Spring Running Thread

[OakLeaf]

Emily, you know what, you're doing plenty. Any time someone tells me they "should" take up running, I tell them, if that's how you feel about it, no you shouldn't! It's not like there aren't dozens of other ways to get some cardio and enjoy the outdoors. Life's too short to do things for "recreation" if you don't enjoy them. When you WANT to run, you will - and if you never want to again, that's totally okay!

Me - lots of PT exercises, still not a lot of running, but the changes that are happening are really revealing. Now that I'm getting some mobility back in my SI joint, I'm finding weaknesses in my feet, lower legs and hamstrings that I knew were there, but that weren't responding to any of the work I was doing before. Strength follows alignment follows mobility.

If they invent a time machine, first thing I'm doing is going back to when I was six years old and bringing myself a pair of shoes wide enough for my feet, and staying far, far away from that quack who put me in orthopedic shoes so I could walk with my feet crammed into shoes that were too narrow. Meantime, I'm feeling really good about the progress I'm making.

[Crankin]

I so agree, Oak. No matter how much I want to be a runner, it's not good for me, and I do plenty of other cardio. Glad the PT is working.
I saw a FB post from my instructor at my former gym. She is a lovely young woman, but when she stated her first postpartum 5K time of 29 minutes as being slow, but getting it done, I laughed. She really is not a bragging type, but it's all perspective.

[rocknrollgirl]

The important thing is to keep moving, be it hiking, cycling, walking, running, whatever. It does not really matter. When I had my foot surgery last year, I was pestering my doc about getting on the trainer while I was healing. He said sure...why not, your heart and lungs won't know you aren't running! Just keep moving....doing something you love, your heart and lungs will thank you!

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks so much for the support, Oak, Crankin, and RnR. Of course you're right. I am still super active; I just have to stop beating myself up because I haven't been in the proper place (or mindset) to run lately. Part of it is that I enjoy doing things with DH, and he doesn't run (has too many knee problems when he tries), so we hike and walk and bike, and that doesn't leave a lot of time/energy/days left to run!

Oh, and Crankin, that woman's statement is what's known as a "humblebrag". Annoying, isn't it? Most of us would be very pleased with a 29-minute 5K, and she knows it. :-P

[rocknrollgirl]

Thanks so much for the support, Oak, Crankin, and RnR. Of course you're right. I am still super active; I just have to stop beating myself up because I haven't been in the proper place (or mindset) to run lately. Part of it is that I enjoy doing things with DH, and he doesn't run (has too many knee problems when he tries), so we hike and walk and bike, and that doesn't leave a lot of time/energy/days left to run!

Oh, and Crankin, that woman's statement is what's known as a "humblebrag". Annoying, isn't it? Most of us would be very pleased with a 29-minute 5K, and she knows it. :-P

I hate when people do that. I actually split from a group of women that I used to train with for that very reason. Well that and they were super catty.

I remember one day in particular we were training for a long triathlon and out for a long run. The pace was supposed to be zone 2. I was wearing a garmin, so I held us at zone 2. We were actually right on pace for over 2 hours. When we finished I was super stoked that we did exactly what we were supposed to, and one of the women went off on this rant about how much she sucked and how pathetic the pace was and how slow the run was. WHAT? Who needs to hear that?

And it went on ALL the time in a slightly under the radar passive aggressive kinda way. Did wonders for my morale and self esteem. Needless to say, I do not train with them any more. Or even talk to them for that matter.

My hubs and I never talk pace outside of making sure we get our time in on our feet for our long trail runs. He does not even run with a watch anymore he was so turned off by that group and the data hounds in general. Outside of this forum, I do not talk much about any of the running or sports that I do with other people.

[Crankin]

I know this, Emily and RnR, and it seems out of character for this person. She is a super fast competitive runner, just coming back from having a baby. And, she is my older son's age! I became friends with her on FB, to findout that she is one of those "Beachbody" coaches, too. Yuck. It's a giant pyramid scheme.
I find cyclists do the humblebrag all of the time. It is hard for me to take. I don't compete, except maybe with myself, but it is hard to see others, older than me, who are just so much faster. I keep telling myself I am OK, and I am in it for the long haul. I stopped wearing my HR monitor years ago, don't care about power. I use cadence and speed to judge my rides. While I do look at my speeds, I try not to obsess.

[OakLeaf]

Welp, I don't know if you can really classify all those things together.

Complaining about the pace of a group run? Especially when the pace was what was agreed on at the start? That's just rude.

Venting disappointment over a bad race for one's own ability, even if someone else might be stoked to log that bare clock time? Who else can we express our disappointment to, if not other athletes?

I don't feel like there's much difference between myself celebrating a great race for me and someone else wanting commiseration for a sucky race for them, even if we logged the exact same time, even if their sucky race was 20 minutes faster than my great race. Because the bottom line for any recreational athlete is, "I competed against MYSELF, and came up ..." either wanting, or triumphant.

[Aromig]

I find cyclists do the humblebrag all of the time. It is hard for me to take. I don't compete, except maybe with myself, but it is hard to see others, older than me, who are just so much faster. I keep telling myself I am OK, and I am in it for the long haul. I stopped wearing my HR monitor years ago, don't care about power. I use cadence and speed to judge my rides. While I do look at my speeds, I try not to obsess.

This is my story. We have a Wednesday night group in our town, and there are usually two options for the ride -- 10 miles or 30 miles and all bike types are welcome. The first 5 miles of the short route is always with the first 5 miles of the long route. I'm not fast enough to keep up with the racers who do the 30 miles (and they honestly scare me how they pass and zip around - we've had at least one wreck so far this season with broken bones) so I hang out at the back with the comfort bikes and cruisers. But then I'm riding the last 25 miles usually by myself, or a few people who are slower than I am. I feel like I can't leave them, but its not a pace I like either. So I chalk the Wednesday rides up to making friends. I have friends that I ride with at work that are naturally more athletic than I am, and I can keep up with them for shorter rides, but I couldn't do it on a super long rides. I keep telling myself that speed doesn't matter, I'm really into this to work out and that's working out for me, but I do catch myself watching my speed. I can change the display on my Garmin so I've been meaning to remove the speed display so then it really won't matter :-)