{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Clean Break Chats","title":"EP68: Take a Clean Break From Your Data | The Watch Obsession, the Lakeland 50 & Why the 37,500th Finisher Might Be the Most Impressive","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":4113,"description":"Rich has been running without a watch, without Strava, without data of any kind, since June. Andy checks his Garmin sleep score before he's even properly awake. And somewhere in the middle of this week's conversation, Rich lands the line that stops everything: you need to take a clean break from your data. Same as we'd say to someone who isn't sure if their relationship with alcohol is healthy - try going without it, and see how that feels.\nIt's a longer conversation than that, though. Rich and Andy get into what data actually does for you - the compass it provides, the ceiling it creates, the anxiety it generates when it contradicts how you actually feel. Andy's Garmin has been telling him his sleep quality is poor for years. He ignored it, felt fine, called it wrong. Then his numbers improved, and suddenly the watch is trustworthy again. Rich clocks exactly what's happening there.\nThen there's Johnny. Andy's son ran his longest run ever this week - 28K - smashed it, pushed his dad in the final few kilometres, and came off it saying he doesn't want his watch in the marathon. The countdown was causing him anxiety. The data was getting in his head. He wants to run to feel, stay with his dad, and cross the line together. There's something in that.\nRich has also just entered the Lakeland 50 - 50 miles through the Lake District, 3,000 metres of elevation, July 2027. It came through the ballot with a 48-hour acceptance window. He's in. Andy is confirmed for Kyrgyzstan the same month to complete his BTU Global Race Series with the Mountain Ultra. Both of them heading into the mountains next summer.\nAnd then there's the line from Coach Bennett's Runner's World podcast that Rich references - how do we know the most impressive performance on marathon day wasn't from the person who finished 37,500th? The 45-year-old single mum, two jobs, three kids, can only run three times a week. Her world isn't conditioned for success. The elite's is. So who's actually the most...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UY2VSmCjrDzqrbZW0YpYdcHYIqZ2qFMXWiQux7ypUiE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82NTZj/ZmY3ZDNkNzc2NzUz/Mjk4NTRjYjhjN2Rh/N2E5Yy5qcGVn.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}