What pisses you off about running?

OVERTRAINING

The concept itself is counterintuitive and confusing. Living it is hell.

Those color runs that peg themselves as "races" and don't time you. For god's sake get off your ass and train to get a good time!

Exactly. The weird/worse part is people who have never run, actually partake in these events. Who pays for these races that don't even time? Support real races that benefit the running community.

I'm also bothered by every distance offering medals. Let's just leave it to the marathons and up.

nj_84i wrote:

OVERTRAINING

The concept itself is counterintuitive and confusing. Living it is hell.

Running is so annoying for reaching one's full potential because you need to find the perfect combination of form, body weight, mileage/intensity buildup, and related variables, with the price of getting them slightly wrong being that you get injured and have to start back from square 1.

Granted: hardcore participants in every sport have to deal with being sidelined with injury. The difference is that in sports that are based more on skill and natural athleticism (agility, jumping, coordination, etc.), one can quickly get back to a competitive level.

As a result, runners (by that I mean non-sprinters) are more insecure, narcissistic and obsessive than people not enconsed in fitness-based sports.

Coming to terms that you aren't as fast as you used to be.

Injury is the only real answer for those who have been seriously hurt.

Before that shit befell me, though, what pissed me off about running was being vaguely sore all the time. That and how long it took to recover from hard efforts.

Oh my god, seeing a man's legs. Gay is is now OK. No problem. But we've decided that men's legs should no longer be seen. Very dumb.

That genetics plays such a big role.

Multiple things.

Injuries, the damage it can do to the body. You can be great at it in your 20's and 30's, and then discover in your 40's and 50's that you've ruined your leg health, orthopedic health, that you've genetically, or athletically induced arthritis, or an inflammatory disorder.

I know a number of guys from the 70's and 80's who've had to have knee replacements, hip replacements, even ankle replacements (can you imagine?).

On the pro side, what bothers me is the way all the shoe companies take advantage of sponsoring so few athletes, and at such low pay contracts.

There are also too many weird athletes, geeks and freeks, nerds, and tons of back and in fighting with jealousy over who got a better contract from company X,Y, or Z, who didn't deserve it over "me."

Whining, spoiled children acting, beeches.

The sport is on Life Support, Nike, and everyone wants to bitch about that. Nike has subsidized the sport and kept it alive during dark times, and no they aren't perfect, but people on this board need to not see things so black and white, and see things more maturely and realistically.

stooof wrote:

The sport is on Life Support, Nike, and everyone wants to bitch about that. Nike has subsidized the sport and kept it alive during dark times, and no they aren't perfect, but people on this board need to not see things so black and white, and see things more maturely and realistically.

Wut???!!!

The sport is dying because Nike and IAAF/USATF support drugs and cheating.

Much of what is voiced here is perphireral to the running many of you are doing. Those talking about injuries are really addressing the inability to run, not running itself. Those who mention five hour marathoners are talking about people who don't understand what the sport is.

I'm 61, and because I'm losing my eyesight, I'm now restricted to the treadmill and do a pathetic 30 mph. Not long ago, I had a chat with an old training partner of mine, a guy I regularly did twenty mile training runs with more than thirty years ago. He's 69 now, and as a result of multiple surgeries, walks with a limp. He said to me-- don't ever stop. Be glad you can run at all.

Forget all the stuff that doesn't matter. Forget the five hour marathoners, the dilution of the sport, the drug use at the elite level, and the injuries.My old training partner is right.We've discovered a secret: when all the rest of it is stripped away, what's left-- the running-- is a wonderful, life shaping undertaking. Be happy you're in on the secret.

What pisses me off about running? Absolutely nothing.

How much I sweat. Regardless of distance or effort, after I run I look like I took a shower.

Thank you, old man.

This guy just won LRC today

Good post, I like it. Thanks for sharing.

I'd have to say exercise deprivation due to injuries.

I hate not being able to sleep, being irritable, depressed, and gaining weight because the thing I love to do I can't do anymore.

a competitor from way back wrote:

What I call running relativism. Everybody's a winner. Finisher medals for everyone and the idea that a 5 hour marathon is as good as 2:30, if not better because the 5 hour marathoner is out there twice as long.

Agree with competitor... While I don't want to diminish any joy or achievement of our sport, the plaudits heaped upon those whose performances are on the bottom of the race results compared to those who run well seems to me like praising to high-handicap golfers.

You're not a hater or a grouch if you better appreciate a fence-clearing home run of Major League or AAA ball over one scored during the comedic scramble in 8-year-old tee ball.

When a car drives by that doesn't yell "woo hoo!" or "nice legs!"

I hate how much I don't like running. Right now I hate running just slightly less than how much I hate *not* running. The only reason I get out the door every day is because I know how mad I'll be at myself tomorrow if I don't run. I'm very worried that at some point the scale will tip slightly in the other direction and I'll lose my only motivation. I'm in probably the best shape I've been in since high school, and I just don't really care.