My Garmin watch went to sleep this morning when I woke up. I forgot to charge it after a few days of use. It has a great battery but even those eventually run out of energy.

That left me with a naked wrist, as even the old Timex with which I used to time runs and rides is dead and blank.

I stuck my iPhone into a hip pouch and ran 7.25 miles on a familiar loop from North Aurora up to Batavia and back. Lacking the habitual pace readings from the Garmin, I was left to run on feel and see how it all turned out.

It was hot and humid. I ran up to the McDonald’s, got a drink and took a pee, then ran back down the east side of the river trail with all its hills and woodland windings.

It’s a healthy thing to run now and then without the clock guiding every step of your pace. I still tracked the run on Strava, to know how it all turned out. But’s it’s nice to not worry for once whether I was running 8:30 or 9:00 on a hot, dry morning in August. Just run.

I don’t know exactly how many miles I’ve covered in a lifetime of running, or cycling. Or swimming, for that matter. While I’ve kept journals over the years, even those mileage chronicles are typically guesstimates. I will say that I tested out a favorite running course from many years back and my call on mileage turned out to be quite accurate. That made me feel good.

Those miles. When we’re done each day, we check it out, give it a smile or a frown, and keep moving on. What comes next? Only time will tell.