Jogger tried to not let me pass him on my run today

Pickup races are exceedingly fun. I race just about every person who comes up from behind and/or who I see that looks fit out for a run. It's a great way to do a long interval session. I always slowly ramp up the speed, and you can tell if they are jonesing for a race. Stop getting offended at good old fashioned competition.

Here in Central Park, NYC, we are thinking about restricting joggers from using the main trails before 7 a.m. on weekdays which is when the real runners run. We have gathered 57 signatures for our petition to the City so far and it's only been two months. The plan is to get to 50K signatures by the summer and after that, we runners can train without getting annoyed by the hobby joggers.

Sir Lance-alot wrote:

And no, I am never happy with myself when I get caught up in something like that, unless I was planning on running hard. But it happens to most people at least a little. If you were planning on running hard, then there is nothing wrong with a a little "race simulation," right?

I must admit (and maybe it's just cause I'm not scientific enough about my training) I don't get the concept of keeping yourself slower than you can be. If I go on a 10-mile run, planning to do 72 minutes and I end up running it in 67 well to me that's a good thing and not a bad thing. Only time I would not do this is if it was a day or two before a race in which case I would not respond the the "challenge" of the jogger trying to hold me off. Otherwise I consider such challenges as enhancements to a workout and not a problem the way the OP seemed to view it.

NYC jogger turned runner wrote:

Here in Central Park, NYC, we are thinking about restricting joggers from using the main trails before 7 a.m. on weekdays which is when the real runners run. We have gathered 57 signatures for our petition to the City so far and it's only been two months. The plan is to get to 50K signatures by the summer and after that, we runners can train without getting annoyed by the hobby joggers.

57, eh? Well.......that means you only have about 99.999% to go. God Speed!!

not sure why this thread pissed so many people off. i hate it when random people do what the OP mentioned and try to stay with me on a run, whether im going 8 min pace or 6 min pace, i dont really care, its still annoying and makes for awkward situation. if someone is passing me on a normal run, i usually slow down to let them pass me quicker and easier. i totally understand what the OP is complaining about.

reading is fundamental wrote:

the smartest letsrunner wrote:

1. You do your long runs at 6:30 pace? As someone said above, unless your 5/10/marathon are something like 15/31/2:20 (which we can all tell isn't the case), you're either doing your long runs too quick or lying about how quick you do them. Most likely your weekly mileage is puny.

He said his 5K PR is 14:56

No. He just wrote his PR is 14:56. Maybe its his 2 mile PR.

heres the deal yo wrote:

not sure why this thread pissed so many people off. i hate it when random people do what the OP mentioned and try to stay with me on a run, whether im going 8 min pace or 6 min pace, i dont really care, its still annoying and makes for awkward situation. if someone is passing me on a normal run, i usually slow down to let them pass me quicker and easier. i totally understand what the OP is complaining about.

Why do you consider the situation awkward? Just cause a stranger runs your pace for a mile or so doesn't obligate you to enter any type of relationship with the stranger. When the run is over, you just go your separate ways.

HAHA! This thread is hilarious. Thank you OP!

J0nathan wrote:

NYC jogger turned runner wrote:

Here in Central Park, NYC, we are thinking about restricting joggers from using the main trails before 7 a.m. on weekdays which is when the real runners run. We have gathered 57 signatures for our petition to the City so far and it's only been two months. The plan is to get to 50K signatures by the summer and after that, we runners can train without getting annoyed by the hobby joggers.

57, eh? Well.......that means you only have about 99.999% to go. God Speed!!

Dude, don't make fun of small beginnings. Remember the universe started with a single man - Adam. Today we have over 7 billion people.

Servent of the Lord wrote:

J0nathan wrote:

57, eh? Well.......that means you only have about 99.999% to go. God Speed!!

Dude, don't make fun of small beginnings. Remember the universe started with a single man - Adam. Today we have over 7 billion people.

He has a point. A good point.

To go from 1 to 7 billion in 6000 years is about 1.67 million a year.

To go from 57 to 50,000 signatures is much much easier. These days especially with that Phasebook thing.

