jamin wrote:
Running just feels like a "chore." For example, I haven't done any tempo runs in a long time, and I get this nagging stress in my brain that I probably need to do a tempo run soon.
Why do you run at all?
What do you hope to achieve by running?
Do you enjoy it?
Its worth it, because it is.
Up to this point you've done it your entire life, so it must have at least meant something. Why alter course now.
vcvcvc wrote:
this isn't burnout.
i am a few minutes away from heading to the track to do a workout.
i am highly motivated. i run 75 miles a week, but will do more when fully recovered.
this isn't midlife crisis. i felt this way 20 years ago
this is an indictment of a way of life and living when you put running first. i mean really put it first. when you want to be not good, but great.
this is training and living like a Kenyan in America. and it is not worth it. if it were the only way to make it - then yes it would be. but in this country there are so many better ways to live. go find them.
i will stay on this path for the next 40 years because i am too far down the road to turn back. J-man is not. he can still have a life. a real life if he figures it out now.
look at all the successful and happy people in this sport, what to they do?
they start a web site for runners - like Wejo and bro
they write a book and coach - like Magill
they coach and teach - like Magness
they don't just keep running
remember how that old masters world record guy - forget his name, Whitlock - who ran for hours in a cemetery would take about his running. exactly like Jamin does. it is a chore. a bore. a task. a thing you do because you have nothing else. now there good days, don't get me wrong. hell there are great days when you are on top of the world. there are workout beyond what others would even believe you could do ( i once ran a 16 mile am run and came back in the afternoon for 24 more mile) for a 40 mile days. i once ran 30 miles in low 7:00 pace, followed that up with an evening track workout of 400 = slower than crap but amazingly did another 30 the next day- again in low to mid 7:00 pace. that felt great!!! but who cares. no one believe you in the first place so you can't go around sharing it with people. but for what purpose does it serve? it only have one purpose to be self serving. running in the forest without anyone to see or hear - is not a life.
get a real life, run if you want to j-man
but you have to have people around you
you are headed down the wrong path
I've given this dilemma a lot of thought. Take a very talented runner like Grant Fisher. A Stanford grad, and by all accounts, a super smart guy. I think he graduated with an EE degree, so NO slouch academically. His peers are getting 6 figure jobs right out of college and the earning potential and the potential for a satisfying and stimulating non runner career is great. So instead he devotes himself for the next decade or more to a pro running career. He likely will win a national championship or two, and make an olympic team or two. Maybe he wins a global medal, but more likely not. Still, pretty amazing of course, but he comes to the end of this career now a decade or more behind his peers in terms of his next career. Given his peer group he has lost money in comparison to them. Was it worth it? For some the choice seems obvious, and in this moment I suspect it is for Fisher, but you wonder.
Jamin,
If it "feels like misery" and you don't need to do it to pay your bills, take a break from running. That could be one day, a week or longer. You'll know when it's time to go back. Running will call you back when the time is right and when you come back it'll be fun again. We've all been there, man. Running is a part of life. It is not life.
GFD
PS: And this is coming from a guy that hasn't taken a day off running in over 400-something days. You need a break!
Two high teammates, one is blessed with speed and athleticism the other a middle of the road runner. The fast runner becomes used to the adulation of others due to his running and he goes on to an outstanding career in college. After college he figures to use his god given abilities and he dedicates the next ten years to becoming the most accomplished professional runner as possible. After ten years he needs to find another career and has to start from ground zero.
His slow high school teammate knows running is not in his future. He devotes time and effort to education and his profession. Ten years after college he is doing quite well.
Looking back at high school, who was really blessed the gifted runner or the slow runner who was able to devote energies to a lucrative career?
You're a hobbyist, if it's a hobby you don't enjoy then drop it and find one you do enjoy. This doesn't really require a whole lot of thought or verbiage.
I would back off "training" and instead just do easy runs to let your mind and body recover. No pressure, just relax and sniff the breeze and enjoy the NCAA's, Trials and Olympics. After they're all over re-evaluate yourself. If you still feel the same way then maybe it's time to hang them up competitively. You can still do local road races.
On the upside after some R&R and watching the big meets you may be rejuvenated and motivated to resume. But if not, there's no shame in it. Even world class runners face this decision like we all have.
Best of luck.
truth of it wrote:
Two high teammates, one is blessed with speed and athleticism the other a middle of the road runner. The fast runner becomes used to the adulation of others due to his running and he goes on to an outstanding career in college. After college he figures to use his god given abilities and he dedicates the next ten years to becoming the most accomplished professional runner as possible. After ten years he needs to find another career and has to start from ground zero.
His slow high school teammate knows running is not in his future. He devotes time and effort to education and his profession. Ten years after college he is doing quite well.
Looking back at high school, who was really blessed the gifted runner or the slow runner who was able to devote energies to a lucrative career?
The pro.
If he lives frugally, he will never need to work again once he retires from running in his early 30s. The slow guy, OTOH, can't do that unless he is really good at what he does and can pull in at least $200K/year soon after graduation.
Go park outside of a weight watchers and watch the stream of fatties walk through the door (or go to a water park in the south):
single = freedom wrote:
truth of it wrote:
Two high teammates, one is blessed with speed and athleticism the other a middle of the road runner. The fast runner becomes used to the adulation of others due to his running and he goes on to an outstanding career in college. After college he figures to use his god given abilities and he dedicates the next ten years to becoming the most accomplished professional runner as possible. After ten years he needs to find another career and has to start from ground zero.
His slow high school teammate knows running is not in his future. He devotes time and effort to education and his profession. Ten years after college he is doing quite well.
Looking back at high school, who was really blessed the gifted runner or the slow runner who was able to devote energies to a lucrative career?
The pro.
If he lives frugally, he will never need to work again once he retires from running in his early 30s.
Fairy tale BS. Even Rupp will have to work once pro running is done. Shorter did, Rodgers did, JBS did, Jones did, Coogan does, Sell does, Hall does, Culpepper does, Ritz does, Webb does, etc.
If anyone remembers Chris Lukezic, he was one of the US top milers in the mid 2000's. He retired at 25 and never looked back.
Well........I think you have 2 options now;
1) Take your last chance to train structured and smart with my Dancan system and see what happens.
2) Just run for fun and keep healthy and fit for the rest of your life.
Best wishes. :)
- The Magician -
I saw you keep pace with Engels for some laps. Great work! Looks like you could benefit from some weight loss and lengthening your stride some. Also work on reducing your excessive shoulder twisting. Better luck next time.
I think the thing is, what works is the group thing.
Running sucks for the most part. Getting beat sucks more.
When I have been running my best, it's when i work out fairly regularly (but not every day) with a group, and I find myself doing my damnedest to not get beat, and to whup on somebody in front of me.
Then, on the off days, I was busy doing what i needed to do so i would be even more competitive the next time we were going to get together.
I think that's just human nature.
Maybe putting yourself in that kind of environment a couple of days per week might help.
Stop running competitively.
Run for fun.
Lift weights. Get stronk.
Alan
Justice wrote:
Looks like you could benefit from some weight loss
Duly noted
Spend a month doing something different -- get a road bike and appropriate gear and ride at least four times a week for at least 25-35 miles at a time. Only run on the off days if you feel like it. You may end up refreshed, or you may end up with a new hobby. Or both.
Probably a vaccine side effect, Jamin
Hit the trails and don't wear a watch till you feel better.
Find a female to exercise with.
Iām a D2 female runner. Our coach explicitly told us not to visit LetsRun forums.
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