I Started Running Without a Watch. It Broke Me Out of a Major Running Slump.
A telltale sign that someone runs can be the type of watch they wear—or the easy-to-spot tan line when they are sans watch—on their wrist. As long as brands like Garmin, Apple, Suunto, and Fitbit are making watches, runners are wearing them.
However, as helpful and informative as they can be, watches can also cause problems.
These tiny but powerful devices can foster unhealthy obsessions over pace, zones, heart rate, and plenty of other random statistics. When you become so controlled by the metrics, as I was recently in my running life, it can be difficult to feel like you’re progressing.
It’s then that I wondered if my watch may actually be the reason for my running slump.
How a Helpful Training Tool Started Hurting My Runs
I’ve been running since I was 11 years old, and as soon as I made the varsity cross-country team my freshman year of high school, I was told to get a watch. My 15-year-old self was elated. Finally, I could see how fast I actually was running and track my weekly mileage. My watch allowed me to see my workout reps, mileage on runs, heart rate, and so much more. Through the years I ran competitively, it worked well for me.
Now that I don’t compete for a team, I’ve had to pivot and find other ways to motivate myself as a runner.
I still want to be the best runner I can be, but instead of coaches pushing me, it has to come from internal motivation—and my watch. This mentality kickstarted a big reliance on such a small device.
I grew overly focused on metrics just to keep going. I would find myself glancing down every few minutes to see how far I had made it and how fast I was going. If the pace wasn’t “good enough” by some random mental standard, I would immediately feel frustrated. Runs ruined. I would often cut it short, and tell myself it just “wasn’t my day.” These kinds of thoughts left me feeling disinterested and unwilling to go out.
Over time, this became a destructive mindset, especially as a college student who runs purely for fitness and emotional regulation. The reliance on my watch slowly caused me to lose motivation, and inch closer to a running slump.
What Happened When I Ran Without My Watch
For the last couple weeks, I decided to experiment with doing my usual runs through the week, but opted to ditch the watch for one of them. Some of my weekly runs include a three-mile progression on the treadmill, a four-mile easy lunch run with my coworker, and a moderate run.
On that fateful day I was going rogue without any tech, I headed out for a moderate evening run; the only difference was that I had left my trusty Apple Watch on the kitchen table in my apartment. I will say that it took a few minutes to get over the initial shock of reaching down to start my watch only to find my wrist bare. The only thing remaining was a very, very pale tan line—a reminder of the hold this watch had on me for years (and that I become practically translucent in the winter).
However, as I got moving, I actually began to relax a little. The usual worries about how fast I was moving, or if I hit the mileage goal that I had made up in my head, slowly dissipated.
Instead, I found myself able to focus on the road ahead of me, and nothing else.
Why You Should Try a Watch-Free Run
For me, ditching the watch eliminated the fear of underperforming, and instead just let me run for the reason I started in the first place: to have fun. It allowed me to focus on what was going on around me for the entire run, not just at specific moments. Ultimately, I found the experience to be very freeing.
Not having to think about goal times and paces allows you to ease up and just focus on enjoying runs. Instead of numbers and times, I gauged my effort by how heavy I was breathing and how strong my legs felt. I took time to notice my surroundings, such as the buildings on either side of me and the trees along the pathways. It is a way of grounding yourself as a runner and simply going back to the basics: putting one foot in front of the other.
Science backs this up too: According to sports psychologists, giving emotional meaning to watch data is a factor that can cause issues on a run. “Data can be very helpful. Where it starts becoming an issue is with the meaning that we’re attaching to what the watch tells us,” Shannon Mulcahy, MS, a sports psychology consultant, previously told Runner’s World.
“It’s not really problematic if you look at your watch and you’re like, ‘I’m running slower than I wanted to,’ and that frustrates you. That’s normal,” she said. “It’s when you see that you’re running slower than you wanted, and it all of a sudden goes to, ‘I’m never gonna reach my goal. I’m a terrible runner. What’s the point?’ And we start catastrophizing.”
Data can serve as a great asset on runs, but it’s important to detach ability or worth as a runner from it. If there is too much of an emotional link to the data on the watch, it becomes easier to lose motivation and enter a slump after one or two less-than-ideal performances.
So, if you ever find yourself stuck in a rut—or feel one coming on—my recommendation would be to take that watch off and just go out and start running. Try it for at least one run a week and see how it goes. Don’t track a certain number of miles, or time, or pace targets. Simply focus on one step after another.
It might just reignite your love for the sport again.
Casey Healey has been running for 11 years and brings that firsthand experience to the Runner’s World team as a summer 2026 editorial intern. Hailing from Scranton, PA, Casey is now a rising senior at Villanova University, where she plans to graduate with a degree in Communications. She also serves as Co-Sports Editor of her school newspaper, The Villanovan. Outside of running, she enjoys skiing, iced coffee, and walking her mini schnauzer, Winnie.