and therefore [runners] have less obvious metrics for advancement.
I'm afraid I don't share your perspective, runners can easily get performance feedback without going overboard with fancy and shiny gadgets.
I'm a regular runner and I live in a coastal city and I frequently take my runs by the seaside. I start at a fixed point and set my finish point within the confines of a certain district/neighborhood and when I can complete the race as I had predicted, I consider this to be success and progress. Sometimes, I set instead a time limit to cover a certain distance and see if I could make it within that limit.
So, no runners can certainly measure their progress and performance improvements/shortcomings in very simple metrics if they so desire.
I'm afraid I don't share your perspective, runners can easily get performance feedback without going overboard with fancy and shiny gadgets.
I'm a regular runner and I live in a coastal city and I frequently take my runs by the seaside. I start at a fixed point and set my finish point within the confines of a certain district/neighborhood and when I can complete the race as I had predicted, I consider this to be success and progress. Sometimes, I set instead a time limit to cover a certain distance and see if I could make it within that limit.
So, no runners can certainly measure their progress and performance improvements/shortcomings in very simple metrics if they so desire.