Question for runners: Are some people just not capable of running?

[baskingshark]

Thanks to everyone for all your advice and suggestions - very much appreciated.

I'm glad to hear that there are others like me. I think I like the IDEA of running and that's what motivates me to keep going even though it's hard, but I think that I'm still hoping that some day, something will just "click" and I'll be able to run 3 or 4 miles at 10 or 11mm pace while being able to hold a conversation.

[KSH]

Ksh just describes how my body reacts to running. It is always painful...during and afterwards.

A cardiac surgeon once said that some people are built for running and others are not. He said it isn't just mechanics, but heart and lung function come into play as well. Of course, how your body is put together is important too.

Well, at least I'm not alone.

I had a test at my Dr.'s office to test my lung capacity. He was very shocked that I was very slightly above average. He figured I would be way above average because I'm a runner. I kept emphasizing to him was a horrible runner I am... and I guess I know why.

[Zen]

Why some women run faster as they grow older from SportsGeezer
and
more from NY Times writer Gina Kolada

[Starfish]

KSH, thanks for the reply. You have a lot of perseverance!

I used to love running. When I start back up later this year, I will be interested to see if 20 years has changed that.

[VeloVT]

I think everybody has an "achilles heel" sport. I'm a fairly natural runner; I'm not out there setting any speed records but I improve quickly with training and don't feel like I've yet trained so hard that I've reached the point of diminishing returns. BUT....

I REALLY, REALLY want to tri triathlon. I took swimming lessons when I was a kid, I'm comfortable in the water, but haven't swum laps in years. This spring, I started trying to swim laps, hoping to do a sprint tri at the end of April. Well, it turns out that 50 yards in the pool leaves me gasping for breath and sends my hr through the roof. It took me about two months to be able to complete just 100 yards freestyle, and even then it wasn't certain. I'd say I was going to swim 5 hundreds, and out of that I'd probably be able to complete 3 without stopping (that's not because I swam three in a row and then got tired and couldn't do the last two -- it's that my ability to pace myself and maintain that pace and maintain steady breathing was just really shaky and uncertain each time). Most of the summer, I've wanted to start swimming again and simutaneously dreaded it. I have a hard time wrapping my head around how difficult it is for me to improve. With lots of things (running, biking, weight lifting), I start training and get better really fast and it's actually fun to see myself improve -- it's like, every week I can see I've gotten faster, stronger, whatever. With swimming, it's a constant struggle. I expect that I'll get better quickly, and I do gradually improve a little, but it's... well, a struggle. And the improvements are much smaller and take much longer than for other things. Drills help. But it's still a struggle. I AM going to start swimming again this fall (now that I"m back on campus and the pool is free!). But I know it will be frustrating.

[JTri's]

Here's an idea for "everything hurting" after a run that I recently started and really works for me: an ice bath.

I fill the tub with cool water so that it will cover me to past my hips, then throw in all the ice we have and stir. Ease myself in and sit for 5 min. The first 30 seconds is the worst. It sounds horrible, I know, but wow, what a difference 5 minutes can make.

I used to just ice my knees, but dunking my entire lower body into ice water really takes care of tiny little aches and pains. My feet, my ankles, my everything feels better even later in the day, which took me by surprise.

[Starfish]

Here's an idea for "everything hurting" after a run that I recently started and really works for me: an ice bath.

I couldn't agree more! I've never used it for running before, but it works great for post-long-rides. I even put on a couple sweatshirts and get the bathroom as hot as possible so I can stay in longer. REALLY helps.

[VeloVT]

Wow! You guys are brave ! I've never had the courage to actually try this.

[HappyAnika]

I'm really bad at running. I've hated it for most of my life. In jr. high and high school PE when they'd make us run, I'd try my best to get out of it (asthma was a great excuse usually). When I couldn't get out of it, I just despised it. Everything hurt, particularly my lungs, and it made me feel generally ill. This was because I was so incredibly out of shape, and looking back, I don't see why my PE teachers thought they had any business pushing someone so out of shape clearly past their physical limits . . . and then to be graded on it! The horror!

