How’s he an ass, he just doesn’t enjoy what he does. You can just feel bad for him that he’ll never enjoy what he does daily. Hope he finds something he likes.
I was following Anas for almost 4 years. He is doing great performances starting last year but I hardly see in the Top 5 of worldwide elite. Maybe from the performance of this year he is in the Top 10. He particularly suffer from a mental weakness in the official championships.
There is a young boy called "Ayoub EZZIANI" coached by Khalid Skah and from a six months of training he is beating great on him, a talented runner with redoubtable finish.
Kind of bad ass, but it makes me wonder if his coach could switch things up to make it more pleasant. Training should not be awful except on rare occasions. It sounds like classic overtraining to me, but it could be lots of things that a good coach might fix. Or maybe he's right and he's just stuck in a career he dislikes, like a billion others around the globe.
Lots of highly accomplished runners don't really like running. Think of all the college runners that quit at graduation... and how many letsrun posters no longer run because they stopped setting PRs.
Guess what happens to competitive runners who do love running...they become hobby joggers when their PR say are over.
How’s he an ass, he just doesn’t enjoy what he does. You can just feel bad for him that he’ll never enjoy what he does daily. Hope he finds something he likes.
The people that get most upset are hobby joggers that have their entire self-image and self-worth tied to running. The sort of dorks that are inspired by influencers. The nerds that always talk about getting an OTQ or BQ but never actually doing the right training to achieve it. Mostly, they are angry that they spend a lot of time and effort on this sport with the knowledge that they lack talent while seething that a talented specimen gets results despite not loving the sport.
He’s free to think whatever he wants, of course. But I am always mystified when athletes occasionally admit to this sort of thing. If I were among the best in the world at anything, I would want to do it a lot. I would enjoy being great. I guess I just don’t understand why someone would consider it drudgery. I don’t know that it’s fair of me, but I always suspect childishness, like an excess of self regard, that makes young athletes feel that way. Like I said, I don’t know if that’s fair because I don’t have this young man’s experience.
There are many who aren’t made for it but love it. Hell, in basketball, often times the nest coaches were not former stars as players. Coach K was far from a star player but loved the game became a GOAT coach. So no, I am not surprised someone can be that good and accomplished but not love it. Humans are complex.
How’s he an ass, he just doesn’t enjoy what he does. You can just feel bad for him that he’ll never enjoy what he does daily. Hope he finds something he likes.
The people that get most upset are hobby joggers that have their entire self-image and self-worth tied to running. The sort of dorks that are inspired by influencers. The nerds that always talk about getting an OTQ or BQ but never actually doing the right training to achieve it. Mostly, they are angry that they spend a lot of time and effort on this sport with the knowledge that they lack talent while seething that a talented specimen gets results despite not loving the sport.
Maybe, but it's not relevant to this situation is it?
He also might have mild depression and feel empty inside and not really enjoy much of anything he does. And running is hard work, especially running hard and racing, and it is a grind, and why would he enjoy it? This is no surprise. Many NFL players don’t really like football, and especially practice, as former NBA player AI would say, we’re talking about practice. And the grind is not always going to be appreciated, but maybe in hindsight he will see there were pockets of enjoyment, and some fleeting satisfaction which drove out the emptiness for a time.
jakob has come around to change his tune at least to the extent that he seems to LOVE to compete. He also talks about the injuries giving him an appreciation for actual running.
As for myself, i rarely enjoy running, but I enjoy the social aspect of it, the goal setting nature, and being fit.
I have to talk myself into going for a run 90% of the time.
I've had periods where I was excited to try a new workout though. I feel bad for this guy.
It's not at all unusual to be good at something you don't really enjoy. There's quite a few footballers who dislike football, they're just really good at it. It's a job. You don't have to love what you're doing to put in maximum effort, to take pride in doing the job well. Most people only have a finite number of choices, they can't fall back on family wealth if they want to give it all up and follow their real passion.
To me it sounds like he's just kind of over-dramatizing the fact that running is hard work. I think almost all runners would agree with some version of "I don't like the running itself so much; it's more about being competitive/working towards a goal/being on a team/improving at something/doing something I'm pretty good at, etc.".
TBH, it sounds like he's fishing for compliments: "And yet - here I am. Still competing. Still running. Still showing up." Give me a break. You have an ability that takes you all over the world, pays for college, makes people want to like you...the one downside is, it's hard work. Boo hoo.
Even Jakob says he gets nervous and his heart rate goes up before a hard training session. There are plenty of pro's who say they need to psych themselves up for training hard, day in, day out. It's a drag sometimes.
Usain Bolt famously hated training, but obviously had clear purpose and goals.