When I made the high school track and field team as a freshman, I remember coach gave us a homework assignment before showing up for the first official practice. It was a simple yet non-negotiable task.

Go get a watch.

So my mom took me on a quick trip to Walmart, where I picked out a cheap, indigo-colored Timex wrist watch that would become my best friend through training. I wore it on easy runs to keep track of minutes completed, during workouts to log my splits, and even during post-run team core sessions as a helpful timer. (Fun fact: I dug up this watch in my closet the other day. Still in great condition over a decade later—just needs a battery refresh.)

I didn’t make the upgrade to my first Garmin GPS watch until much later in high school, when I felt much more comfortable with my training and wanted a more detailed look at my run mileage and pacing .…