Do we lose the value of doing the thing, when we measure it against one bit of criteria?

This is my happy face before the run went sour...

I’m running 2020kms this year and tracking my kms using the Nike Run Club app (which I usually love).

I paused on this run to take a selfie, record a message, play a podcast (multi-tasking like a boss). While doing this, the Nike app crashed. I was 4.5kms into my run. Attempts to reboot the app meant that my run had NOT been recorded 😭.

❓If you do a run, but the run wasn’t recorded, did the run even happen?

Running is usually a joy for me. I get a lot of my best ideas out there.

However, because of this challenge and my obsession with tracking every km, my relationship with running has changed.

I’m out there because I want to hit my target. Honestly, it now feels like a chore.

Time for a strategy change! I’ve received loads of advice on what to do, but I’ll take my former manager, Darrell Cox's advice (because he’s always right). Instead of running daily, I'm going to run for longer on 4 days/week.

We've all heard the phrase, “What gets measured, gets done”.

While this is true, does it come at the detriment of the process?

Do we lose the value of doing the thing, when we measure it against one bit of criteria?