Does your family ignore your running?

When I was in junior high and high school my parents would ground me if I lost a race. So I think back and wish my family had no interest in all in my running.

My parents have always been supportive of my running. They know what meets are important and traveled all over to watch them. My dad knows my times and competitors (all the details), but my mom has no clue. It is ok because she is there cheering me on. She does appreciate all the hard training I put in though. She said to me once the I really admire your dedication, what your doing is not easy and you have been doing it for the last 10 years and are continuing. Not many people have that drive.

Does your running cause YOU to IGNORE your family

I abhor skittles wrote:

Does your running cause YOU to IGNORE your family

If you didn't ignore my posts you would be able to answer that question

lonely runner wrote:

I abhor skittles wrote:

Does your running cause YOU to IGNORE your family

If you didn't ignore my posts you would be able to answer that question

Hah! Good response. Obviously you have to do it for yourself, but the positive example you set for your kids may sink in someday. Keep the faith!

My parents have always been extremely supportive. The funny thing is that my grandparents are actually mad at my parents for "allowing me" to run instead of doing another sport. They have never watched me run, won't ask me anything about it, and always encourage me to take up golf. I think they feel that running is a waste of time because the chances of making any money are very slim. This seems strange to me because I wouldn't imagine that I could make money playing golf or tennis considering the level of talent it requires(which I don't have).

I think this may be more of a cultural thing than just your particular family. For example, in Japan, where marathon running is very popular, I bet families come out in droves to support runners. Not so here. I've learned to live with it and actually I tend to meet more people and make more friends than if I had the family along. So, it has its benefits.

Part of it is that to any but the knowledgable fan, running can be boring to watch. Even 5:00 pace doesn't necessarily look that fast to the untrained eye, especially when everyone stays pretty close together. And if it's cross-country, they might only get to see you once or twice during the entire race.

Don't take it too hard.

Interesting thread. I ran 4 years of cross country and track in High School and I can count on one hand how many times my Dad came to watch me run. Running was not his sport. I don't think he could run 400 meters without stopping. He was big into football and basketball which my brothers played and he never missed a home game and attended many away games as well. I didn't really care at the time but I did envy those kids whose parents always seemed to find time to watch them run.

Fast forward to the present. I'm in my mid 40s and have been running marathons for the past few years. My parents actually came to watch me in one of my marathons and told me afterwards they really enjoyed the whole race. They think its amazing that someone my age can actually run that far. My Dad now tracks me on-line when I run big city marathons. He gets a big kick out of it now.

Regarding my wife and kids. My wife usually attends but I'm not sure how well she enjoys it. She told me that the best sign she saw at a Marathon was "If you think running a marathon is hard, trying watching one". Overall though she's a good sport. She and the kids went to New York with me and they walked miles along the course to see me. Every time my girls see me, they get inspired to keep in shape and run. That is one of the reasons I run; to set a good example for my children.

My wife doesn't care much about my running. But I think that's for three reasons:

1). I tend to run in the evenings and I don't think she likes the fact that I'm away for an hour or two.

2). It makes her feel lazy because she doesn't like exercising.

3). She thinks it's a waste of time because I'm not good enough to make money doing it.

my dad hates that i run, he doesnt understand why i still run after college. i have a job and i like to work out. i think its jealousy that im young, have a good job, abs gf etc. he's put on weight and is on disability. him and my grandpa always say sit down you'll hurt your back like us, but they ran track for a combined two years. i think the drinking and manual labor has more of an effect on their backs.