Does running become more enjoyable after college?

Stress of college? Are you kidding? College is perhaps the easiest time in most people's lives.

You mean the stress of high level competition? College is the least stressful time of your life. Running is the most enjoyable while in college.

Savour every last moment.

You will miss it. Especially your team.

Running after college is great, but college running is basically peak. In every way really.

They must be business majors then

I majored in electrical engineering amd earned my masters in it also. Work is way harder. I put in 9-10 hours per day and only have 2 weeks off per year. College required a few hours per day and an hour of two of studying. Summers off. Christmas vacation. Spring break. I loved college. I like my job but life is way more stressful.

The answer probably depends on how team/socially oriented you are vs how much you love the individual slog of training. It’s very hard to replicate the team aspect even with running clubs. It’s not hard to keep at it on your own. I suppose I’m kind of in the middle, and I kinda miss the team but I find overall I can still get myself out the door. I also enjoy that since I’m just running for myself, I can take a day off if I really need it and there’s no worries about comparing myself to others. I also have accepted it’ll be hard to beat my college PRs so I’ve learned to enjoy trying new/different distances and I don’t take myself too seriously when it comes to who I beat or who beats me, I’m just trying to run times for my own sake.

Ive decided to take a stab at the longer distances, such as 5k 10k half, probably a marathon eventually. I find it easy to get in shape for those kinds of races, but in reality I dont intend on running unattached at any meets. Id like to step away from track unless I somehow become an elite level athlete, then I just might haha. Im content with exploring the roads and setting my sights on competitive road races.

I think college running is the most stressful job i’ve had, there’s a very different lifestyle between a nepo frat bro who’s cool with pulling a 2.1 GPA in his business/communications classes and partying 3 times a week and a guy who is paying his way through school/housing, going to class for a degree that will actually do something, working, trying to contribute and keep the team GPA over 3.5 or whatever, and maintaining solid athletic performance. Two totally different things and college lifestyles there.

OP is probably closer to the latter than the former.

My life has personally gotten a lot calmer after graduating. I make much more money off of less work, don’t have a 3000$ per semester bill to foot, and with running I have the liberty to choose when i’m gonna race, how i’m going to train, how hard i’m going to train, and when I want to run/lift/whatever. I still go enter meets where there will be fast and strong competition over middle distance where I specialize, but I can also now go run a road 10k or a half marathon/marathon where I dominate instead of getting lapped like I would in a collegiate track meet. I miss the feeling of representing a team, but I’ve got a good group of old HS/College teammates that meet up and run a few times per week and we are considering starting an official track/racing club.

It's not more or less enjoyable, just different. The biggest change is nearly what you suggest: that there is not so much anticipation anymore. In college it is hard to divorce the high-school-isms of "running leads to something" from the hobby-jogger "running is something you do". You'll have to view it as just something you do sooner or later...

You can build a similar sort of anticipation with a good club. You wont spend hours hanging with "the boys" as you probably used to, -- but there is something quite meaningful about waking up to see a running buddy / friend or two most mornings. Seeing yourself get very fit for the specific demands of a race is still just as fun and on an individual level what it is all about. Building a community around a running club is great too, -- as long as no one tries to replicate "their college days". In a word, the best thing to do is accept that it will be different, and move on.

For various reasons people transition to longer distances post college. There is no need to rush into this, but this is a great way to maintain enjoyment. At any level, preparing for your first marathon is a adventure like nothing else.

In all I'd say its been slightly more enjoyable, but both literally and figuratively your mileage may vary

Back when you attended in 1982, yes, it was indeed much easier than the post-information age demand put on students in the present day.

I earned my masters in EE three years ago. I ran 13:58 and was 7th man on a very good team. College was much less stressful than real life.

Running after college is awesome but life can certainly get in the way if you let it.

Anxiety, depression? Bro...life is going to eat you up. College life is EASY.

This can't be stated enough.

What kind of fluff degress did you people take? School was relentless.

I told you that I earned both an undergrad and masters in electrical engineering. My job is much more grueling than college was.

Ever heard of grade inflation?

Until my kids were born college was the happiest and most enjoyable time of my life. By extension, running was part of that. Life after college was different and so was running. I joined a club and made some good friends there. I improved my performances quite a lot after college which I mostly attribute to being self coached. But I missed being part of a college team. Running for a club was good but not as good as running for my college team. It's hard to separate running and life and for me each version of running was really satisfying and enjoyable. Because I liked college life much better than post college life maybe I liked college running better.

Computer Science, back in the mid-1990s. I also have an MS. I worked two campus jobs, took a full credit load, and still managed to drink 3-4 nights a week and have a helluva good time. I wish I could have stayed in for a fifth year (about half my friends took 5 years, I did it in four), but I needed to get to grad school and get out, to make money. This was also back in the day of 7:30 a.m. classes, which I am told now no longer exist. There are a host of other things that have made college easier on the newer generations. But they pay a lot more for it, that's for sure.