Track Session Almost Ruined by Jogger Love-In

Didn't realize this, but part of the problem is the perception problem.

The slows walking/jogging in lane 1 or 2 may see you running much faster than them, but you are clearly just another hobby jogger to them, no different.

You however think you are some superior version of the hobby jogger.

If you are running on the University of [X] track, and you see a bunch of athletes where University of [X] gear and coaches shouting from the outer lanes/infield, those hobby joggers are either going to get out of the way permanately, stand around and watch (or maybe get kicked off the track). Obviously during weekdays in-season hobby joggers aren't allowed on the track at all, but I'm talking about off-season or at off-hours when the track is open to the general public.

I'm guessing you aren't wearing University of [X] gear and have no coaches.

All the the high school and the college tracks were easily accessible here during the 1960's and 70's. Now they all have 8 foot fences around them. I'm too old to climb over them, and security kicks out anyone who does anyway. The tracks are worthless because no one can use them for anything worthwhile any more.

FormerD1 please stay of lane 1 and 2.

Thanks.

I go to the track MAYBE once a month, so no worries. I do all of my interval training on a nice patch of dirt about 600m long or this nice hill I found that is about 800m long. I spent about 12 years living on the track, and even I don't think it is essential to do intervals on the track.

benfosterthepeople wrote:

Lover of motor carriages wrote:

Well I guess it would be more like 2 or more baseball players hitting and pitching and you barging in because it's not an "official practice"

Regardless the baseball field is for baseball, the basketball court for basketball and the track is for running fast.

What are the minimum speed requirements for a track? Is it based on actual speed or is at a measurement of effort? I'd like to get the signs made and posted at tracks around the country as soon as possible.

My local track actually has a sign that says (after no skateboards and stuff), that the inner lanes are reserved for faster runners.

I had the track to myself tonight. A rare occasion. There wasn't even lacrosse on the infield. Thank goodness that season is over. Those lacrosse balls hurt.

I feel for the OP. It is a real problem. Go for a walk on the trails. What's so great about walking in circles?

Half marathon is a hobby jogger distance.

Tune in next Monday when the OP tells us all about how there were other runners in his half marathon and having to pass them almost ruined his half marathon.

Dude, you train to race. In races you have go around and pass people. Why is having to do that in practice such a big deal. So your time on your precious 800 was 2 seconds slower because you ran 10 meters further. Do you think that physically that made it less of a workout because you ran 3:02 for 810 meters rather than 3:00 for 800?

Get some perspective please.

There are hobby joggers, and then there are hobby joggers like OP who think posting on Letsrun.com somehow makes him some kind of super hobby jogger. He probably obsesses over gear, gels and cried at the end of Without Limits. He probably also listens to the Chariots of Fire theme and considers it to be a movie about running (hint: it's not).

OP's breed of hobby jogger are the worst and they infest letsrun.com. They'll do anything to avoid being relegated back to the runnersworld.com forums.

Not looking to hijack the thread, but what happened to the old-time (70's in high schools?) etiquette / shame to move to lane 2 or 3 just prior to getting lapped in an actual race?

formerD1 wrote:

There are hobby joggers, and then there are hobby joggers like OP who think posting on Letsrun.com somehow makes him some kind of super hobby jogger. He probably obsesses over gear, gels and cried at the end of Without Limits. He probably also listens to the Chariots of Fire theme and considers it to be a movie about running (hint: it's not).

OP's breed of hobby jogger are the worst and they infest letsrun.com. They'll do anything to avoid being relegated back to the runnersworld.com forums.

What are your 10K and half marathon PRs again?

We went to a local track the other day to celebrate Sheila's 50th birthday. As we started running with her on the track, we noticed this young guy who was sprinting like a mad man. Our leader talked to him briefly, but he continued his mad sprint instead of joining our celebration. As time went on, he looked more and more grumpy and it looked he was cursing to himself.

After he left, we wondered what bothered him so much. One of our friends said maybe because he was alone and had no friends. Maybe he is jealous because Sheila has so many friends unlike him. Maybe our leader should have tried a bit harder to convince him to join our celebration. Then maybe he could have shared our love and happiness, instead of being so grumpy all the time. Just a thought...

TYO wrote:

formerD1 wrote:

There are hobby joggers, and then there are hobby joggers like OP who think posting on Letsrun.com somehow makes him some kind of super hobby jogger. He probably obsesses over gear, gels and cried at the end of Without Limits. He probably also listens to the Chariots of Fire theme and considers it to be a movie about running (hint: it's not).

OP's breed of hobby jogger are the worst and they infest letsrun.com. They'll do anything to avoid being relegated back to the runnersworld.com forums.

What are your 10K and half marathon PRs again?

He's a fraud

formerD1 wrote:

There are hobby joggers, and then there are hobby joggers like OP who think posting on Letsrun.com somehow makes him some kind of super hobby jogger. He probably obsesses over gear, gels and cried at the end of Without Limits. He probably also listens to the Chariots of Fire theme and considers it to be a movie about running (hint: it's not).

OP's breed of hobby jogger are the worst and they infest letsrun.com. They'll do anything to avoid being relegated back to the runnersworld.com forums.

This is an oddly condescending post from someone whose handle is formerD1. Why the need to let everyone know you were D1, which could be a wide variance in talent anyway. Do you feel that it gives you more cache than the regular Joe-blow hobby joggers on LRC?

OP, you don't need a track to run fast. Steve Jones never ran on a track for workouts.

you youngsters wrote:

formerD1 wrote:

There are hobby joggers, and then there are hobby joggers like OP who think posting on Letsrun.com somehow makes him some kind of super hobby jogger. He probably obsesses over gear, gels and cried at the end of Without Limits. He probably also listens to the Chariots of Fire theme and considers it to be a movie about running (hint: it's not).

OP's breed of hobby jogger are the worst and they infest letsrun.com. They'll do anything to avoid being relegated back to the runnersworld.com forums.

This is an oddly condescending post from someone whose handle is formerD1. Why the need to let everyone know you were D1, which could be a wide variance in talent anyway. Do you feel that it gives you more cache than the regular Joe-blow hobby joggers on LRC?

I'm a fraud I confess

FormerD1 ran track for either Stanford or UCLA in the 1990s. He works and lives in New York now. Some kind of finance job. He ran a 1:50 800 in high school a then switched to the 1500 in college to have the chance to train with future Olympians.

Monkeys typing wrote:

FormerD1 ran track for either Stanford or UCLA in the 1990s. He works and lives in New York now. Some kind of finance job. He ran a 1:50 800 in high school a then switched to the 1500 in college to have the chance to train with future Olympians.

Hi FormerD1!!!

This story resonates with me. I once had a woman who showed up half way through my workout and start walking in lane 1 ... clockwise (opposite direction of running). I calmly approached her and suggested that was a dangerous practice because as I come around the corner at sub 60 pace I won't know whether to zig or zag (and neither would she) and it could lead to collisions since there is not enough time to react. She got super huffy and said she coached track and knew about track etiquette. Um, obviously not. I have never seen that level of pedestrian-ism unawareness before or after. It can be tough to get in a good track workout if you don't have 100% rights to the track.