How much better would your life be without running?

As a recent college graduate, looking back at my last 4 years was a roller coaster. I worked like crazy to walk onto a D1 team, and there was still near the end of the pack and had to continue to work really, really hard to get anywhere. Finally my last year I made the traveling squad/top 7... but it took tons of miles, lots of workouts, lots of giving up other activities, etc. to get there. Looking back on it, I made a lot of sacrifices for running... but I don't know if that was necessarily a bad thing. Maybe I should have been a little less one dimensional, but running did become my social life as I was very close with all my teammates. In the end, what people above have said is correct, D1 running can "burn you out"... right now I'm just running for fun, as in not compulsively getting a workout in in any sort of weather, doubling, etc. and while I think I will miss the competitive aspect, it's always nice to get a break and just enjoy running for what it is and not make it something I HAVE to do.

So my long winded response is at times, running did take up a lot of time and energy, but even after all of that, I still enjoy it for what it is.

THEANTIRUNNER wrote:

Some of us want to warn youngsters about what they are getting themselves into. I'm mostly venting on the college years. They are only kids and sometimes they don't know whats what. Adults who run marathons usually have a job, family, and sensibility about what comes first. However, some college kids literally waste four opportunity filled years for running which will give them nothing in life, and the scary thing is that they don't realize it until its over. They literally will bend over backwards for their coaches(some of whom are not on scholarship). Its not right and it not good. Then the people who spend another five years running, I just feel sorry for them I knew not to do this. I wasn't going to be duped twice.

Running may have given YOU nothing in life, but why can't you accept that everyone is not like you? For some, like me, running gives me balance in college and gives me something to aim for, and a sense of accomplishment. When I run a good workout, I am usually more productive and feel better throughout the day, whether it be in class or otherwise. If you think everyone should party it up instead, that's just crazy. Ever heard of moderation? I still party, drink occasionally, and have my fun, but it's all in moderation, and running helps enforce that. Running gives me happiness, so why do you say it does nothing for me? It keeps me fit and feeling like I am capable of anything, and I really am. I stand out from the crowd because I am fit and I have a balanced life. This is all in my college years, now tell me what is so wrong about that?

HOLD UP! You are in college still?? I'm sorry but any credibility you had went straight out the window. Wait until you've been out of college three or four years and come back. Everything changes once you leave school and the team. Trust me.

The hard thing about running is that in college it is NOT just an INDIVIDUAL pursuit that you can drop at any time/ when you get sick of it and come back REFRESHED after rest.

In college you are tied to the team and coach by LOYALTY

and if you just say you're going to take a season off to re-evaluate you LOSE the respect and trust of your teammates.

I've walked on to a top ten cross school and getting the chance to be a part of something like that has been one of the most REWARDING things I have ever done.

BUT, I also went on a run this spring with some graduating seniors and was also shocked by the REALITY they were realizing -- the "What are we going to do next?" type of thing. Life isn't too glamorous for a graduated mediocre runner that has put off thinking about the future until they're hit by it.

Being a runner can cause you to neglect real relationships, and can make you put off growing up to become an adult member of society. It can also be very rewarding if it doesn't BURN YOU OUT on life.

If you're "enjoying" your running... you're not running enough.

Since when does being in college DECREASE your credibility? Jeesh.

But really, why is the life I'm living right now so bad? Aren't you assuming it's going to hit me in the same way it hit you? Maybe I'm different...

I think the problem is that people tend to weigh themselves down with obligations. Listen folks, you don't HAVE to really do anything except die. What you do with your life is your choice but no one seems to take advantage of that. People who continue in an activity that they hate are idiots. So if you hate running, just stop doing it and do something that you enjoy doing.

Man, not that complicated.

jrm wrote:

I think the problem is that people tend to weigh themselves down with obligations. Listen folks, you don't HAVE to really do anything except die. What you do with your life is your choice but no one seems to take advantage of that. People who continue in an activity that they hate are idiots. So if you hate running, just stop doing it and do something that you enjoy doing.

Man, not that complicated.

The problem with this is that you'll just float through life doing nothing if you give up on everything that you struggle with enjoying yet feel obligated to do.

You're not going to enjoy everything all of the time, and sometimes you have to struggle through dark times to get to the point where you'll enjoy something again.

