No one is talking about snubbing their perfectly nice coworker (talk about poor analogies) or otherwise being rude. And I do commonly hear sentiments such as "the people I have the most respect for are the ones out there for 5 1/2 to 6 hours." Perhaps your experience is different (eg you have never heard of Runner's [sic] World).In any case, I am a midpacker, but I when I finish an event, cool down, chat with friends, have that postrun beer or 3, and head home a bit later, I still see people out on the course finishing up. I think I'm supposed to well up with misty pride and respect for the heroes at the back of the pack. But I don't. I suppose I wish them well, but mostly I wonder what in the world they're doing. The same as I might, if they were all sitting motionless staring at a blank wall.Is it good those people are doing something? I guess. But what personal trainer would ever prescribe waking up at 5am and going for a 6 hour shuffle? They'd be much better walking for an hour, maybe 20-30 of weights or a yoga class, and spending the balance of the time on sleep.But they're out there, because we have collectively decided really slow marathons are a real accomplishment, and so "26.2" is now on a lot of bucket lists, and oval sticker printers are doing great. I am just not sure this is terribly healthy or creates lifelong runners. I know plenty of people who endured the misery of marathon training, including multiple 5-6 hour long 'runs', and concluded "running sucks" and have never been back. If they'd never heard of slow marathoning & just focused on breaking a 1:00 10K, they'd probably still be running (and 50 lbs lighter).tl;dr Mr. Penguin has popularized/mythologized slow marathoning and profited from it, and good for him, but I am not sure it is noble, or healthy, or effective at creating lifelong runners.
genuine random a hole wrote:
I don't think what you believe to be common actually is. Of course the Olympic champ is the hero. Thing is, I have never run in to one. I don't have 3 or 4 that work in my office. If I did then I would give him proper praise (or respect). So I congratulate the 50 yr old woman in my department that ran her first half marathon in 2:30. I respect the accomplishment and dedication of the guy in the office that runs his 19:00 5K and understand that he puts more into his running than the woman I mentioned. We do encourage the bad math student that tries and gets better. Your surgeon analogy is poor, that is a profession. I would congratulate somebody that passed some sort of respectable first aid class. Running is different because (unless it is your job) it is a hobby.