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

Art Vandelay the fake one wrote:

it actually fits this time! wrote:

There is a 49 year old in our running community who does nothing but run. Well, he works, but he had no other interests, no children and is a total jerk.

At a race last summer, he didn't too well and was passed the last 200 meters by a female Kenyan. At the awards banquet, he was pounding the table in frustration, saying how he was going to "train his brains out and pound her in the ground next year."

If he only saw the people laughing at him. What a joke.

I think that about sums it up.

if I was him I would be pissed off too, I think there should be a separate race class just for kenyans.. I'm not going to be stereotypical because I'm sure not ALL kenyans are greater runners than all caucasians but if we were to go by statistics I would say probably a kenyan has to do far less training than I would have to do to get to the same level.

The weirdest I ever felt at a race was after I won the overall award and second and third places were teenagers. I'm 43. I felt like a total tool walking up to accept the award; it was just really awkward.

I won a race overall this fall. The next 5 finishers were teenagers. I felt like a jerk for being there, even more of one for beating them, and even more of one for staying around to accept the award. I felt extremely weird. I need a new hobby.

teenage wasteland the fake one wrote:

I won a race overall this fall. The next 5 finishers were teenagers. I felt like a jerk for being there, even more of one for beating them, and even more of one for staying around to accept the award. I felt extremely weird. I need a new hobby.

Pretty pathetic. Most teenagers should be able to beat someone twice their age. They must have really sucked.

You suggest quitting running, something people LOVE to do, simple because newbies suck?

That is shitty advice.

And if you think old guys in running gear is rediculous have you seen an old guy in biking gear?

Yeah, I'm one, and it's a national champion jersey. Just saying.

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.

Nothing wrong with this man it's what keeps us young.

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. .

still competitive/ increasingly foolish?

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

not all men

;-)

took me until 50 to start feeling foolish, but luckily the competitive drive and speed also waned around that time. The good news for 'an old man' is that this phase doesn't last long - soon, you won't be competitive anymore.

;-(

When I was 45, placed 3rd in a local 5k. Winner was a whitehaired 55, second was 17, then I came draggling in. Everyone at the start line thought I'd win, but I knew in races like this there's always a HS kid and usually some old guy, figured one or the other would beat me. Didn't realize it would be both.

Bad Wigins wrote:

If OP cared what people thought he would never have started running in the first place. Weird is from Day 1, not 20+ years.

That happened to me in the first month of running. My college didn't have a track team, so I ran around my neighborhood where I was the only runner. I gradually increased the distance until I got to a medium park that had lots of people doing sports. It made me feel better.

American car drivers can be so cruel.

Read this:

Extreme Athleticism Is the New Midlife Crisis

People in middle age are flocking in record numbers to intense workouts and challenging races. What are they chasing?

https://medium.com/s/greatescape/extreme-athleticism-is-the-new-midlife-crisis-d87199a18bed

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.

Do you still feel weird about having sex, too? You may have been doing that 30 years ago.

fisky wrote:

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.

This was the post of the thread, 6 mos ago. I am a physician. I see ~30 patients a day. If I see ONE patient a week who is over 35 and truly fit, it's a miracle.

We live in a country where 70% of adults (!!!) are now overweight. Be anything but normal, OP.

I leave you with some wisdom from my old mentor: "Those who run are those who can."

The older you get, the more wise it becomes.

Keepcleen wrote:

This was the post of the thread, 6 mos ago. I am a physician. I see ~30 patients a day. If I see ONE patient a week who is over 35 and truly fit, it's a miracle.

We live in a country where 70% of adults (!!!) are now overweight. Be anything but normal, OP.

I leave you with some wisdom from my old mentor: "Those who run are those who can."

The older you get, the more wise it becomes.

Had my check up a couple weeks back and I was shocked that the nurse thought it was a big deal that I take no medication.

The physician said that I am probably the healthiest person he will see in a month.

Kind of sad really.

This guy:

https://runningmagazine.ca/sections/runs-races/2016-golden-shoe-awards-runner-of-the-year-the-greatest-ed-whitlock/

Any more silly questions?

I sort of understand the feeling, intellectually. But I am way on the other end of the spectrum of that subject. Especially now that

, in my eighties, a sllog around the neighborhood is about it, I'd give anything to be able to get in the next 5k, marathon, or Dipsea, busting my ass to pass any and all high school kids or open runner. Never once in my fifty+ yrs of running and racing from mi to 50 mi did I ever not feel perfectly fine and appropriate out there. You are appropriate out there, man. FTITCTAJ! (has to do with taking a joke.) Enjoy it!

If you can beat competition by 2 minutes, chances are you can train for marathon and qualify for elite entry so that you can go compete in bigger races where you will have decent competition.

lonely at the top wrote:

I'm 30 and still somewhat competitive on the local scene (16 min and 33 min) . I see a lot of other local guys taking it too seriously and I admit I fall into that trap too, basically marking up the calendar with every St Patrick's, Memorial Day, July 4th race there is. It feels great to run in a close race, but when you win by 2+ minutes and realize you're the most serious runner that showed up, it feels silly. Like, getting nervous the night before and going through the whole process just to win by a huge margin where 2nd place is a 48 year old man....then doing a cooldown and standing around in your singlet waiting for that $50 giftcard like it's an olympic gold. It feels good to validate your training but at the same time, is isolating.

Actually, teenagers are not at their prime, they may have just a slight edge over someone in his early 40s.

4.78k wrote:

teenage wasteland the fake one wrote:

I won a race overall this fall. The next 5 finishers were teenagers. I felt like a jerk for being there, even more of one for beating them, and even more of one for staying around to accept the award. I felt extremely weird. I need a new hobby.

Pretty pathetic. Most teenagers should be able to beat someone twice their age. They must have really sucked.

teenage wasteland the fake one wrote:

I won a race overall this fall. The next 5 finishers were teenagers. I felt like a jerk for being there, even more of one for beating them, and even more of one for staying around to accept the award. I felt extremely weird. I need a new hobby.

Na, you just need to enter the right races. Look at previous years results in choosing what to run. It may be time that you've gotten fast enough that you need to travel to the biggest races in your region and not just run hometown 5ks.

Was at a Memorial Day race on Monday. A guy I knew in high school came up to me and said he was out watching his kids run (he was fat and obviously doesn't run anymore himself). He asked if I had kids out running. I said, no, I was there to run myself. The judgemental look was glaring from him. Like he was ashamed of me for still fooling around with running myself instead of raising kids.

It was weird. I'm weird. Running as an adult is weird.