Fast forward many years, and all of a sudden all of my friends are running . . . after the knee surgeries, I had to keep exercising beyond PT otherwise the knee hurt, so I took up things like hiking and aerobics. I tried running, it hurt, so I gave up. But peer pressure and the desire to get into better shape kept making me try, but then it hurt and I sucked, so I quit. Then after I took up cycling (the best thing ever), I got the tri bug. So I pushed my way through a 5k, figuring if it didn't kill me I'd do a sprint tri. Well I'm obviously still here, so when it came time to train for the tri, I took it really easy, got myself a heart rate monitor, and eased myself into running. By increasing distance very slowly and keeping the heart rate down I found I actually enjoyed running. I still suck, I can only dream of an 11 minute mile, but I like going out to the parks and running, it's very peaceful and relaxing. There's something liberating about just tying up your shoes and going. No gear, no equipment, just you and the road (or path).

Ok, so my whole point is, if you don't like it, don't do it. My example is skiing. I've tried and tried, but I just don't like it. Again, peer pressure. Everyone I know skis or rides, and it's a major damper on the winter social life if you don't. I've come to terms with the fact that I am terrified of being on a steep (or not so steep for that matter) mountainside covered in snow with long slippery skis attached to my feet. So when the friends are organzing a mountain weekend, I come along and bring my snowshoes instead. (And when they ask why I'm scared of skiing, I ask them why they are scared of going more than 30 mph down a hill on their bike, and that shuts them up fast ).

So to sum up my long rambling post here, I agree with those here who've said that running is defnitely harder for some than others. And life is short: if you don't enjoy something, spend your precious time doing something else you do enjoy.

[Kimmyt]

Wow! You guys are brave ! I've never had the courage to actually try this.

I've never done the ice bath (never did a run long enough to really cause me to ache), but after my last century did take a prolonged dip in very cold ocean water, and noticed that my legs felt WAY better!

As for running, I am one of the unfortunate unnatural runners. In fact, a year ago, the thought of running anywhere would have made me giggle uncontrollably. Hah. Me. Run.

However, as others have noted about themselves, I am incredibly stubborn, and if I decide i'm going to do it, goddangit I'm gonna do it.

So I started running for this tri thing, well really I started running for a lark and then shortly thereafter signed up for a tri. It sucked. It was horrible, and I was horrible. But I did it. It was something to do in the winter when I wasn't skiing or climbing. It was something to pass the time and fuel my increasingly physical lifestyle. There's something about running in the winter that is just incredibly nice, too.

And that's when it hit me. All of a sudden, it was nice. Yeah, it still sucked. And it still hurt like hell, and I was only running 3 miles at a slow pace and old men with 1/4-keg beer-bellies were passing me on the trail, but when I was finished (note, when I was finished) I was smiling. And then I ran a 5K and my goal was just to finish, and okay maybe it was to finish under 30 m intues, and then I blew away my own expectations (although I wasn't anywhere NEAR competitive). I have friends who don't run, have 'bad knees' and can run off the couch an 8-minute mile. I don't think I ever will reach that speed, and I'm okay with it, because I still enjoy my 10-minute miles.

I think there's always hope, you know? Sometimes you really have to push through some crap to get anywhere near where you're aiming, and sometimes you just have to resign yourself to never being as good as you'd hope, but if you focus on YOUR OWN goals, whether they be to run a 12-minute mile, or even just run an entire mile without stopping, running can be fun. Because theres no rule that says you have to be the best out there at something in order to enjoy it.

So keep running, if you like the challenge, even if it hurts. If you don't like it, then stop. No one will blame you either way. Rock on!

[colby]

I think with most sports there's some "natural affinity" built in. Some people have those perfect muscle/bone structures. Some people have great cardiovascular systems. Some people are built like little teapots: short and stout.

It might not be a question of whether you can run, because you can probably teach your body to do it over a long period of time. The question is whether you can tolerate it while you're learning.

I work with a guy who is going to run a marathon in October based solely on two and sometimes three 12-mile runs a week, nothing longer. He runs 7-8 minute miles, and some days I hate him. However, if we were to bike the same distance, I can ride 20mph and he's riding 13mph. Go teapots! Those thunder thighs are good for somethin'.

