SF & NYC
I will be traveling up to San Francisco Running Company this week for a Friday happy hour conversation with owner If you’re in Mill Valley, please stop by for that.
At the end of October, I’ll be in New York City. I’ll be staying at the rabbit Clubhouse in Tribeca. My event there will be announced very soon, I have no doubt.
But you may have seen the first of my other events pop up on Instagram last week. In conjunction with Masala Milers, I’m hosting an event about South Asians at the NYC Marathon.
We’re going to be talking about the barriers we typically face, the things we can celebrate, and what we’re doing within the community and beyond. If you’re in NYC on Friday 10/30 at 6.30pm, stop by for a beer, a samosa (c/o SFRC), and some good conversation.
Are runners more susceptible to Feel Bad Tech?
It’s becoming increasingly common to see people talking about ‘bricking’ their phones (maybe with a device that you can buy for 10% off with their code…) so they can complete tasks without looking at their devices.
But more recently, I’ve noticed more and more people in the running world ditching their running watches. It seemed less and less like a silly over-reaction with every smartwatch put out to pasture, but it’s still… just a watch.
I had about 8 miles planned this morning. When I was 2 miles into my run, I felt like I was absolutely flying along the grimy sidewalks of Glassell Park, so I thought I’d glance at my watch and see what pace I was running at. My watch stared back at me with characteristic nothingness (it’s a watch), and asked, “START NOW?” Now?? Curses.
You might have noticed from that last passage that even though I do enjoy fastidiously collecting my top level run data, I actually like to run by feel. I only thought to check my watch when I felt like I was running fast. I was simply using the on-wrist metrics to check how the real-time data measured up to that. That’s all.
I immediately caught the absurdity of how annoyed that lack of measurement made me feel. I was up early, running fully pain-free (hooray) to meet my local run club. I knew that there would be some friends there.
The irritation was actually related to the ‘pain-free’ bit. Because I’m back (so back), and I’m happily building up my mileage again, I’m trying to track my weekly increase so that I don’t injure myself again. I like to give myself as few things to think about and monitor as possible.
I think I have a pretty sensible relationship with data and tech, but I feel like I’m increasingly in the minority. Every time I notice the jarring moves by people (often influencer) from indulging in all of the data and tech to absolutely no data and tech, I flinch a little.
That’s a reaction to addiction.
The stats say that the average person looks at their phone every 7 minutes. In the United States about 57% of adults feel like they’re addicted to their smartphones. It’s higher for younger people. It’s higher for those with lower incomes.
I’m definitely on my phone all the time, but I give myself a caveat: I’m usually reading. As a journalist in the 21st century, I’ve always actively tried to be terminally online. It’s the only way I can realistically knit together the things that I see into something resembling a scoop. The balance is that I like to spend time running and writing. Real things. Human things. Offline things.
To me, my watch is a tool. I like the confirmation and record of what I’ve done. I like to be able to visualize that data. I also don’t race any more. The pressure of race day sucked the joy out something that I love. Maybe recognizing this has allowed me to retain my technology without becoming over-dependent on it. Or maybe I’m just a ‘high-functioning’ phone addict.
I also like to think that my education, getting an MA in Geography by thinking deeply about how people interact with specific parts of the world (in this case a virtual world) has put me in good stead to think about how I specifically interact with my incredibly virtual world.
We’re all in the first 25 years of understanding how we humans live with technology. We’re the first people in history to have to think about this, as the tech has encroached on every single part of our lives in that time. Even the parts that used to be resolutely analogue.
In that context, it’s reasonable that so many people are struggling with how to incorporate tech healthily into their daily lives. It makes sense that so many people are self-reporting that they’re addicted to their phones.
The relationship between humans and technology is a curious one in and of itself. First, we shape these digital tools, and then the tools shape us.
But are runners more susceptible to being shaped?
A study in February 2026 of 601 runners found that distance runners were over 3 times more likely to be neurodiverse at 9.7% versus 3.1%.
Those with ADHD are 3 times more likely to struggle with substance abuse.
It’s estimated that 25% of those in treatment for alcohol or substance abuse have undiagnosed ADHD.
Those with autism spectrum disorder are nearly 9 times more likely to experiment with recreational drugs to manage mental health issues.
When constantly confronted with software that has been designed to capture attention, maximize screen time, and trigger compulsive use patterns, it’s no surprise that runners are more at risk at being unreasonably annoyed by not recording the first two miles of a run.
Interestingly, half-marathon runners had the highest incidence of neurodiversity at 14.8% with marathoners at 8% and ultramarathoners at 8.7%.
My theory there is that it’s possible to race a half far more frequently. You need to rest seriously for less time. This means that you can not only achieve the dopamine delivery and self-regulation of running long distances more frequently, but you can integrate that routine and hyperfocus into the routine of your daily life.
Those 8 miles (6 miles?) I ran this morning were lovely, anyway. I’ll do it again, but next time I’m going to make sure that I press the start button before I set off.
Pros and cons of tech
PRO - Anyone can track their metrics really accurately. If you’ve acquired coaching knowledge from the internet, you can use that data to coach yourself to your next race. It’s a democratization of knowledge.
CON - An over-reliance on the data, however, means you might lose some intuition. Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is maybe the most important thing to learn as a runner, and if you’re talking about running at a slower pace rather than at an easier effort, you’re much more likely to not have the right run for you that day.
CON - Focusing on the numbers is not a route to happiness. Tying your mental well-being to achieving a specific time is a surefire route to either disappointment or an eternally looped quest for the next fastest time. Until your body is no longer capable of the next thing. At which point, we return to the idea of crushing disappointment. You see?
PRO - It makes training plans visual, thus easier to follow. If you’re increasing your distance by 5% a week, for instance, the graphs make it easy to confirm a nice gradual, linear progression. Or not!
PRO - Tech has helped make running social. In a time when third places have been systematically decimated, run clubs are a beautiful and essential tool in combating loneliness and they’ve used Instagram and Strava to publicize and build their communities.
CON - It can be expensive. I had a conversation with a friend the other day who bought an $800 watch. That’s far, far out of my budget.
CON - And what of those runners who pause their watches at traffic lights, consciously trying to perfect their metric output? It’s an unfortunately vicious cycle when those runners forget to restart their watches, and then get annoyed at missing the next two miles of their run. I just use the auto-pause function. It’s fine.
If you self-diagnose as being addicted to your phone, just remember that you look like an absolute loser when you’re on your phone. Hunched over a tiny device with your face lit up? Not cool. Googling something while at a table with your friends? Everyone’s waiting for you to rejoin the conversation. On your phone while walking?? In the absence of legislation against that, it’s behavior worthy of being tripped up or walked into.
Leave some other pros and cons in a comment. It’s an interesting thing to think about.
Anyway. Here are some other articles I’ve written about neurodiversity within our glorious world of runners.
Two audiovisual extravaganzas:
I went Substack LIVE with Mario last week for the second installment of our Running & Writing with Mario & Raz, and we discussed how not only is it possible for there to be a new Steve Prefontaine book, but there was stuff in there that Mario didn’t know. We also talked about Zoe Rom’s brilliant series of satire. Go listen/watch!
I also appeared on the Pioneers of Possibility podcast with Kareem Afzal. We recorded it on the banks of the Los Angeles River. It was a great chat. Go watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify.
Thanks for reading (or listening, or watching)
Raz xx
ME - Instagram | Strava | email: raz@runningsucks101.com