I'm also a retired competitive runner (late 20s but ran through high school, college, and after). I respect the people who got into the sport much later in life. But I must say I'm very happy to have had the time to reach my potential before I had to worry about a family or got too far into my career. I don't know how you people do it. I'm getting married soon and while plan on continuing to run and lift regularly I'm happy to rest on my laurels and step back from racing.
It never leaves you. There is no sleeping in even after not putting in the long run on the weekend. Or the guilt of not doing it. Now I take the dog out for about the same time on feet. I miss it sometimes because when it clicked it was such a high. Don’t miss being tired or the upset stomach for the rest of the day if I wasn’t disciplined with post run breakfast.
43m. Gave up the hardcore running lifestyle last year. I lived this for years. I would fret and stress about when I would get it done. Did it matter that it would annoy my wife? Nope. Did it matter that I might forgo a fun night with friends? Nope. It would be in the back of my mind until I found a time to get it done.
Why? To run a 4:50 mile, 17 5K and 1:20 HM (my point being none of those are special). My wife and kids didn’t care - I was just Dad.
I had a back injury 11/23 that almost made me disabled (severe L5:S1 herniation). Made me take almost 8 months off. Tried to start running again but the fire was gone. The time off made me realize how much life I was missing by constantly thinking about running.
It’s absolutely freeing. When I get home from work now I enjoy my family and sleep in with them on the weekends. If I want to go for a jog when I have time I go. If I don’t have time? Who cares. I eat well, take care of myself and still find to exercise - whether it be rowing or lifting or running.
To those who wonder what you’ll do after running. You’ll be just fine. I promise.
I maintain a 17 minute 5k on 3 runs per week. Age 36.
I think a 1:18-1:20 half is doable for me on 3 runs as well, as long as my 10k was in the 36-36:30 range.
I enjoyed yesterday, taking my daughter to the trail and sitting in the car with a donut while she warmed up (2 mile loop) then walked on the trail as she did 6 x 0.25M hills and then cooled down with another trail loop while I waited in the car.
I'm not against actually being in shape and doing the long runs again but lately I've been picking up minor injuries and every time I finally lose weight and start to feel good I get another thing that won't heal without rest so it's been frustrating. So I've learned to enjoy watching my daughter train and improve dramatically, and who doesn't enjoy a donut while doing that?
43m. Gave up the hardcore running lifestyle last year. I lived this for years. I would fret and stress about when I would get it done. Did it matter that it would annoy my wife? Nope. Did it matter that I might forgo a fun night with friends? Nope. It would be in the back of my mind until I found a time to get it done.
Why? To run a 4:50 mile, 17 5K and 1:20 HM (my point being none of those are special). My wife and kids didn’t care - I was just Dad.
I had a back injury 11/23 that almost made me disabled (severe L5:S1 herniation). Made me take almost 8 months off. Tried to start running again but the fire was gone. The time off made me realize how much life I was missing by constantly thinking about running.
It’s absolutely freeing. When I get home from work now I enjoy my family and sleep in with them on the weekends. If I want to go for a jog when I have time I go. If I don’t have time? Who cares. I eat well, take care of myself and still find to exercise - whether it be rowing or lifting or running.
To those who wonder what you’ll do after running. You’ll be just fine. I promise.
I see the appeal to this, but at the same time I know myself well enough to know that if I wasn't committed to a physical hobby I'd sit on my fat ass all day. Not saying it's that way for everyone, but it sure is for me.
I too know myself and know that if I am not all-in to fitness, than I tend to be all-out. I am also this way with my studies, work, and other hobbies. You may counter and say, you can't be all-in to so many things at once, to which I would say, I know. I wish I could be more balanced, but I don't feel wired that way.
My post was deleted for asking the viewpoints of those who downvoted me (the majority at the time). Odd. I’ll try again. I’m genuinely curious.
I can answer that.
1. many people have their identity tied to running. without it, no purpose.
2. many people are unable to perform a hobby "casually". It is all or nothing. For them it's more about making progression on a goal then it is about that hobby specifically.
3. some might think it is ridiculous of you to ever have "fret" over scheduling a long run. It's 2 hours of a 24 hour day. cut the internet and you'll have all the time you want
My post was deleted for asking the viewpoints of those who downvoted me (the majority at the time). Odd. I’ll try again. I’m genuinely curious.
I can answer that.
1. many people have their identity tied to running. without it, no purpose.
2. many people are unable to perform a hobby "casually". It is all or nothing. For them it's more about making progression on a goal then it is about that hobby specifically.
3. some might think it is ridiculous of you to ever have "fret" over scheduling a long run. It's 2 hours of a 24 hour day. cut the internet and you'll have all the time you want
I'm closest to group 2 I think. Having something to make progress on has been very beneficial to me. I like that it's something outside work I can work to improve on that's objectively measurable.
My father passed away a couple of years ago. My mother is currently bedridden and on hospice care. If you watch loved ones' bodies fail them up close, running can take on a whole new significance. I profoundly appreciate the ability to go out and run the hills near my home every Saturday morning with likeminded people. I'm pushing 60, and I plan to keep doing this as long as I can.
Yes, there are sacrifices, and I don't pretend that long runs are the only way to find fulfillment in life or anything like that. But it works for me.
Didn’t say I’m not committed to a physical hobby. I still exercise as much as possible. But I’m not shackled by it. The biggest change is eating. I’ve had to reduce calorie intake by a lot.
This is a lesson I didn't fully grasp until this year. After I stopped running regularly, I gained almost 20 pounds in a year - which isn't a ton, but going from 135 to 155 is quite noticeable, especially when the weight gain isn't muscle. I'm not overweight by any stretch, but I need to figure out how to balance my few runs with a more normal diet (and perhaps some weightlifting thrown in there, too).
My post was deleted for asking the viewpoints of those who downvoted me (the majority at the time). Odd. I’ll try again. I’m genuinely curious.
I can answer that.
1. many people have their identity tied to running. without it, no purpose.
2. many people are unable to perform a hobby "casually". It is all or nothing. For them it's more about making progression on a goal then it is about that hobby specifically.
3. some might think it is ridiculous of you to ever have "fret" over scheduling a long run. It's 2 hours of a 24 hour day. cut the internet and you'll have all the time you want
Overall this is one of the nicest threads I've read on LR. I see both sides. I pushed hard for years and was a pretty good ranking up til 40 but was tearing myself apart w injury and surgery etc and decided to retire from endlessly pushing harder. I MISS THE LONG RUN along Saddle River path in NJ. I didnt get wiser, just older. Now I run/lift/bike recreationally every day to deal with the struggle of physical and emotional pain. It helps. At 60, I am very fit but ONLY FOR MY AGE. I am just plain old now at 60. Wife passed, kids moved away. Getting old IS hard. Staying in shape helps. If I were still young, I sure would be training and always pushing to medal but I am not young. I am not experienced at being old either. This is my first time being old and threads like this are special in understanding how we all age and think about it.
Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts of special runs and the tradeoffs in life that come along with it. Glad you got to have those runs when you could. Glad you chose health when you could. Glad you chose to be the best you could be and set goals when you could.
The emails arrives every Thursday telling us when and where we will meet on Saturday mornings. For over 40 years, the group has done the Saturday long run. Sun, rain, snow doesn’t stop it. If you show up, make sure you know the route because no one is waiting for you. Now in our late 60s, 70s and yes looking at 80s, the 20 to 22 miler at sub 6 minute pace has turned into 10 to 13 at 9 to 10 minute pace with more time spent drinking coffee and hot chocolate after than actually running. But the race day stories are always the same and they get faster with age!