Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Goin' to WallyWorld

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. True for people, and I like to think it’s true for my trusty Garmin as well. I got some funny comments when I posted one of my Garmin maps from a recent fishing trip, and it got me thinking. I just assumed that most folks with a 305 strap that monster on their wrist and record random outings or paths completely unrelated to their training. I honestly assume that’s not the case, but if I can convince myself of this then I feel like less of a tool, and my wife is less justified in rolling her eyes at me when I bring it to random locations.

I like to think that my Garmin needs an occasional break from splits and paces, and needs a chance to take the pixels out for some R&R. For example:

This was from a swimming/tubing outing a couple weeks back, when we loaded up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and headed to Nags Head for the July 4th weekend.


My wife got me the Garmin last fall just before my father, brother-in-law, and I headed out for a (most likely, but hopefully not) once-in-a-lifetime fishing trip on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Here’s the flight from Anchorage to Kodiak:

Here’s the Garmin out trying to catch some king salmon off the Alaska coast. Sadly no kings were caught that day.

Here’s a couple days later going offshore after halibut:

The Garmin had much more success on the halibut outing:

Just to make sure the Garmin isn’t only focused on training and vacations, it also assisted with the lawn mowing (actually did this when my foot was hurting to see how far I was walking when mowing since I wasn’t supposed to be doing much walking at all – net result was 1.25 miles):

I think all these experiences have helped my Garmin and I build a better relationship, and hopefully encourages it to round down (time) or round up (mileage) at opportune times.  Gotta be nice to your training partner.

19 comments:

  1. ...I've always wondered about mileage when I mowed the lawn...

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  2. Awesome.

    For a minute I thought you had taken up hard core swimming.

    YAY garmin!!

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  3. More random Garmin routes! I will definitely do this when I get a Garmin.

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  4. Try the rivers for Salmon on the next once in a lifetime Alaska fishing trip. You will not be disappointed!

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  5. The lawn mowing one is awesome. It looks like a child scribbled and you are trying to pass that for your 'workout'.

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  6. omg...this is tooo funny. love it! just what i needed to read to keep all this training in perspective.

    love it!

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  7. omg this is awesome/hilarious/slightly insane. congrats to you. I kind of want to wear mine everywhere and post a map a la family circus style. :)

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  8. Thanks so much! It's beautiful here and I'm really enjoying my time!

    This post is hilarious! I especially love the lawn mowing one! lol!!!

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  9. Awesome fish!! I love the idea of taking Garmin out for some fun! I think I might try it...

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  10. Haha, I like this! Fantastic outings you do. You are so right about all work and no play.

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  11. LOL!! My husband and I would be doing the exact same thing if we had Garmins. I love the lawn mowing one, fave!!

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  12. Ya know, I think my Garmin needs to have some fun, too. So, I think I will take DS with me to the beach on Sunday, just to see what DS thinks.

    Run on.

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  13. how do you get your maps to link to your blog?

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  14. Will you take your 305 on a Mt Everest Summit expedition and post that map? That would be epic.

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  15. Oh I like Chris K's suggestion...Garmin and Mount Everest...getting a signal should be no problem :)

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  16. Wow.. It really enjoys mowing the lawn hu? This was an interesting post! Thanks! I love my new garmin (not that I had an old one.. but I love it!) I should wear it in S.F. after the run, or maybe the day b4 at the expo.. I love that its pretty small and looks like a watch :)

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