I, a 45 year old hobby jogging man, feel increasingly silly for being a runner

Ed Whitlock never felt silly and he was 70+. You suffer from lack of confidence in all aspects of your life. Or you're some 20 year old who got schooled by a 45 year old runner. Either way, quit running if you don't like it, and don't post about it. No one cares.

I feel a bit weird as well, because I look way older than my years because I've been losing my hair since I was 20. I showed up at some open indoor meets this winter with my bald head and a very loud singlet (I like my loud singlets). But it felt good to finish 3rd in both races and reel in much younger competition that went out way too faster. Got plenty of congrats after that.

Who cares, really, nobody thinks about us as much as we think they think about us. I am having more fun running now than I ever did before.

You turkeys are sad. The farther you were from being great, the more aging as a runner is a joy.

Thread's like this remind me of this song. Every aging runner should listen, it'll resonate with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuMKjRf2XOA

"There's a mighty thin line between an heavy weight champ, and a used up old clown"

an old man wrote:

I've run since junior high track. Ran in college, lots of marathons and other road races in the years since. I'm still competitive in a local hobby jogger kind of way, and this leaves me feeling increasingly foolish. I am often the first master at local races, and it feels outright dumb to be trying to out kick some high school kid to the finish. I know they think I'm a weirdo.

I love running and racing as much as ever, and it brings joy to my life. Yet I feel really weird for doing it. I mean, I'm still playing the same kid's game I played 30 years ago.

Runners run in the dark, run in the rain, run in shorts when it's snowing, run in city traffic. All runners are weird... so embrace your weirdness.

After all, "normal" today at your age is fat, diabetic, semi-impotent, and unable to walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath. Normal is way overrated.

hank jr wrote:

Thread's like this...

No, no, no!

The apostrophe is for possession or contraction, NOT pluralization!

Just because a word ends in s doesn't mean it needs an apostrophe. This drives me crazy.

Yes! Normal these days is overweight, depressed, bored, broke, and in debt. Normal sucks.

The life of a runner will always be at odds with the larger society. And that is a good thing.

old gal wrote:

an old man wrote:

. I'm still competitive in a local hobby jogger kind of way, and this leaves me feeling increasingly foolish. .

Wait a moment.

still competitive/ increasingly foolish?

That combination has never occurred to any man in history, so it's a 0/10

0/10 is too light - more like 0/100000000.

apostrophe abuse wrote:

hank jr wrote:

Thread's like this...

No, no, no!

The apostrophe is for possession or contraction, NOT pluralization!

Just because a word ends in s doesn't mean it needs an apostrophe. This drives me crazy.

I'm sorry for the typo in an anonymous message board post. It wont happen again.

I'm a 48 year old dad. I quit "competitive" running a few years ago for similar reasons. I stopped caring about training hard to win age group awards. The juice wasn't worth the squeeze.

I bought weights and setup a nice little home gym in my basement, where I lift weights 3 or 4 days a week and watch news/sports while doing so. I get up early in the morning before my family so I have some nice "me time." I eat a s**t ton of protein. I've put on probably 20-30 lbs of muscle, too. I look back at pictures of myself 5-10 years and realize how pathetically wimpy I looked after decades of running 60-80 miles a week. I look like a man now. Broad shoulders and chest. Powerful arms. I eat very few carbs to stay lean. That's the not-fun part.

Oh, I still run a little. I go out with my dog on 3-5 mile trail runs about 3 days a week. Very easy and very pleasant. Life is good!

45? try 25. There's nothing more sad than seeing a otherwise bright kid with career potential, family potential, and a 14:0x PR from college try and scrape out a semi pro existence for a few more years while delaying reality/mortgage/kids/family/etc. Unless you make more at running post-college than what you would at a normal job, it's silly to try and win things or get PRs for years after college. You're wasting money and time chasing something that, deep down, you know you're never going to attain. Don't be afraid to grow up and move on.

an old man wrote:

I've run since junior high track. Ran in college, lots of marathons and other road races in the years since. I'm still competitive in a local hobby jogger kind of way, and this leaves me feeling increasingly foolish. I am often the first master at local races, and it feels outright dumb to be trying to out kick some high school kid to the finish. I know they think I'm a weirdo.

I love running and racing as much as ever, and it brings joy to my life. Yet I feel really weird for doing it. I mean, I'm still playing the same kid's game I played 30 years ago.

Then quit if it makes you feel too weird. I don't know why it seems weird to you to keep doing something you've always enjoyed. There are plenty of guys who played basketball and baseball in high school, sometimes even earlier, who play in rec leagues as long as they're physically able. Plenty of high school kids take up golf and/or tennis and are still playing until the day someone carts them off to the home. No one seems to think that's particularly weird so I don't know why continuing to run seems weird.

If you were running unattached in a HS meet or something, you would feel justified in your foolishness.

But road races are almost entirely ages 30 to 60.

It's actually the HS kids who crowd the starting line, go out faster than mile pace and then fade pathetically and get passed by a bunch of masters runners that should be embarrassed at road races.

So you're a fatty now?

Peter Budaj wrote:

45? try 25. There's nothing more sad than seeing a otherwise bright kid with career potential, family potential, and a 14:0x PR from college try and scrape out a semi pro existence for a few more years while delaying reality/mortgage/kids/family/etc. Unless you make more at running post-college than what you would at a normal job, it's silly to try and win things or get PRs for years after college. You're wasting money and time chasing something that, deep down, you know you're never going to attain. Don't be afraid to grow up and move on.

Forget that. Delay the grind for as long as you can. You have the rest of your life to grind out a living. That's a lot of years. Year after year.

I hear that. Early 40s, competed D1, and run couple times a week as a warm up to lift. Just not interested in it any more. Haven't ran a race in 4 years. The other day I was thinking of doing a 5k. If I do, I'll still compete, but I won't be much competition. Probably show up in basketball shorts and an old cotton t-shirt.

Peter Budaj wrote:

45? try 25. There's nothing more sad than seeing a otherwise bright kid with career potential, family potential, and a 14:0x PR from college try and scrape out a semi pro existence for a few more years while delaying reality/mortgage/kids/family/etc. Unless you make more at running post-college than what you would at a normal job, it's silly to try and win things or get PRs for years after college. You're wasting money and time chasing something that, deep down, you know you're never going to attain. Don't be afraid to grow up and move on.

In fact most people who are not running do not spend the additional time with their family or making money either. You just need about 1.5 hours a day for 100 miles a week of running. They usually spend twice or thrice the time in front of television drinking beer...

Where I live the M40-44 group are the most numerous in the field in road races. It's the dwindling Senior Men (20-39) age group that's troubling.

I feel like the solution to this is to be really social and well-liked. If you are a weirdo, then you are probably not enjoying the company of all the other people showing up at these races. For some people maybe that means being social to anyone. For others (and most on this board) I'm guessing it means being social with the other athletes you identify who are passionate about running. I often show up to races of 200+ people and by the end I'm talking with the 3 guys who gave a f--- about it being a race, regardless of age. And all you really have to do is shake the hands of the few people who finish just before or after you. If that's always high schoolers, then maybe hop in your car and drive to races with more club runners or bigger crowds where you'll find some peers.

There are solutions here.