"Everything in moderation" - The complete opposite of how competitive runners live.

That is a motto? I have never heard of "Everything" in moderation. As for distance running. It seems like the issue is to strive for extreme quality training, which you can't do striving for an extreme volume of miles.

happy daze wrote:

Letsrun posters, do you think "everything in moderation" is a good motto to live by? Distance running often seems to attract the all or nothing, moody, obsessive types who constantly wish they could run more miles, lose more weight, eat healthier, recover faster, etc. Why do those who get "hooked" on running seem to lose the ability to relax and take things easy and instead put running before everything else in their lives, even though they will never be completely satisfied with their training/racing?

Everything in moderation . . . even moderation.

It's a very boring way to live. I can't think of any great person in history about whom you could say "he was very moderate in all things".

Moderate is an odd term in running, I dont like to take easy days or days off, I always want to keep working on getting better. If you push yourself to hard you will either get injured or start to over train. Either one of those can delay if not stop your progress. For the world of competitive distance running I would say it is appropriate.

the trailblazer wrote:

Moderate is an odd term in running, I dont like to take easy days or days off, I always want to keep working on getting better. If you push yourself to hard you will either get injured or start to over train. Either one of those can delay if not stop your progress. For the world of competitive distance running I would say it is appropriate.

A very rare, insightful letsrun response.

+1

I think it's more a case of people who want to become good at something, really good, tend to fall into obsession pretty easily. And the practice of trying to become very good is practice for obsession; whether it's running, swimming, basketball, playing music, painting, writing, etc. The mental effort we put into our hobby/art/sport is a form of obsession, that, well-watered,leads us further toward that.

Balance is key; I had a great rugby coach teach me what when I was 14, and all I wanted to be was the greatest rugby player in the world. What he taught was that becoming that shouldn't be a singular focus. Easier to hear than to 'do', especially for a teenager, but he's completely right.

But - to be really great at something, I think it does require a certain amount of obsession; every musician I know who can really (I mean, REALLY) play, focused ridiculously hard on their music for at least part of their years; exclusively focused, to the detriment of some other aspects of their lives, in most cases. The lucky ones are the ones who bounce out of that focus.

Distance running attracts people with an "all or nothing" approach to life. It seems to attract the type of people who go all-out studying for exams and also the type who can't just have 3 or 4 beers.

What's considered moderate? 100mpw is like 90 minutes of running a day. I spend more time watching porn

sounds like me.

Steve Wilson is pretty much right.

when it comes to D1/pro distance running, especially for white Americans, a disproportionate amount of runners are complete perfectionists, especially women.

The girls who in high school stare with a crazed focus writing down every last word a teacher says while taking notes, to go home and study for 2 hours after practice.

The girls who cry like babies if they get less than an A- on an important exam.

The people who actually study for the SAT.

I was more of a laid-back personality, but most of the girls & guys on my team were completely obsessed with 1. running 2. grades. alot of them were Jesus freaks as well

Yeah, moderation is an odd thing. You can't be good at most things without being immoderate; however, you can't pursue immoderation without moderation. Like anothe poster said, immoderation will lead to a break in training which is the opposite of what immoderation demands.

I force myself to take easy days or days off specifically so I can run as hard as I can more days a year. Otherwise I'd probably miss more days from injury than by design.

I am an all or nothing kind of person when it comes to running. I want to be good so I pour everything I have into the sport. I want to do everything to succeed and If I can't do that I see no reason to even do it. Half assing is not an option. Either do it or don't. Now I am also a very laid back person. I work hard in running but I would like to think I can roll with the blows well. I have noticed that people with a laid back attitude who are also very serous about what they do have a mental advantage over those who do not have that ability to relax. I do not let bumps in the road get to me and I do not get overly emotional about my running. I have seen that it is not the all or nothing that gets people it is how they deal with living that kind of life style. You have to be all in to succeed but if you are not able to relax you will have a hard time getting there.

bump

Moderation won't make you great at anything. The saying applies more to a happy, balanced life. The people at the top are not the happiest people in the world.

When it comes to running, the idea is not to be "moderate" but to be "smart." You have to train like a beast and think/plan like a wizard.

You can do a lot of something without being obsessed. Most people work 40 hours a week - are they obsessed with work? No, just living their life.

Aristotle wouldn't have made a good runner. Too much moderation going on..

http://groups.drew.edu/philoso/Archives/Lotito/Aristotle%20and%20the%20Doctrine%20of%20the%20Mean.htm

Competitive drive. We're thirsty. Not complicated.

I don't see anyone saying that you should be "moderate" about smoking crystal meth or shooting heroin.

"Everything in moderation" is an excellent slogan for life. In Asia they call it "The Middle Path." It is one of the roots of Taoism and Buddhism, both. "Everything in Moderation" means, by the way, "Everything," including moderation itself. Essentially, the expression is a paradox, or a koan. How can "everything" be in moderation? Only if you're also moderate about your moderation.

As far as how this pertains to training for long distance: It's a beautiful philosophy. It is very close to "Train, Don't Strain." Don't you think? It means you don't kill yourself every time you step out the door or on to a track. You live to run another day. This doesn't mean you don't sometimes go out and bust a jam. It just means that you value consistency, training day in and day out, year in and year, MORE than any one killer workout you nail. If your desire is strong, and you put in intelligent work, your times have a way of taking care of themselves. My Coach had a word for all this: "Tough Moderation." Words to live by if you train and race long distances.