Why did you quit running?

I quit running because I hate the sport. The Olympic champions in distance running are a joke. My lil sister could bench press more.

running quit me.

I still run occasionally (3-4 times per week) whenever I feel like it. I quit competitive running after I dropped out of college because I was lost without a coach guiding me plus I found that I really didn't enjoy racing at all at the collegiate level, especially in track. I was running 6 days per week until I started working nights last Christmas and now I find it harder to get out the door.

Ran consistent 32:00 10k into early 40's.Running was my life.Had to quit at 50 with chronic pelvic and knee issues.i now cycle but will always miss running.if I still could I would.i know of no other activity or sport like it.Co unt yourself lucky to be able to go out and roll a few miles!

Really... Only one person because of a women? I guess the urge to merge is a bigger reason in the 20 & under demographic.

I was a pretty decent runner in high school. Loved to compete.Got injured and didn't run in college. Ran off and on for 20 yrs.

The last 2 years I've been running fairly consistently (20-35 miles per week) and I've been really liking it. The difference happened when I slowed my pace. I kept trying to run fast like I was still 18 and constantly felt frustrated I couldn't. Now I enjoy the act of running more than I did when I was competing in high school.Then, the camradery was the draw. Now it's the stress relief I achieve and the time to just move and "be".

I never liked to run alone when I was younger, but now prefer it. My times are much slower, but it's easier to improve. My main goals are just to keep from gaining weight and maybe to beat the nerd who's in front of me at the local 5K.

It is amazing to me how many people answered this thread who actually have not quit running.

To those that had to quit due to injuries or accidents -- much sympathy.

disgruntled former runner wrote:

Ever tried quitting smoking? It's not easy, just like the ads say. 30 pounds might not seem like that much, but that's not the point of this thread. The point of this thread is to see if any other runners are going through the same thing and seeing how they feel and what they did after.

Not to transformm this thread into a 'quit smoking' thread, but I found that quitting smoking has a certain parallel to running. I found that instead of quitting just once, it was easier to build up to it, by quitting for 24 hours, then a few days, then a few months, and finally building up to the final 'quit forever' milestone.

Today is Thursday, and I'm already at 53 hours, tomorrow will be a 12 hour day, and Saturday will be a 6 hour day.

The whole quitting smoking is hard, I've tried multiple times and each time I end up with severe insomnia.

I'm working this much because I am going back to school in the fall and if I save most of my money this summer I can pay for school without having to take out student loans.

The goal of my comeback is to get back to where I was and see what I can do, I've ran some pretty incredible workouts before but it never came together in the races, and I've figured out why it didn't now. Thus, my training will be different than it was 3-4 years ago.

abstractmadness- I was also diagnosed with OCD. My. Dr. feels this will be an option for me to get back to running -http://www.subchondroplasty.com/

May want to ask your dr. if it's an option for you.

I turned 50 this year. I was never that great but I ran in HS and ran in college NAIA. Broke 31 once for 10k and ran in the 15ish range. I kept running after college for about six years until I went back to grad school. I was also married with three young children by then. I took off for ten years. I atarted running again with my children in 2000. Within a couple of years I broke 1:35 for 13.1 and started thinking about a marathon. But a few injuries and back to school for a PhD slowed me down again. I now workout three or four times a week and run occasionally (a couple of miles). It was a lot of fun watching my children run in HS and one of them compete at D1 level. I am looking forward to watching my two grandkids run if they choose to. No regrets.

I never quit running I actually really enjoy running and consider it an important part of my life. It keeps you healthy and fit. I have made it a goal to be able to break 5:00 in the mile until I am 50 and at 30 I am still able to run sub 4:40. I have just found other things in my life that need to come first my family being my wife and 2 kids and my job. I still run 30-50 Miles a week typically 5-6 days a week I go for a run sometimes I make it 7 and sometimes I only have time for 2 runs a week. I also surf 4 to 5 days a week which is also a very good workout.

Former VI Runner,

~Corey Duquette

I walked on at college and quit after my first year, because of ITBS that kept coming back no matter how long I stayed off of it. I wasn't good enough for anyone to ensure that I rehabbed properly, and I didn't know enough to do it myself. Taking 6 months off and having the same pain come back in the first 2 days of running is just demoralizing.

One day about 7 years later, I went to get a new driver's license and realized that it still said my weight was 135. I had still thought myself as an athletic guy, but I realized that didn't describe me anymore. I was close to 200 pounds, and I was on the verge of having to buy new clothes again. I was sick of it.

I rode an old 70's road bike until it fell apart, then bought a modern one. Got in with local cyclists. Freaking loved it. 2 hour long rides (that later became 3 and 4 hrs), time trials on a particular loop, kicking my butt into shape until I could hang with the crew on their hard days, the way approaching certain hills meant "game on." It was everything I loved about running, and didn't realize I had missed until I got a little taste of it back. I rode the bike hard for about 9 months losing about 80% of the weight I had gained in 7 years and then for some reason went on a run. I discovered that I had gotten myself into decent running shape without having run a step, and the work that I did on the bike has completely removed any trace of previous running injuries I had.

that was about 2 years ago, I run much more than I bike now. Last season I ran a 5k faster than I ever did in high school. And I keep the bike handy for whenever I get any sort of little issues I get running. I just hit the bike to make up whatever volume I can't do running.

I never quite, but I gave up racing and training for 19 years. I ran about a hundred road races between 20 and 26, almost qualified for Boston with a 2:53, averaged 40-60 mpw.

Then, like many young men that age, I got my heart broken, trampled, shredded, by the GF I'd been living with for 5 years and dating for 6. When your first serious big-time love leaves you for another guy--somebody you both know--it can blast you off your moorings. I ran a half-marathon the day she moved out. When I got back to our apartment after the race, her stuff was gone. It felt like there was a gaping hole in my heart and soul.

I never stopped running, but I lost all heart for serious training and competition. I just jogged for the next 19 years. I'd do the occasional hard run, hammering the last 20 minutes in a 60 minute run, but I never ran long, never raced, had no interest in training.

Many years later, after I'd moved across the country, taken a good new job, and found a new big love, I stepped into a local 10K, pushed as hard as I could, and found that my time had slowed from 36 to 46. That shocked me. And, determined to remedy the situation--I was then in my mid-40s--I started to train seriously. I also discovered this website. :)

In the last 9 years, I've raced another 100+ races and lowered my 10K time to 40:48 (at age 50), which ain't no great shakes, but put that together with an eight-year marriage to a cutie, and I have no complaints.

Once I had achieved all my goals (3:30 1500, 7:30 3k, 12:40 5k, 26:40 10k) there just didn't seem to be any more point to it. Face it, I was just better than you ever were or will be. You might as well quit now because you can never be as fast as I was. And my opinion on this message board is without question because I was once faster than you.

Knees. That is all :(

I quit running regularly because I found crossfit, and I love it.

So do you enjoy working 75 hours a wk

To be fair 30 hours of that 75 are on the internet. The rest talking shite like above. How many excuses did you to give up. What are you doing on here if you don't run or coach. Pathetic