Too Technology Reliant?

I shifted my long run from the normal Sunday to today, Friday, due to a weekend trip with Mrs. Tall Guy Running. A little weird shifting the normal day before long run routine to Thursday but since I don't have anything else going on right now, it wasn't that big of a deal. The alarm went off at the usual 3:30 am and I did more normal stuff to get ready. Drove to the lake to meet a friend for the 18 miles and when I strapped on and turned on my Garmin 305 Forerunner it said battery low. ARGH! I have been using the Garmin GPS for almost 3 years now and I rely on it for pace, distance and the auto lap function every mile. It is as essential to my running as my shoes and shorts, and I not going out with those! I switched back to the good old Timex Ironman before we started and was worried how the run would go. Would I run too fast? Would I run too slow? Would I unknowingly shave distance off the route? It was all I could think about for the first mile of the run. The friend I was running with did have hers so I wasn't totally blind, but it was not there at my beck and call for all the info I wanted when I wanted it. Then as the miles ticked by I began to forget about it and as I look back I did almost feel a slight sense of freedom. I was not a slave to that darn thing said and it almost felt good. Now, I did not enjoy it so much that I am going to abandon my electronic running companion, but it was a nice change of pace I must admit. Now will I ever shed the ipod on those lonely 5 mile easy runs at 4:00 am on the dark and hilly roads near my house? Don't count on it. When else would I catch up on the Dan Patrick Show?