be wrong. That's stupid, how else do people find out about it? If your answer to that is that they would see me running, well sir, there are limits to how far I will go to spread the popularity of something. No, instead the first rule of run club is apparently that you do not wear your Garmin as a regular watch.

    For those of you who are unaware, Garmin is a company that makes many GPS devices, including some of the most popular GPS watches for runners. Like many other companies that have cornered the market on items, (Band-aids, Kool-aid) the name 'Garmin' has become synonymous with GPS watches in the running community. In the past two to three years, running watches have make huge leaps and strides forward in order to help keep up with runner's...uhhhh...strides. One of the many benefits, and my personal favorite, has been the overall shrinking of the size of the watch itself. Its gone from the size of a 1980's desktop computer, to looking more and more like a regular timepiece. Which is handy when I go into a grocery store or Starbucks for a post run water/coffee/protein drink and people don't stare at my wrist like I'm using it to try to make large scale calculations for NASA.

Apparently running atop race day port-a-potties is also frowned upon

   That being the case, I assumed since non-runners couldn't tell it was a GPS watch, it was safe to wear in public.  For almost two weeks after I bought the newer, smaller Garmin Forerunner 210 I wore my watch before, during and after runs, with no one the wiser. I didn't have to fret over forgetting to take it off, or bother with finding a "real" watch. I felt like I was pulling a slick little trick and completely getting away with it. Right up until the moment I arrived to a gathering of friends having dinner and beer the night before a race. I walked in inconspicuously enough, but as I extended my hand to accept a beer, my jacket sleeve pulled back towards my shoulder revealing that I was indeed wearing my Garmin as a casual watch. The crowd's reaction was appalling. "Ohhhh, come on, man." "What are you doing??" With my personal favorite being the exclamation of "Really...really?" as if I knew somehow that what I was doing was wrong, and yet insisted on breaking social etiquette in order to make some kind of rebellious statement.  Having now brought the entire social event to a screeching halt, I bowed my head and muttered some sort of an apology which was met with a general "Just don't do it again" feeling permeating the atmosphere.

The original Garmin Forerunner

   While I'm still not exactly sure which 'rules of running' wearing one's garmin breaks, I have discontinued my practice of wearing my running gear to anything that is not a direct running event. (For those who may not be aware; apparently it is considered "inappropriate attire" to wear your shortest running shorts to a church wedding- even if both bride and groom are runners.) That is...at least around other runners. I do still, on occasion, wear my garmin while casually dressed, or times when I know I won't encounter any other running friends. But shhhhhhh...don't tell anyone.



   As always thanks for reading and if you enjoy the blog don't forget to like it on Facebook, and follow along on Twitter. (@CPNSrunning) Coming up this week is the Cold Water Rumble 52 mile ultra through the Arizona desert! Its my first ultra, feel wish me luck with the hastag #CPNSrumble on Twitter and Facebook. (Mailing address for burritos and beer to follow soon.)

Probably better if you wrap it all the way before shipping