Anyone walk away from running after PR?

In 2006 I had the season of my life. I was 23 years old and was pretty much hitting every time goal I had. I nearly missed a USA Outdoor Qualifier in the 10,000m. I set big goals for the following season and figured that was the year I could land a serious sponsorship. I had a few things happen over the summer that opened my eyes and made me realize I was killing myself training but had zero support once college racing was over. I walked away from it. I ran a couple of races after but never took it very serious anymore.

i have a friend who ran in the olympic marathon trials back in 2004 or 2008. he realized that this was the farthest he was ever gonna go and that maintaining this level of fitness was more trouble than it was worth because he wasn't going to make money off of running and he has other things to do in life. afterwards, he just runs 3-6 miles a day to keep fit and some occasional strides at the end, but doesn't bother with any more races.

I run in college now and would say I have a good chance to break 4 if I can stay healthy.

I’ve always figured I’ll quit after a i break 4. I’m not all that interesting ik running as I used to be

Yeah I was a dumb loser in high school, ran 1:52 in state final 800 a 3 second pb at the time. Was on a junior college team but never went to one practice. I was dropping massive PBs every race I had for two years straight, started from 2:05. Never ran a 1:53, 1:54, 1:56, 2:00, 2:01, 2:03, or 2:04. I could run 50 flat easily and had a high 49 pb. Did pretty well at cross country too. Marijuana and having a girlfriend was more important, then came alcohol. Would've been nice to get down to at least a 1:48 or 1:47 in college and have a good d1 run. But whatever wasn't ready for it. Biggest regret of my life by far. Now I'm trying to qualify for Boston in late twenties. Never ran more than 40 mins before so it's hard lol, but I'm doing pretty good, fitness is looking like I could pull it off by September.

I ran a 1:51 800m my last college race and didn't run for 6 years after the cool down. Drank a mountain dew and some skittles about an hour before the race too

I played a lot of soccer and flag football and wasn't just sitting on my butt...I did drink a lot of beers in those years though

I ran at a similar level school as you. I ran sporadically after my college days were done but came back to it regularly after I packed on 20 pounds from boozing and not exercising (current age 32). In years past I would have considered myself a fair weather runner and only ran during the temperate months. I truly have always enjoyed running but after college was definitely a little burned out. Even these days, after a long training cycle I'm a little burnt out and switch my attention to another hobby.

A good friend of mine had stopped running for years and decided to get back into distance running. He went from running 0 miles in 2020 to averaging 60 miles/week on 21'-22' in preparation for a marathon.

You may find more enjoyment in running after your upcoming marathon if you continue to run without such expectations and planning. Running solely for a specific race or PR is a heck of a lot different than running for enjoyment or to stay healthy. Give it a try.

Excellent question and sounds like you're asking yourself honest questions. I don't want to encourage you if your body and mind may need something else (rest or otherwise) but yes PR's and the ability to still attain them are a motivator...you being within striking distance of a 2:20 makes you also near an OTQ. I'm way slower than you but can relate to the lifestyle of training, racing marathons, and occasionally wondering if this allocation of energy and feeling fatigued at points is worth the output. I'm about 10 years older than you, and sometimes question whether the lifestyle adds or takes away from my other life goals...the net outcome is it has to add benefit and be a welcome part of me to feel whole (stress relief, feeling fit, goal setting, loving the process, part of a run community, etc). If it starts to take over areas that are truly more important, than it's time for some adjusting. That's for you to feel out.

I came from a D1 Swimming background, flamed out due to injury which at the same time brought on burnout and preoccupied with partying. After a bit of struggle letting go of the sport, I found other ways to push myself which opened up my world (other endurance challenges, deep learning, challenging employment, travel). Then oddly enough took up marathoning in my thirties and it's become a lifestyle which rides the line of burnout and exhilarating. Questioning myself whether my last race which was a PR will be it, or if I'll ante up again. Was planning for Boston Monday but life had other plans and beat me up pretty good this spring.

Good luck in your future endeavors!

I won the outdoor 5,000 meter state championship in high school many years ago. It was my last race. Thought a lot about running D1 and talked to the coach, but he gave me a strong impression that there would be a massive sacrifice my social life, which is obvious, of course (this was a big party school), and I didn't want to do that. I wonder how fast I could've gone but don't think it would've been worth giving up so much fun.

Didn't Shelby Houlihan set some PRs and American records then stop competing?

I broke 14 in my last 5000m race ever and then stopped running (competitively). Had to do with the timing of a couple other things but yeah that was my last race. Sometimes I miss it but I'm happy I'm doing other things with my life now... If I could live more than one life I'd see how fast I could run in the marathon now that I'm not in college but idk, not interested enough to go back to running now.

Nah I still did a cool down jog after I PRed. Did walk to the team bus though.

Ran PRs of 3:44 1500 and 4:02.80 mile as a 5th year senior - though not on my college team. I trained alone Quentin Cassidy style. Walked away with a bad taste in my mouth having had a big falling out with the coach at my school.

I'm 34 now and married. I run most mornings and still do some workouts, but it's not the same. Part of me will always regret not taking a few years to chase sub 4.

Oh well...

Yup I did this. Was basically burnt out my entire senior year of college. Was injured during cross, and come track season I just had other things on my plate (finding a job, figuring out living situations, was about to propose, etc.)

Talked to my coach and we decided we were going to completely adjust my training to keep things interesting. Went from about 80MPW to 35, but basically everything was speed related. Lots of track workouts and short/fast tempos. Ran some decent races, but nothing crazy. Finally the last week of the season came, and everything kinda set in. This was my last track meet. This was my last week with my teammates. This was my last chance to ever race in this setting.

I was entered in the 800m and before the race I told my coach I was just going to go for it. Take it hot from the gun and if I crash and burn, so be it. Ended up running 1:51.9 which was about a 2 second PR. Took my spikes off at the finish line and I haven’t run a mile since then (this was about 2 years ago).

Eventually I’ll probably pick it up again, but right now I have zero desire to run (which btw is totally okay!). I still love the sport of running, the community, and everything else. I think it’s very normal to feel “burnt out” from running, especially if you’ve been competing since middle school or before.

The funny thing I’ve noticed is that many of my teammates that I would consider “great runners” (sub 9:00 steeple, 14:10 5k, sub 3:50 1500) feel the same way I do and haven’t run a step since they graduated. The ones that have stayed active runners are those that were always the lower end performers on the team.

I did, I was in good shape, longest ever not injured and running consistent high mileage. Covid came and I got bitter cause I was wasting my fitness and just stopped pushing. Coming back is tough. If you are tired get your iron levels tested. I was low on iron and started taking supplements and amazed at how much energy and easier it is now. The drag of it being so stinking hard was making me not want to run.

Ran my last competitive race in college in 1984. Ran for about 1.5 years after college but really wasn't improving and I was at a new school for grad school. Grad school was also taking a lot of time. I stopped running completely then and took two years off of no running at all. I then started running again but just for fun. Usually a four mile run at 6 minute pace maybe 4-6 days a week. Increased to about 5 miles a day all during the 90's and also started mtn biking. In the 2000's my pace dropped off some and I also started road biking. Now I'm more of a road biker than anything else. I still run but not very much, or far, or fast. Lots of little nagging running related injuries.

Not a PR but my last 'competitive race' was a win in a 5k in low 16s and won $200 worth of scratch offs. The only 'races' I've run since have been Army events and PT tests.

Alan

No, they all walked away before they set a PR.