Bob Kennedy is back! Running NYC. Hoping to run...

Pandaheadsfreakmeout wrote:NY Times doesn't make mistakes.

They certainly did with this sentence. Basic proofreading would have found the problem: "In five or six weeks, his pace had dropped below eight minutes per mile to 7:30 to 7:45."

Maybe it means he went from 8:00/mile to 7:30-45/mile.

I agree. This article really hit home for me because I followed a very similar path.

Gary Oldman wrote:

Not a doper wrote:

Alan Webb won a Nobel prize for disproving the theory that talent doesn't go away.

I think you mean proving and does.

Both are logically equivalent

I'm with you guys. At my best I was good, but far from elite (2:25 marathon/1:07 half). But for me to get there took me a few years of high mileage (130 miles/wk) and a lot of tough workouts. By the time I "retired" several years ago, I didn't really care to run. I went probably three years where I would go out for a 4 or 5 mile run a few times a week, but mostly I did nothing. I'm just now getting back to wanting to run almost every day. I'm really enjoying running 45-50 miles/wk with a track workout and a long run each week. I'll probably never run a race again, but I love feeling like I'm back in halfway decent shape.

Quitting running is sometimes necessary when you've devoted so much of your life to it for an extended period. It brings that perspective that Kennedy talks about in the article. Once you get that perspective you can stop thinking about how fast you used to be or what crazy workouts you used to put together and you just run.

Good for Bob and good for all of the "has-beens" that still run for the love of the sport!

Me2 wrote:

Quitting running is sometimes necessary when you've devoted so much of your life to it for an extended period. It brings that perspective that Kennedy talks about in the article. Once you get that perspective you can stop thinking about how fast you used to be or what crazy workouts you used to put together and you just run.

Nicely worded.

Good luck to Bob.

That dude was the absolute Cat's A$$ back in the day. Went and raced in Europe and laid down some absolutely stunning times. Saw him win Big 10s his Freshman year that our coach took us to.

What a f-king betrayal of him to wear Asics. Come on. And runners complain about lack of sponsorship? Companies will remember this shit like this. Nike fed him very well for a number of years. Would it kill him to wear Pegasus?

i think the folks saying that the talent is gone are missing the fact that he's still 30-40 pounds heavier than racing weight. don't underestimate how hard it is to carry that around for 15 miles. if he loses another 20-30 pounds, he'll start clipping along again in the six-minute range. it just takes a little more time to get it going when you're in your 40s and you've gained that much weight.

toro wrote:

Me2 wrote:

Quitting running is sometimes necessary when you've devoted so much of your life to it for an extended period. It brings that perspective that Kennedy talks about in the article. Once you get that perspective you can stop thinking about how fast you used to be or what crazy workouts you used to put together and you just run.

Nicely worded.

Immediately after college, I trained for, and ran a 2:24 marathon, which I was incredibly proud of. I trained hard the following winter, and ran some near PR 1500m races indoors. Come spring, I entered a fairly small college invitational and ran a 3:58.96 mile, which was about a 5 second PR.

I'm unable describe the feeling during the race when I realized that I was going to break 4 minutes. This was something out of a dream, a lifetime goal. I hadn't expected it at all really, I would have been thrilled to run a PR. Doing it in front of former teammates and my former coach just made it all the better. I really can't even describe the feeling.

Unfortunately, it was about 6 years before I ran another step. Running that race put me in a weird place. I wasn't good enough to make money and having achieved a goal like that sort of left me without any motivation, like I had nothing else to accomplish.

I eventually started running again because I was terribly out of shape. I ran a Ragnar Relay where I dropped a few 9 minute miles. This year, at age 29, I ran a 4:17 marathon, and you know what? I don't care. I'm happy with it.

Despite all of the talk on these message boards, most people can't even run 4:17. If you're not running under 2:40 or 15 minutes, or whatever arbitrary standard these morons come up with, you're labelled a hobbyjogger as if that's something bad.

While I wish that I had stayed in slightly better shape in the 6 years I didn't run, I am incredibly glad that I didn't spend those years chasing faster times. Instead I started a career, got married, and lived my life. I would have intensely regretted slaving away to running for those years.

