Finding Motivation in Data: Garmin Vivoactive 4s

    There is no doubt about it. Having a watch that can keep track of so much health information while I'm doing my running or biking and swimming is one of the best motivations I have gotten recently. I find motivation in so many places but I would say my biggest are in my friends, videos of others on YouTube, and now my data (and obviously a lot from just a desire to be more fit). 

    

    I have such elation when I finish a run whether it be a slow run or a fast run because I'll soon be able to see the fairly accurate map of where I was and what it looks like. For an example, on my last bike ride, it ended up looking like a heart with a thin string attached to it. A crappy heart but still. It's like looking at clouds and seeing a picture. From there, I get to look at the actual numbers, I see my distance, the time taken, my average pace per mile, my elevation gain, and my calorie consumption. It gives beautiful graphs for this as well

    

A recent 4 mile slow into hard run

    I love seeing how my pace changes and seeing my cadence and heart rate change as time goes on. In my picture above, you can see my pace going off pretty light and easy until I hit a specific hill that makes my heart rate jump a bit and my pace quickens a bit (I have a habit of pushing myself on hills. Some would say a good habit). You can see at the 2.5 mile marker, my pace gets quicker and my heart rate slowly raises until my the 3.5 mile ticker and I go at my fastest pace. Seeing this data reminds me of specific events during the run as well, what was on my mind. 

    

    The data almost is a reminder to your emotions and what you were thinking and what happened on that run. While it can't keep track of everything, just the fact that it has this much data allows you to remember it on your own. 

    I'm excited for the future. I have only had this watch for a short amount of time but in that time I have seen the excitement that data brings and the motivation it gives me. I look forward to months and months into the future and the completion of my first Triathlon where I will be able to look back and see all the data. See how many runs I completed in a month, see how many miles I did in a month, and be able to see on these amazing graphs just how much I have advanced. 

   

    As a quick side note, one of my new favorite features as well is the ability to download music onto the watch. I hated having my phone. Now I get the best of all the worlds.

    I currently have the Garmin Vivoactive 4s and I wish I could be so blessed to have a Fenix watch. That would just be amazing. I love looking at some of those watches and some of the features they have. Like some of the watches have solar charging? Just crazy. Crazy how much stuff can fit in these watches