There’s an app for that (or) Hiking is not a competition / www.yourValleyproperty.com

There’s an app for that (or) Hiking is not a competition | AZVHV

So I bought these hiking apps. One is quite useful, details about local trails (using GPS wherever you are… this is cool) a trail map, distance and difficulty, what to watch for, how to find it. The other app is just annoying. In theory I should like it. I thought I’d like it. I guess I like it but… here’s how it works. It logs your start and end time, the distance you’ve hiked and your pace. Every five minutes it will let you know these things, out loud (in a somewhat helpful female voice I’ve named Gretchen) or by looking at a graphic. So far so good, right? During the first mile I loved it. Every five minutes Gretchen would pleasantly let me know that my pace was 17.56 minutes per mile, not bad I thought. Then there was this incline, not too steep but rather long, with a very nice view from the top. Naturally I stopped at the top to take in the view, after all what do we hike for anyway? This was the point at which Gretchen started to get on my nerves. She warned me, in a rather self-satisfied tone I might add, that I had regressed, by a whopping 6.10 minutes per mile. Excuse me, but did you not see that view?? Alright, so I understand the backslide, I’m well aware that there was an incline… and that I took a short break. I should not be this irritated. Breath in, breath out. Although she might disagree, Gretchen can’t be expected to know everything, and after all who am I competing with? But then she kept badgering me in her snarky little way (every five minutes). I just couldn’t seem to regain that time. Do you know how hard it is to come back from a 6.10 minute per mile deficit? Thankfully I was able to recover a some of my momentum along the ridge where the gentle rise and fall of the trail isn’t too taxing. I actually picked up a minute per mile or so. She backed off a little. The last mile is flat. I boosted my speed another couple minutes per mile, and Gretchen, though secretly disappointed I know, was a bit more positive. She informed me (every five minutes) that I was doing better. I finished my hike with a very respectable average pace of 3.29 miles per hour. Here’s the upshot. I hacked 20 minutes off my best-ever time for this particular trail. Is that a win? (I sure showed Gretchen!) or do I put this app away… and put poor Gretchen out of her misery.

Bill