I get such a kick out of posts on letsrun that condemn people for not being able to run an 18 minute 5k, or for slogging through a 3:30 marathon. I have no idea why someone would care how fast someone they don't know is, or feel the need to judge them. When I was getting back into things, I ran a 24:22 5k. I mentioned this in a post on here and of course got ripped for being a hobby jogger and was asked why I even bothered running. I hadn't described my PRs or background, just the time. I had mentioned it in support of someone who had just started running. I couldn't believe that a message board full of runners who fancy ourselves to be inclusive, and mock cyclists for not being inclusive, would berate a new runner in that way.

I thought about writing a response in that thread, telling the story about my sub 4, but decided not to. I have absolutely nothing to prove with my running. There are very few, if any, people here who have done what I did. I run now because I enjoy it. Not for a particular time goal, and certainly not to prove to anyone that I'm a serious runner.

I hope Bob is able to keep that inner peace and learn to enjoy running again.

Don't forget that Kennedy had to be burned out when he hung up the spikes. There were not many that went after being great with balls to the wall workouts and races like that guy. I remember his quote after setting the American 5K record and breaking 13, (paraphrased) "9-10 of those laps hurt like hell, so I've still got some work to do to get all 12 1/2 to that level."

The guy was an awesome competitor giving whatever he had, so if he put on a few pounds and wants to run a 3:30, he has my utmost admiration and respect.

Great post No Way.

Bob actually was also affiliated with Puma shortly after his retirement. I believe he was a brand ambassador. He and Nike parted ways as soon as he retired. So, not really a betrayal to wear Asics now. Nike dumps people in a heartbeat if they think it makes financial sense to do so. Brand loyalty, not with the swoosh, at least not with most of their sponsored athletes.

No Way wrote:

Immediately after college, I trained for, and ran a 2:24 marathon, which I was incredibly proud of. I trained hard the following winter, and ran some near PR 1500m races indoors. Come spring, I entered a fairly small college invitational and ran a 3:58.96 mile, which was about a 5 second PR.

I'm unable describe the feeling during the race when I realized that I was going to break 4 minutes. This was something out of a dream, a lifetime goal. I hadn't expected it at all really, I would have been thrilled to run a PR. Doing it in front of former teammates and my former coach just made it all the better. I really can't even describe the feeling.

Unfortunately, it was about 6 years before I ran another step. Running that race put me in a weird place. I wasn't good enough to make money and having achieved a goal like that sort of left me without any motivation, like I had nothing else to accomplish.

I eventually started running again because I was terribly out of shape. I ran a Ragnar Relay where I dropped a few 9 minute miles. This year, at age 29, I ran a 4:17 marathon, and you know what? I don't care. I'm happy with it.

Despite all of the talk on these message boards, most people can't even run 4:17. If you're not running under 2:40 or 15 minutes, or whatever arbitrary standard these morons come up with, you're labelled a hobbyjogger as if that's something bad.

While I wish that I had stayed in slightly better shape in the 6 years I didn't run, I am incredibly glad that I didn't spend those years chasing faster times. Instead I started a career, got married, and lived my life. I would have intensely regretted slaving away to running for those years.

I get such a kick out of posts on letsrun that condemn people for not being able to run an 18 minute 5k, or for slogging through a 3:30 marathon. I have no idea why someone would care how fast someone they don't know is, or feel the need to judge them. When I was getting back into things, I ran a 24:22 5k. I mentioned this in a post on here and of course got ripped for being a hobby jogger and was asked why I even bothered running. I hadn't described my PRs or background, just the time. I had mentioned it in support of someone who had just started running. I couldn't believe that a message board full of runners who fancy ourselves to be inclusive, and mock cyclists for not being inclusive, would berate a new runner in that way.

I thought about writing a response in that thread, telling the story about my sub 4, but decided not to. I have absolutely nothing to prove with my running. There are very few, if any, people here who have done what I did. I run now because I enjoy it. Not for a particular time goal, and certainly not to prove to anyone that I'm a serious runner.

I hope Bob is able to keep that inner peace and learn to enjoy running again.

__________________________________________________________

How can anyone argue with this?

It's letsrun. People will argue with anything

Gratis wrote:

That was great . Thx !

Ditto.

I'm sure Nike doesn't care. Anyway, his obligation to them ended as soon as they sent his last paycheck. I think he even had an association with Puma for a while, didn't he?

General Tso wrote:

What a f-king betrayal of him to wear Asics. Come on. And runners complain about lack of sponsorship? Companies will remember this shit like this. Nike fed him very well for a number of years. Would it kill him to wear Pegasus?

Bob's Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/zoomkennedy

So married or not?