For those who quit running, what were the mental stages leading up to finally doing it?

If something doesn't bring you joy, take a break. Don't do it just because it's been the norm. Good luck.

Covid is real, btw.

Physical pain. When you reach the point where the activity is nothing but pain, then eventually you will break and give it up. You can't even enjoy going for a daily 4M jog around the neighborhood or park just to keep your weight down. Usually it's a knee, calf, Achilles thing that brings you to your end.

The thing is, you can still be around "the scene" meaning you can coach, work as an official, volunteer at road races, become an RD, etc.

You find an activity that is just as exhausting but more fun than running. For me cross country skiing and Ice Skating on natural lakes.

Spent a summer just not wanting to get out the door. Kept trying to force myself to for a month or so, and then...just stopped! Hiked, cycled, etc. to stay active for years instead. Now I run again, maybe 15mpw, but love being able to do other things and feel no pressure from it.

jamin wrote:

I think I might be on the cusp of finally quitting. I'm curious what are the typical mental stages leading up to it.

I was tired of being so skinny and scrawny. I wanted to look hotter and get laid more, I cared less about my running times.

10 years later, I run maybe 10-15 miles a week and do a lot of other physical activities. Running didn’t bring me the same joy as before, but looking good did.

I'm on the verge of stopping to compete, not quitting running altogether. It's too efficient as an aerobic workout to do that.

For me it has come in stages. I stopped running track races in 2016 because I wasn't prepared to do the kind of training needed to break my mid-distance prs, especially since I had moved somewhere else for work after finishing my degree and didn't have anyone to train with. I tried for a while but it was too tough to force myself to do the hard workouts.

I felt I had some unrealized potential in the 5k, 10k and Half so I targeted those until this summer. Got the times down pretty far but I ran my fastest last year. This year has been hampered by allergies, stuff related to corona and just a lack of motivation.

I targeted a half-marathon now in August but ended up DNF-ing due to the heat, and to be honest a lack of caring. I mostly did it because a friend of mine was running it and I was training with him.

The training doesn't give me the same satisfaction anymore. Especially the long-distance aerobic training has become tedious. I feel like I've pushed the envelope pretty far and to see improvement in times it requires a serious commitment. I'm not really interested in that and the other option is just training to stave off a decline in race-times. That isn't particularly motivating.

I might get the spark again sometime but for now I'm just gonna use it as a way to avoid becoming fat and stay in reasonable shape. Still do some workouts but not care how that relates to racing.

When burnout, either take a break or just go out on soft surfaces or nice parks and just walk and jog. Don’t worry about pace. Don’t worry about distance. Do some strides at the end. Maybe ride your bike to the starting point.

I've quit and made comebacks.

- The first time was my mental state was depression from a series of long term injuries. After not running a step for half a year training and racing weren't very fun. Then I was a college freshman without a car, so I was very limited on where I could run. No fun runs, same run every day, not on a team, I just stopped caring, my mileage dropped to around 10 mpw, and still had to deal with issues from the injuries.

- The second time I quit, I just didn't give a crap. I'd started a job with a weird schedule, where I started getting ready for work before 430 am, including every other weekend. Ya, I know some runner heroes do excellent training at 2 or 3 am in the morning, but when I had to give up doubles, I just felt there was no way to succeed. This was early in the 6 month long summers where I live. On top of all that, its too hot to run before an hour or so before sunset. So I was getting off work waiting for hours, not really able to do anything fun because I still had to run and then finishing my runs so late that I didn't want to make anything beyond a microwave dinner. May-September were like this. I never totally stopped running, but the degradation in my training saw me get so far from my prs that I just stopped caring. That lasted for about 3 years before I felt called back to the sport, even though the conditions hadn't changed.

Jamin - I offer you some serious advice.

1. Take a break from running. Spend the next month hiking, riding a bike, lifting , etc. to stay fit. If you find yourself getting the itch to run again in a month, do it. If not, then you know it's time to stop.

2. Take a break from LRC. Sometimes the constant fighting, back biting, comparisons, seeing elite results, and the like can feed any depression that running is causing you. Try a 30 day break from any running sites. Like a physical break from running, it may reinvigorate you or you'll find that you are not missing a thing.

3. Start hanging out with or trying to date non-runners. It really opens up a window into other life pursuits. Those that live running 100% of the time (married to a runner, friends are all runners, social life revolves around running) are some of the least happy people that I have ever met. When their running goes bad, their entire life sinks with it.

4. Take up some new hobbies. I recommend learning to cook / obtaining more sophisticated cooking techniques. This is a great skill for assisting with fitness goals and an attractive skill for a single man to have.

5. Find a new fitness goal. Try tackling a marathon, an ultra, a century ride, a multiday through hike, etc. I personally feel that your obsessive pursuit of a new 5K PR is causing your troubles. At 32, your best 5K and under racing days are likely behind you. Try something new and, perhaps, the fitness gained may translate to better 5K races. Your low miles/emphasis on quality approach is limiting you both physically and psychologically.

6. Consider moving away from Seattle. You complain a lot about the city and your posts from Boulder seemed brighter and more energetic. A change of scenery and employer might do you some good.

Best of luck!

you’ll regret it

So many mentally soft people in this thread.

kitt in wrote:

I was tired of being so skinny and scrawny. I wanted to look hotter and get laid more, I cared less about my running times.

10 years later, I run maybe 10-15 miles a week and do a lot of other physical activities. Running didn’t bring me the same joy as before, but looking good did.

You see this kind of thing posted fairly often on this site. I guess I’m just lucky that I can run half-decent weekly mileage and look sexy naked.

As for the OP, I’ve stopped running for 6-18 months a few times now. It’s always been rewarding to make a “comeback” and regain my fitness, but it’s never proven the end of the world to stop for a while—maybe good for me in the long run, no pun intended.

Your an adult with responsibilities and interests in a world of opportunity as far as recreation is concerned. You’ve committed a large segment of life to competing against yourself for a pipe dream that will never satisfy you. There are unlimited activities to learn and improve in, and you might find that merely acquiring new skills is much more satisfying then chasing better marks.

Injuries that just wouldn't go away. Tired of being in pain all the time (mostly achilles). Quit at 39.

First was the constant pain.

Second was hitting the weights and gaining 20 lbs of muscle in 3 months while injured, and literally everyone in my life constantly complimenting me on the ‘new me’ they saw.

You still going to post on here once you're done?

mattt london wrote:

When burnout, either take a break or just go out on soft surfaces or nice parks and just walk and jog. Don’t worry about pace. Don’t worry about distance. Do some strides at the end. Maybe ride your bike to the starting point.

Explains where I'm at at age 40. Life long runner and hope to keep it up forever. But I throw in a speed work out and an interval workout at random.

You want to do less then realize it’s still a whole lot of work to run slower than you used to and lose to people you used to beat.

Hard to find motivation to run after that.