A Warning to All HS/Collegiate Athletes: Go All In, But Have An Exit Strategy

HSHarryTheHasBeen wrote:

As someone that is old and washed up and decades past my prime I just want to warn the younger runners of the pitfalls that come with "Going All In" and tying up so much of your identity and self worth with the sport.

There is nothing much more sad than the "peaked in HS" guy or the dude that still talks about or sulks about the HS ball game years and years after. It's cliche, but the trope exists for a reason. There are plenty of grown men that struggle to remember their kids birthdays but can detail, play by play a HS football game from 1985.

Regarding our sport of running, I think it may even lend itself to this phenomenon even more since it is one of the few sports in which you can still compete well after HS or college. Sure there are beer league baseball games and rec league basketball, but for the most part it takes huge effort to continue to participate in a team sport. Because running is a solo project you can continue on, and while this can be a good thing, I think it can really enable the Peter Pan Syndrome as well. The ball player is FORCED to give it up and move on to other things, the runner is not.

I look around and see so many guys that turn this sport into their One Big Thing, and then once they can no longer compete they are left scrambling to capitalize on this somehow, someway. So you see a frantic move to get into coaching, blogging, videos, running store owner/employee, you name it. They spent all that time running and they are just in too far now.

My advice to the collegiate runners is to go all in and maximize your fitness and compete while you can, but keep your eye on the prize. The goal is to use running as a way to get your degree and become something great, something professional, the "something" is completely unlimited.

Don't limit yourself and your focus on this sport. Use the sport, dont let the sport use you.

Space Ghost wrote:

Andy Dufresne wrote:

Just about every serious 30-something runner I know has a good job and a spouse. Most have kids. Training at a high level takes somewhere around 10-15 hours per week, mostly before work.

There's some merit to the comments about enjoying your kids' birthdays instead of focusing on the sport 100% of the time. But on balance, it's hard to see training and competing beyond HS or college as a bad thing. Running keeps you fit and it's a great opportunity to meet people. Just don't take yourself so seriously - advice that's applicable to many areas of life.

I agree and will even go further. I went seriously "all in" for a few years after college, structuring my life around being a serious runner (even though I knew at the outset I wasn't talented enough to make any teams). But I enjoyed training and racing and felt I had still had some room to get better, so I got a series of crappy low-paying jobs and trained for 3 years. I had a good group of training partners and had a lot of fun. I also improved from college and had some decent races. Those were a great 3 years and I don't regret them at all.

HSHarryTheHasBeen wrote:

Former Store Guy wrote:

I worked in running stores while in college and there is nothing in this world sadder and more wasteful than a single/divorced middle aged man still chasing age group glory on the local roads. No one respects it and no one cares. The young guys and girls at the local running store laugh at you as you hangout every Saturday afternoon looking for free gear and sponsorship. The fact that you value holiday 5K medals and Turkey Trot win streaks over family, friends, and career indicates a life wasted. I fully expect many downvotes because a lot of these men reside on LRC forums nearly full time.

I recommend that young athletes set a date like your 25th or 26th birthday as a retirement date. If you are not pro or an OT qualifier, don’t waste critical work career / experience years chasing a dream that nearly no one bothers to think about except you. You never see 38 year old dudes in the local YMCA rec league bragging that they are going to be in the NBA, but lots of similar aged guys in running think that they are on the precipice of a pro contract and an OTQ in the marathon if they could just get a free pair of AlphaFly 3 and six months of uninjured double threshold work.

I think it's fine to run and to have goals and compete with yourself. To think you're going to run in the Trials is indeed delusional. Running past 30 is a good thing, it's fun, you can race your friends, put in hard workouts and remain fit- All that is perfectly fine IMO.

What made me post this was that I have seen guys that were really smart, men that could have been engineers, doctors, whatever, but they became so side tracked into The Running Thing that they ended up become teachers (so they could coach) or chasing low level college gigs.

Sub-9:00 guy wrote:

Space Ghost wrote:

I agree and will even go further. I went seriously "all in" for a few years after college, structuring my life around being a serious runner (even though I knew at the outset I wasn't talented enough to make any teams). But I enjoyed training and racing and felt I had still had some room to get better, so I got a series of crappy low-paying jobs and trained for 3 years. I had a good group of training partners and had a lot of fun. I also improved from college and had some decent races. Those were a great 3 years and I don't regret them at all.

Nothing wrong with this at all. I did similarly, albeit grad school & low key work until 25. But that’s where I agree with OP. Go super serious on running until about age 25 or 26. If you aren’t getting paid to run by then, time to get on with life. Grad school, job, whatever. You can still run for enjoyment and a little competition, but no need to hammer 100+ mile weeks anymore. Maybe hit the gym and build some bulk, rock climb, whatever. Don’t be 35 and just starting out. That’s what OP is saying.

HSHarryTheHasBeen wrote:

As someone that is old and washed up and decades past my prime I just want to warn the younger runners of the pitfalls that come with "Going All In" and tying up so much of your identity and self worth with the sport.

There is nothing much more sad than the "peaked in HS" guy or the dude that still talks about or sulks about the HS ball game years and years after. It's cliche, but the trope exists for a reason. There are plenty of grown men that struggle to remember their kids birthdays but can detail, play by play a HS football game from 1985.

Regarding our sport of running, I think it may even lend itself to this phenomenon even more since it is one of the few sports in which you can still compete well after HS or college. Sure there are beer league baseball games and rec league basketball, but for the most part it takes huge effort to continue to participate in a team sport. Because running is a solo project you can continue on, and while this can be a good thing, I think it can really enable the Peter Pan Syndrome as well. The ball player is FORCED to give it up and move on to other things, the runner is not.

I look around and see so many guys that turn this sport into their One Big Thing, and then once they can no longer compete they are left scrambling to capitalize on this somehow, someway. So you see a frantic move to get into coaching, blogging, videos, running store owner/employee, you name it. They spent all that time running and they are just in too far now.

My advice to the collegiate runners is to go all in and maximize your fitness and compete while you can, but keep your eye on the prize. The goal is to use running as a way to get your degree and become something great, something professional, the "something" is completely unlimited.

Don't limit yourself and your focus on this sport. Use the sport, dont let the sport use you.

HSHarryTheHasBeen wrote:

As someone that is old and washed up and decades past my prime I just want to warn the younger runners of the pitfalls that come with "Going All In" and tying up so much of your identity and self worth with the sport.

There is nothing much more sad than the "peaked in HS" guy or the dude that still talks about or sulks about the HS ball game years and years after. It's cliche, but the trope exists for a reason. There are plenty of grown men that struggle to remember their kids birthdays but can detail, play by play a HS football game from 1985.

Regarding our sport of running, I think it may even lend itself to this phenomenon even more since it is one of the few sports in which you can still compete well after HS or college. Sure there are beer league baseball games and rec league basketball, but for the most part it takes huge effort to continue to participate in a team sport. Because running is a solo project you can continue on, and while this can be a good thing, I think it can really enable the Peter Pan Syndrome as well. The ball player is FORCED to give it up and move on to other things, the runner is not.

I look around and see so many guys that turn this sport into their One Big Thing, and then once they can no longer compete they are left scrambling to capitalize on this somehow, someway. So you see a frantic move to get into coaching, blogging, videos, running store owner/employee, you name it. They spent all that time running and they are just in too far now.

My advice to the collegiate runners is to go all in and maximize your fitness and compete while you can, but keep your eye on the prize. The goal is to use running as a way to get your degree and become something great, something professional, the "something" is completely unlimited.

Don't limit yourself and your focus on this sport. Use the sport, dont let the sport use you.