I find running victories satisfying, because I know they are harder for me than they are for other people. I can't help but feel slow, but the more I work at it, the better my body gets at "remembering" how to run.

[Crankin]

I stopped trying to be a runner a couple of years ago. I never found that "good place" and constantly wanted it to be over. Never saw much improvement, either. MY HR was always higher than cycling, but I believe that is normal.
Just too many parts hurting to continue.

[tygab]

but the strange thing is... I ran track in high school and at the time, enjoyed it. Fast forward some 20 years, most of which were sporadic in activity and two ACL surgeries during, and any former enjoyment of running seemed tossed out the window. To add insult, all three of my siblings have completed marathons, with two of them becoming serial 'thon people. I have a good distance running build but the thought of running more than 3 miles was mindboggling, and yes, I was envious of my sibs' tales. I'd start 5k programs, then fizzle out, do the race anyway (miserable), and not run again for months. There was no success to be had in this recipe.

I found cycling last year, and while it was very hard at first (I was out of shape, didn't know anything about it etc), I could at least see progress and no one else in my family cycled so it was a unique adventure I could be on, I guess at some level without having to "measure up" to the running progress. One day I realized I was getting a lot more fit, enjoying long rides, and feeling good. Not too long after started having thoughts of triathlon... I get bored easily especially in a gym setting, so I thought it'd be great to have the variety of a tri training approach for the winter. And triathletes (the more established ones anyway) have pretty good all around physiques too!

I started running last year and I still haven't been as consistent as I should be with it, still faced with naggling running issues that I am working through, still drop running fitness faster than biking or swimming (no bike for a week or two? pretty easy to recover - no run for two weeks, may as well be like starting over), and do not feel like a "runner." But, there are the subtlest of signs that I am improving. Like I do not have the burning itchy legs after 10-15 minutes of running (a frequent earlier plague). Like actually being able to talk (albeit in short phrases) as I jog on occasion with others. Like still having a little in the tank at the end for a last push to the car/start/finish. And even my pace has come down a little, and I thought it never would from my prior stops and starts. It has taken me a year to get these small gains. I am sure the cross training combo of biking, swimming, and running is a great help vs running alone for me, and if I were only running I think I'd still be where I was in my prior days.

But, the fact that I've seen a few gains does give me some hope. I think my running learning curve may just be very long.

I hold no illusions that I'll ever feel like a runner, a pace under 10 minutes sounds like miracle territory (as in, I'd need a), but I figure I can slog through enough to expand my distance to a 10k for the oly or 1/2 marathon for the HIM if necessary. I don't see myself becoming a marathoner but in a few years, maybe running will feel comfortable enough to consider it. It sure isn't now, but I want the longer bike distances for the tris...

[northstar]

I h-a-t-e-d running in high school. Utter torture!

Then the bike came along, and then the idea of duathlon, and then I had to give running a try. I could barely make it a block down the street. I was totally demoralized! Fast forward six, seven months. I just finished my first 5K event and am now running 3-4 miles at a time, three or four times a week, relatively comfortably (not dying!) and things are going pretty well.

I think it's all about taking it slow at first! And realizing, heck yeah, it feels like crap when you're just starting out! If you can make it through the first few months and you're like I am, there will be a day when you go out for your run, and wow...it actually doesn't feel too bad, and hey, you feel like you could go farther. That's a good day!

So, anyway...I thought I wasn't capable of running. I was wrong! Yahoo!

It's really something a person needs to give a lot of time, if they're just starting out. Unfortunately, it frankly sucked for me the first few months! I'm glad I hung in there, though!

[mimitabby]

Exercise doesn't have to be high impact to build bone density, it has to be weight bearing. Walking, squats,lying leg raises with ankle weights or a resistance band will do. And it won't beat up your joints.

Zen,
walking doesn't do too much for your bones. You've got to have more impact.
Weight bearing stuff does help, but rather than walking do stairs or something if you can't run. I have investigated this thing thoroughly. If i could run i would.
It just hurts too darn much to run. I wish i'd started younger!