I'll keep putting in the miles, the passion will come back

running sucks.

/thread

F RUNNING wrote:

Suppose that you weren't anchored to running and you allowed yourself to organize your life around more productive activities instead. Suppose you weren't always chronically injured and depressed, and lifted weights to stay healthy and improve your appearance instead, and never got injured doing it. How much better would your life be without an activity that produces nothing, accomplishes nothing, is totally irrelevant to modern life, and actually undermines your health rather than improves it?

Let me guess, you're injured? If you don't like running, don't do it. I've been injured for long periods of time, but it wasn't the injuries that depressed me. It was the inability to run. I'm happier when I run. I call that productive. When I run, I'm able to think, work out problems, blow off steam, breathe fresh air, etc. It has nothing to do with improving appearance, although that's a good side effect. Running seems to slow down the aging process. Anyway, I'm sure it's not running that is causing you problems. It may be that you place(d) too much importance on it, so when it's taken away from you by injuries or whatever, there's not much left in your life. Find your own balance.

If your life sucks WITHOUT running... then it most certainly sucks WITH running.

Some may be too young to realize this, but soon, you will. Everyone does.

Having been out of college a good ten years now, I can say that running does not give you "nothing". That's where you lost all credibility.

You're right that everything changes once you leave school and the team, but that doesn't mean that you forget everything you learned about running and yourself during those years.

Quit jacking off to how much "smarter" you are then the rest of us that actually did get something out of running. And don't ruin it for the kids that do want to get something out of it. Your problem is that you can't see what you CAN get out of it.

You need to get real!

Good for you, son.

You can always go back and take Calc 2 and Organic Chemistry in the future.

Don't stop!

Couldn't agree more. To be good at something, it takes a certain narcissistic attitude. It takes a drive that requires a person to be invested in their self. That's why I wanted to know what makes runners any more self-absorbed than any other athlete trying to achieve something. Just look at other athletes' self-absorbed press conferences. Example numero uno: Lebron James.

I've heard anti-social before because people assume that most people run alone. True in some cases--especially beyond college.

D3 is probably a great place to be. No scholarship pressures and no need to travel the whole country to get to meets. D3 was wonderful for me, and I believe it is for the majority of its runners.

I'm pretty surprised by how many on here say that if they didn't run, they would be fat and unhealthy.....

if I didn't run, I would still eat healthy foods and whatnot, and I would still lift weights.

Also, to those of you who are 5'9 and weigh 130-135 pounds and think you're not skinny.....you need to hit the weight room.

Dr. Phil wrote:

Having been out of college a good ten years now, I can say that running does not give you "nothing". That's where you lost all credibility.

You're right that everything changes once you leave school and the team, but that doesn't mean that you forget everything you learned about running and yourself during those years.

Quit jacking off to how much "smarter" you are then the rest of us that actually did get something out of running. And don't ruin it for the kids that do want to get something out of it. Your problem is that you can't see what you CAN get out of it.

You need to get real!

I hated running more when I was on my college team. Then again I was injured and there was that guilty, obligated feeling. That's just me though. People are different. I always put too much pressure on myself to begin with. I've gotten better at seeing running as an enjoyable activity, but there are still days when I just want to say "f*** it," what's the point? I usually get over that after taking a day off and/or reading letsrun.

F*** YOU ANTIRUNNER YOU MOTHERF***ING C***!

I'm back. Thanks for the invitation Timmy Culpepper!!!!!!!

Unless you are competitive at a high level, the grass is definitely greener on the other side. My life has vastly improved since I stopped running four years ago. Injury took me out the game and I was very depressed at first, but I eventually took up bodybuilding and found it far superior in terms of the quality of life it affords me outside of training. Running is all about the activity itself - you go for 45 mintes and then it's over until the next day. With lifting, the benefits of being bigger and stronger start when you leave the gym and last 24/7. I have also realized that the point of life is productive work, not indulgence in pointless escapes like running. I no longer have to use running as an anti-depressant because I'm happy outside of running. It always saddens me when people say that their reason for running is that "it's a great anti-depressant." Why do you need an anti-depressant in the first place? I can tell from the posts I read here on a daily basis that most people have an emotional attachment to running that holds them back in other areas of life.