Servent of the Lord wrote:

J0nathan wrote:

57, eh? Well.......that means you only have about 99.999% to go. God Speed!!

Dude, don't make fun of small beginnings. Remember the universe started with a single man - Adam. Today we have over 7 billion people.

My apologies. Your logic is flawless, and your historical knowledge unmatched. Carry on gentlemen.

this is a similar phenomenon to when you are on the highway and a car you are passing speeds up. if that speed was okay for you then, it should be okay for you now. it was the speed you were comfortable with.

if or, rather, when people start passing me on runs, i'm not sure how i'll respond. i like to think i won't speed up, but i don't know.

by the way, i have a PR just south of 15 minutes, for 5k, and i'm known to do a lot of my runs in the 6:00-6:15 avg. pace range. who knows what i can run for 5k these days, but i rarely feel like i'm racing my runs when i do this.

and yeah, i get pissed when i pass someone and they speed up. usually it's over quickly, but once i fartlekked the rest of my run and danced a little. the guy refused to pass me but was adamant about staying maybe 10 feet behind. i hated this but got a great laugh out of him just sticking where he was despite my asshattery in front of him.

It's just part of being a runner. I used to run the nice flat 5K loop at Lake Merritt in Oakland all the time as I live 800 meters away. I'd go one, two, three laps depending on the workout plan. People would race me there constantly! I usually just stuck to what I was doing, it was so common. Every once in a while I'd bite. Once I got into it with this dude who easily went with me. We ended up having a great conversation, and yes he was a much better runner than I, Mr. 16:00 5K at the time...

This is the funniest thread ever.

what if the cars doing battle on the highway are a dodge strattus and a 95' toyota avalon?

In this case, both cars are a bit rusty, but I feel like the avalon would pull through because its previous owner was an old man who didn't drive it very often.

Also, aunt jemima can diddle my cram-hole

Surprised by the amount of negativity on this board. I think it's fun to see when people pick up their pace around me or my teammates. And I definitely speed up when I'm passing them. I think a lot of competitive people would act in the same way.

It's probably not the nicest thing to do, but unless you sprint past the guy and then immediately settle into a pace 20 yards in front of him, I don't think he would come away from the experience thinking you're a dick.

I didn't think the OP was genuinely hating on the "jogger." It seemed like a funny occurrence that he thought LetsRunners might enjoy hearing and sharing stories about.

I remember when I was in my first month of running in high school, I was duking it out with some old guy on roller blades. We were on a long flat paved trail. He would pass me on the slight downhills and I would catch him on the slight uphills. I don't know if he was actively aware of our battle of wills, but I remember it being a fun way to pass the time.

Hell, if I thought every run was about maintaining a pace and simply observing the world, I'd watch the Discovery Channel on a treadmill.

NYC jogger turned runner wrote:

Here in Central Park, NYC, we are thinking about restricting joggers from using the main trails before 7 a.m. on weekdays which is when the real runners run. We have gathered 57 signatures for our petition to the City so far and it's only been two months. The plan is to get to 50K signatures by the summer and after that, we runners can train without getting annoyed by the hobby joggers.

Did you ever think that, except for the other 56 losers who signed, everyone in New York thinks you are an incredible, no life douchebag?

You think that it is all about ego. I let slow old female joggers pass me on particularly crappy days and on good days when I lived in a place where there were good runners, I would try to run with them even if they were much better. Why? Because it was fun, challenging, and made me a much better runner.

jjjjjjjj wrote:

You think that it is all about ego.

Funny you say this b/c twice now I've had guys try to "show me up" by running/picking up their pace when they see me coming. Today, I see an older guy with bright flaring (okay florescent) running shoes coming towards me. I am coming down an incline and he's going up. I notice him way ahead before he sees me and soon as he passes me, he starts pumping his arms franticly and picks up his knees to show me that he can run "fast". I see this too often and most of the time, I will turn around to see him 'gasping' for air...rolls eyes. What's the purpose? I don't give a rat's ass if you're faster or want to impress me in a training run. I am out there to do my thing and not compete. Now, If I see you in a race then...well, different story...