I got a new watch a little while ago. It’s the Garmin Swim 2, and it wasn’t supposed to be a watch. It was supposed to just be something I wore to count and time my laps and review my workout, just like my old Garmin Swim. I upgraded to the Swim 2 because it does a couple of most excellent things in the pool that the original Swim didn’t — give me a pace interval option and let me program workouts into it in advance — and because it has reliable GPS so I can see just how fast and straight I am or am not swimming in open water (time will tell if this is a good thing). Which still wouldn’t have me wearing it as a watch.
But it also does about 5 times as much as my last Garmin that wasn’t strictly a swim tracker, in a case about a fifth of the size. I can’t believe all the features they stuffed into it. Features I figured I’d ignore. Only some of which I ignore, and I’m embarrassed to say I wear the thing, which looks very much like a piece of functional if cheesy fitness equipment, more than I wear my watch, which looks like a nice watch.
One of the things it does is track my sleep. I don’t know how it tracks my sleep, but it does, and I wear it for the same reason I hate it: Because it is creepily accurate, and it says very depressing things about my prospects for a healthy and productive lifestyle if there’s any truth (which of course there is) to what science says about the sleep humans need. Truth be told, you can tell you’re not getting enough sleep just by paying attention, just as athletes a generation ago, training by feel, were able to outperform the most geared-up techathlete of today. But a problem documented is a problem that much closer to solvable, and I’m working on it. I am not yet there, not even close. But now there’s quantifiable evidence of just how far I have to go.
PostsFrazz14 hrs ·
I got a new watch a little while ago. It’s the Garmin Swim 2, and it wasn’t supposed to be a watch. It was supposed to just be something I wore to count and time my laps and review my workout, just like my old Garmin Swim. I upgraded to the Swim 2 because it does a couple of most excellent things in the pool that the original Swim didn’t — give me a pace interval option and let me program workouts into it in advance — and because it has reliable GPS so I can see just how fast and straight I am or am not swimming in open water (time will tell if this is a good thing). Which still wouldn’t have me wearing it as a watch.
But it also does about 5 times as much as my last Garmin that wasn’t strictly a swim tracker, in a case about a fifth of the size. I can’t believe all the features they stuffed into it. Features I figured I’d ignore. Only some of which I ignore, and I’m embarrassed to say I wear the thing, which looks very much like a piece of functional if cheesy fitness equipment, more than I wear my watch, which looks like a nice watch.
One of the things it does is track my sleep. I don’t know how it tracks my sleep, but it does, and I wear it for the same reason I hate it: Because it is creepily accurate, and it says very depressing things about my prospects for a healthy and productive lifestyle if there’s any truth (which of course there is) to what science says about the sleep humans need. Truth be told, you can tell you’re not getting enough sleep just by paying attention, just as athletes a generation ago, training by feel, were able to outperform the most geared-up techathlete of today. But a problem documented is a problem that much closer to solvable, and I’m working on it. I am not yet there, not even close. But now there’s quantifiable evidence of just how far I have to go.
Wow, that was exhausting.