I really thought about how unusual it is to have long runs be something that's just part of the weekend.

Hobby is as hobby does.

Non-runners simply don’t understand

Yeah,I caught a lot of flack for years for gearing my weekends--excepting for special events--around my running club's long run. It always started at my house in Napa close to the golf course/ country club (of which I was decidedly not a member!) sunday mornings, while other Napans were heading to their churches or the golf course seven or 10 of us middle age men in shorts and shoes were heading for the hills out back of the golf course--for an out and back 22 miler. We rarely hung together like a nice social group but by the turn-around had strung out and were saying and signing rude things to each other--in the friendliest way of course.

Anyway, we didnt and I didnt think it a strange way to use the weekend. Those other people didnt know a proper church when they saw one or socially appropriate crazies when they trotted by. My wife disagreed with my assessment. Oddly it seemed most people in the area saw us as, well, not quite normal. People are strange.

43m. Gave up the hardcore running lifestyle last year. I lived this for years. I would fret and stress about when I would get it done. Did it matter that it would annoy my wife? Nope. Did it matter that I might forgo a fun night with friends? Nope. It would be in the back of my mind until I found a time to get it done.

Why? To run a 4:50 mile, 17 5K and 1:20 HM (my point being none of those are special). My wife and kids didn’t care - I was just Dad.

I had a back injury 11/23 that almost made me disabled (severe L5:S1 herniation). Made me take almost 8 months off. Tried to start running again but the fire was gone. The time off made me realize how much life I was missing by constantly thinking about running.

It’s absolutely freeing. When I get home from work now I enjoy my family and sleep in with them on the weekends. If I want to go for a jog when I have time I go. If I don’t have time? Who cares. I eat well, take care of myself and still find to exercise - whether it be rowing or lifting or running.

To those who wonder what you’ll do after running. You’ll be just fine. I promise.

I see the appeal to this, but at the same time I know myself well enough to know that if I wasn't committed to a physical hobby I'd sit on my fat ass all day. Not saying it's that way for everyone, but it sure is for me.

Didn’t say I’m not committed to a physical hobby. I still exercise as much as possible. But I’m not shackled by it. The biggest change is eating. I’ve had to reduce calorie intake by a lot.

I liked that running made me unusual and that my running friends seemed unusual too.

My post was deleted for asking the viewpoints of those who downvoted me (the majority at the time). Odd. I’ll try again. I’m genuinely curious.

There's something I envy about this.

Frankly, though, I kind of like scheduling everything I do around when I'm going to run. I think it builds discipline and gives life a little structure.

Whenever I take a week or two off, I find I'm eating worse (there's no better incentive to eat well than not wanting to feel like crap on your run the next day), sleeping worse, being less productive and lazier, etc.

Of course I could break those bad habits with discipline, but it all tends to fall into place easily when I make a point of never ever missing a day of running (unless I'm sick or something). Plus running is something I truly enjoy so it's not hard to make that kind of commitment.

And yeah, that eating thing also is a big downside. The years of being on a 3000+ calorie diet have made it very hard to think about having to eat a normal amount.

That’s not a healthy mindset at all. Especially when your body stops allowing to pound out 16 milers.

It's based on what I actually did before I started running. How I'll stay active when it gets to the point that I can't have something I'm committed to, and working to improve at I'm not sure. I could possibly switch to something other than running entirely to fill that void, but I really struggled with getting consistent exercise before I decided to commit to trying to improve my running.

Yes your times may have been slow but they may be fast relative to you and in fact special! Running times and performances are relative to the individual.

they are also relative to other standards. and by almost all standards except collegiate/professional running, those times are not "slow," especially for a 43 year old. in fact, my guess is this guy was consistently winning his age group or at least in its top 5 at races.

as usual, letsrun has no conception of just how much faster a typical runner on this board is than virtually all people who compete in open participation races

Church of the Sunday Long Run! Been a faithful member for over 50 years. Praise be.

I am also a weekend long run person but I have found that as I get older, I can't do back-to-back hard days (Sat. & Sun.) though at the same time, I hate wasting a day when I have so much time and daylight.

So I went hard yesterday and now I am looking out at this beautiful Sunday knowing I should make the most of it (long run). Yet at the same time, I know my body should not be doing +13 miles after what I did yesterday.

That is the challenge I am facing at +50 years of age. If I do a real long run today, I will be a wreck for most of the coming week...