I think that many successful runners approach[ed] running almost entirely as a competitive activity. They try to beat the competition; they aren’t running for health reasons. That might be why it seems, anecdotally, that D1 runners are more likely to quit after college than D3 runners. The D1 runners want to compete at a high level, and when they can’t anymore, they stop. The D3 runners run for fun, so they see no reason to stop.
Spotter of fat people wrote:
Runningart2004 wrote:
Define fat?
People called Bob Kennedy fat when a post retirement pic of him was shown and he’s not fat.
At what body fat level would you consider a guy fat?
Alan
Found one!
Nah. I’m around 15% bf and have some abs.
Alan
Love LetsRun but you are right on that.
I am a so-so crappy jogger, but that's a great point. A lot of studs I know hang on to HS and college glories, even dating back to the '90s. Even though their times were blazing fast (4:11 1600m, 15:54 5k, etc.). But a lot of mid-aged Xers and such reminisce about the good old days yet are still single and searching OK Cupid and sites like that for redemption.
We do not live in a binary world in which the only two options are competitive runner or big fat pig.
"I'm too busy not to be fat!". Nonsense. Take 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week and jog, walk, ride a bike, elliptical, SOMETHING.
It does not take any extra time to eat an apple instead of a Big Mac. Pass on the donuts. Think about what you eat!!!
If you're fat, it's because you willfully chose to be.
nope! wrote:
We do not live in a binary world in which the only two options are competitive runner or big fat pig.
"I'm too busy not to be fat!". Nonsense. Take 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week and jog, walk, ride a bike, elliptical, SOMETHING.
It does not take any extra time to eat an apple instead of a Big Mac. Pass on the donuts. Think about what you eat!!!
If you're fat, it's because you willfully chose to be.
“We don’t live in a binary world.”
*makes an absolute black/white judgement on people based on the assumption that all fat people are lazy or something*
Gotta love Letsrun.
Do you see formerly competitive runners as fatter than the average person their age?
Some reasons for the fatness:
When you are no longer competing it's often hard to find motivation to do any running. Why put in much effort to be slower than you were?
Used to be able to eat tons and burn it off. Now eating the same causes weight gain.
Metabolism slows down as you age. Even if you run the same amount of miles each week with similar effort and eat the same exact way, you gain weight because of your natural metabolism change.
Genetics. People have different body types and one person will be skinnier than another even if they eat and run the same.
RE: Why are so many formerly competitive runners huge and fat now?
THE BOOB TUBE
On another note my dad is pushing 90 and lives at a senior center. No body that gets near or past the 90 mark is fat. That "dad bod" dude is gonna have a visit from the reaper long before that.
'Murica. Basically everyone is fat, man.
Nearly all the guys I ran track within in college are from chunky to downright obese now. At best, they have the dad bods.
Cop out... wrote:
Letting yourself go is inexcusable. Don't tell me it is hard to jog 40min a day?
Running 40 minutes a day? For some of us over age fifty, it's painful to run more than a few kilometres. One empties tank. One gives all has to give while in teens and early twenties, then disaster. I recall Bill Rodgers saying while he was in his thirties, he was going to race Boston Marathon every year into his seventies. Reality hit Rodgers, a four hour plus Marathon.
Joe Stinking Dirt wrote:
joedirt wrote:
Just guessing that the OP is in his late teens / early 20s, is single, and has no kids. When you are in our mid 40s, married, have kids and a career please return to this forum. Most people that try to continue to train like they did in college when they have all of those other factors typically are thrice divorced, have a warrant for non payment of child support / alimony, live in a van down by the river and shower at the YMCA. And quite honestly, the dad bod that hobby jogs the local 5k is likely to live longer than the skeleton that is obsessively trying to maintain his running streak and has run a half dozen marathons in the past year.
^This^!
And appreciate the humor and had a good laugh.
But I knew an excellent club runner , (by no means pro) who had a very secure job and was in his late 30s.
So I guess he thought he still had a few or more good races in him.
