Track Session Almost Ruined by Jogger Love-In

You wouldn't have this problem if you were actually running fast. People always get out of lane one on any track I've seen when you're running fast.

Maybe it's that they know I'm not moving or stopping. Or maybe it's that my Quad is bigger than many people's waist, but they all move.

I'm just glad this thread is actually about nothing more than the older folks taking up the space on the track

From "Jogger Love-In" your title implied, I was afraid they'd be getting their shaky hands into each other's velour track suits and bumping uglies in the bleachers or on the infield

I found that most hobby joggers, especially in groups, are pretty good about moving over because they don't want to give their group a bad name. but unless you ask them, you have no right to complain.

after the 2 miler, all you needed to do was jog over to them, and ask "hey, any chance i can have the inside lane for the next 10 minutes or less, then i'll be out of your way for good".

if you would have done that, i'm going to guess they would have cheered you on for the rest of the workout.

JoeGarland wrote:

Their coach, an Olympian from down-under, said "Take it easy Mate". If someone like that is so lackadaisical, what can we expect from others?

Who was the coach? I can probably give an opinion on whether he/she is an arsehole or not which should keep the entertainment going for another couple of pages.

I've lived in many different size cities and most of the time the track is locked.

Soccer fields usually work out pretty well for speed work and crazy interval training. You really do not need to time anything unless you are running a set number of minutes.

Arthur Lydiard was very clear about the over doing of interval work. Most people do way to much of it.

Bronxville track is short?

No wonder Mary Cain sucked after high school.

I've dealt with plenty of joggers on the track, and in situation where for whatever reason I couldn't swing out and pass in lane 2, I would usually just holler something like "Coming up on lane 1," and that was sufficient to get them to move aside. After a few laps of this they got the idea and stayed out of lane one.

Now one time in high school I can remember when we had a workout while the football team was practicing, and some parents of the players came out to watch and set up their lawn chairs in lane one, and REFUSED to budge.

THAT was annoying, but we did have a good time shaving so close behind them they would flinch when we'd pass.

JoeGarland wrote:

There's a small cinder oval in the northwest part of Central Park, maybe 300 meters. Useful for speedwork now and then.

The Great Hill oval is a complete disaster now. Last time I tried to do some quality work there it was a menagerie mobbed with about 20 people walking their dogs around the track. This was early -- around 5:45am. Half of the dogs were not even on leashes. I had to jump over a few to avoid collisions and got nasty stares and a few yells from the owners (as if a guy running had no right to be on a track). Then, when I finished and was cooling down, one of dogs followed me well off the hill and back onto the road -- owner completely MIA despite my attempts to call out for someone to get control of their dog.

I have no idea why anyone would rather walk their dog around and around a cinder track than take advantage of the ENTIRE FREAKING PARK just outside of it.

How was your workout ruined? You can run the same distance regardless of what lane you are in.

Hills are never crowded and they're your friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEILA! WE LOVE YOU!

GRV4 wrote:

How was your workout ruined? You can run the same distance regardless of what lane you are in.

UGH! He said his workout was ALMOST ruined!

Gosh guys, why can't you just read his petty little post and feel outraged for him!

I've been running track workouts for a lot of years, in many places. Never once had anyone do anything that prevented me from working as hard as my own mind and body would allow. If the inner couple lanes are being used, move out a lane or two. The distance of both 1 & 2 turn staggers are right there to see. Multiply for longer intervals.

Focus on the running. The rest is not a big deal.

Watch a video or two of the track in Iten, Kenya. And reflect.

patriot grad wrote:

Soprano wrote:

Wish I had access to a track that I could complain about. As is, I have to climb a ten foot fence whenever I want to do a track workout as all the high schools in my area (Northern VA) lock up their tracks when not in use by teams. Never had this problem when I lived in upstate NY, Indiana or Arizona. In my hometown I could do workouts during the school day or at 3AM and no one ever cared.

GMU has a nice track. You can drive to fairfax and park on the side of the road or the neighborhood behind the athletic area. I was there for 2 years and don't recall the track ever being inaccessible unless a meet was going on. They don't have any policies about walkers, but people rarely walk there.

Ayyy I remember this

Look, princess, no matter how special you think you are, the reality is you're wearing a tiara made of tin.

Share the track and quit whining.

sc42 wrote:

Watch a video or two of the track in Iten, Kenya. And reflect.

There's only one lane:

No you fool. Bottom line is no hobby jogger should expect ANYTHING coming out of tax payer funded track space. It is there for ALL people to enjoy (absent real athletes doing real workouts). For a hobby jogger to complain about other hobby joggers clogging up certain lanes is comical at best.

calm down dear wrote:

Bottom line is that track space should be used and enjoyed by people of all abilities but if someone is there doing a workout then they should be allowed to use the inner lanes and not expect to be blocked by joggers / walkers / moms etc.