To the point, he missed one of his oldest child’s early years birthday party because he had to get in a long run that day .
I remember thinking this guy just doesn’t get it . And I didn’t even have a family yet .
Your 25:55 five miler will be forgotten in a week , needless to say 20-30 years from whenever.
“Many gardens to cultivate.”
Or they live in Boulder.
There’s never an excuse to be a bum.
Moo Goo wrote:
Nearly all the guys I ran track within in college are from chunky to downright obese now. At best, they have the dad bods.
I wouldn’t say fat - A couple of them can still run 19-21mins or so 5ks at turkey trots but it’s been 10 years since they ran 15-16mins
It’s all about the diet and slowed metabolism.
I’m middle aged and have actually gained weight during periods of running higher mileage. It’s because I didn’t watch my calorie intake during those times.
It’s amazing how quickly you can consume too many calories once you leave the metabolism of your teens.
I honestly don't know any. All people I know who were competitive when they were younger are still in pretty good shape, as it was a lifestyle they adopted early on.
I DO know a lot of fat guys who were never athletic, but claim they once were. "I broke a 4 minute mile when no one was watching. I ran 14 minutes for 3 miles in the military," etc.
More important than staying healthy? wrote:
The people that are truly great, it runs so deep that it's a part of their life style, and they never really stop. They are still running in their old age. I bet it's tough to find too many olympic qualifying distance runners that are now fat, but there are plenty of 2:20+ guys that 15-20 years later are fat.
If anything, the opposite is true. The average 2:23 guy has never been a superstar, and probably has more internal reasons to run. They're more the ones for whom it was and remains a lifestyle.
Others have mentioned Bob Kennedy. When he retired, he said he loved to race, and training was a means to that end. So he stopped running. It took him several years of not running to appreciate enough other things about running to resume doing it.
Yeah, there is a big difference between what some wannabe 2:20 marathon runner thinks is fat and what the medical community and society in general thinks is fat. The great irony is that a "healthy" marathon runner is actually more likely to have a shorter life span than a married guy that runs 5K and lifts weights a couple times a week. I am not ashamed to say I weigh more than when I was a college runner, but I am still healthy (run 20 miles/wk and lift weights 3 times/wk). Best of all, my daughters' competitive soccer team that I coach went undefeated this spring and they are doing awesome in school, my beautiful wife still loves me and my finances are in order. There is more to life than trying to set PRs.
the tall skinny sock monkey wrote:
RE: Why are so many formerly competitive runners huge and fat now?
THE BOOB TUBE
On another note my dad is pushing 90 and lives at a senior center. No body that gets near or past the 90 mark is fat. That "dad bod" dude is gonna have a visit from the reaper long before that.
My gramps is 97 and has a huge beer belly. It's all genetic. Keep telling yourself running will make you live forever though.
Runningart2004 wrote:
Define fat?
People called Bob Kennedy fat when a post retirement pic of him was shown and he’s not fat.
At what body fat level would you consider a guy fat?
Alan
Which pic? Kennedy was fat and admitted it. I think he was north of 200 pounds.
"Kennedy’s weight ballooned from 142 pounds to 200. He didn’t run for five years, according to The Times.""
So even when he dropped to 172 for his "comeback" Marathon, he was still pretty fat.
joedirt wrote:
Yeah, there is a big difference between what some wannabe 2:20 marathon runner thinks is fat and what the medical community and society in general thinks is fat. The great irony is that a "healthy" marathon runner is actually more likely to have a shorter life span than a married guy that runs 5K and lifts weights a couple times a week. I am not ashamed to say I weigh more than when I was a college runner, but I am still healthy (run 20 miles/wk and lift weights 3 times/wk). Best of all, my daughters' competitive soccer team that I coach went undefeated this spring and they are doing awesome in school, my beautiful wife still loves me and my finances are in order. There is more to life than trying to set PRs.
Why not just compete hard until you’re in your late 30s and it’s out of your system and then go take care of family crap?