Track Session Almost Ruined by Jogger Love-In

This, seriously.

I consider myself a really big a-hole on the internet and a pretty big a-hole in real life, but I've never once in my life ever yelled "track" or considered scaring hobby joggers who are using a track which their tax dollars subsidized and paid for. They have as much of a right of way as you, unless of course the school team itself is actually running practice on the track in which case access should be restricted to non-athletes.

The sport of track is available for all, and that includes the hobby jogging mom.

look at this wrote:

Many tracks have staggered start lines marked for 4x200: run entirely in lanes.

pinpoint on on gmaps and post a link.

If you are talking about the 4x400 relay start, that's not 800m to the finish in the lane, it's 800m after 3 turns and then a break to the kerb on the backstretch. You could pace off an approximate 800 start from the 400m start though.

formerD1 wrote:

This, seriously.

I consider myself a really big a-hole on the internet and a pretty big a-hole in real life, but I've never once in my life ever yelled "track" or considered scaring hobby joggers who are using a track which their tax dollars subsidized and paid for. They have as much of a right of way as you, unless of course the school team itself is actually running practice on the track in which case access should be restricted to non-athletes.

The sport of track is available for all, and that includes the hobby jogging mom.

You've never shouted track at someone to avoid collisions?

What about when a small group are standing still looking in a different direction?

Or when a particular group/individual is suddenly stopping after passing a certain point on the track right in front of you?

Or if younger runners are walking across the track widthways?

Shouting track is not rude. It's the same as using a bell on a bicycle. If you didn't then a person might suddenly go in front of you without warning and you'd both get hurt.

This is the same problem on the freeways in America. Americans dont know how to use lanes properly and just sit in the fast lane thinking that they own it. I bet 98% of the people who replied to this thread do that, lol.

All of them hogged the inside lanes and by the time it got to my last 800m, I was forced wide into lane 6. People looked at me with complete bewilderment as though I was running bollock naked simply because I was running at some kind of speed and with some kind of effort.

Almost ruined = wasn't ruined

Let me guess - you "almost" said something to the hobby joggers, didn't you?

formerD1 wrote:

Lover of motor carriages wrote:

And idk what kind of program you ran at where athletes from different sports came to your track practices? I've never heard of that. Maybe in junior high track...[quote]formerD1 wrote:

Uhm I guess your school didn't have a football program where the football players would run sprints on the track in the spring? Or swimmers who would do laps on the track? The soccer players were usually good about running on their own elsewhere although they did come to the track on occasion to do repeats with us. We even had swimmers come and do plyos on their own, never understood how plyos would help their swimming.

Yes of course we did, and we weren't allowed at their practices and just like they weren't allowed ours. Lol I seriously doubt you went d1. Like lets shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship money then let every Joe Schmoe from the neighborhood and every club sport join in on our practices.

I'm suspicious of formerD1, he sounds like he's never been to a track and when he was at "track practice" he was accompanied by the football players and swimmers and soccer players?

Like I said above maybe in junior high you'd have athletes from other sports using the track during your team practice but definitely not at a D1 program.

JoeGarland wrote:

There's a small cinder oval in the northwest part of Central Park, maybe 300 meters. Useful for speedwork now and then. I once was doing that when a group with a coach came and started jogging in the inside. I shouted "Track" to get them out of the way. 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?

FWIW my team does tempo runs up there occasionally and its not hard to avoid people. Most people move over after they see you HIGH VELOCITY ELITE RUNNER pace otherwise it's not hard to move to the outside. Honestly I prefer the outside because there aren't as many divots to potentially screw up you ankles.

Also, the track is 333m if you were ever wondering.

The solution is so blatantly simple. In this situation, you just ask the organizer/leader of the group if they would mind keeping their folks out of lane 1 for x more minutes because you wanted to finish up a workout. The chances of them saying no would be slim to none, but if they did say no, that's life.

All of those workouts can be done anywhere. The OP is not one of the best in the world and neither are you.

Tracks are for actual speed workouts, race specific practice or races..

Of course the 50 lap people should banned but that's neither here nor there.

at a local gym with treadmills I am running at 9.0 mph for a training run and everyone looks at me like there is something wrong with me. i can totally relate. accessibility is a blessing and a curse.

wiscotrotter wrote:

at a local gym with treadmills I am running at 9.0 mph for a training run and everyone looks at me like there is something wrong with me. i can totally relate. accessibility is a blessing and a curse.

It's kinda like being one of those intense fast/styling skaters at the open public skate session.

I've been on the track doing mile reps and had someone who was walking in lane 1. If this happens i just run about as close as possible without actually hitting them and they'll get the message and move. Fortunately i've never had many problems with this because most people here will move.

Did you guys run at D1 schools with an actual football program? I'm serious. We had a top football team and they pretty much ran our school's athletic department.

I know little to nothing about football, but I believe their running backs, wide receivers and the like (the ones who were really fast) would train with our sprinters on a regular basis although they weren't on the track team.

We also let members from the soccer team join our workouts or runs on occasion.

The swimmers did stretches and plyos on the track/on the in-field as well, given that the pool was very close to the track. When it was cold we would do a lot of training at our indoor track, and guess what? The swimmers would be in there as well doing random stuff like trampoline work.

I've resorted to track sessions starting at 5:30 a.m...I have the place to myself.

Holy crap you think that is bad try running in Vancouver / Burnaby in Canada. It seems Chinese and East Indian people in particular love walking on the track. The one time I tried to do a workout at the track by my house there were about 50 people on the track, most in groups of 4 or so. About 5 were running, the rest walking in all lanes. There is no lane that is free to 'pick' as some of you suggest.

I tried just running inside or outside of people while mostly staying in lane one. Eventually half the people moved (was running 3 min 1ks so decently fast) but many chose to stay in lane one. I would purposely run as close as possible to people to try give them a hint but it didn't matter. Whenever I scared someone though that was fun. Even if I told every single person to watch lane one, new people ended up taking their place. The best part is the track is surrounded by endless trails in a nice park.

Honestly that experience made me want to get a flamethrower and have some fun at the track but luckily the university track nearby is always empty.

in japan wrote:

This is the same problem on the freeways in America. Americans dont know how to use lanes properly and just sit in the fast lane thinking that they own it.

I bet 98% of the people who replied to this thread do that, lol.

Highways do not have a "fast" lane.

Kipchoge's insole wrote:

Missing from your rant is you actually talking to "team Sheila" and asking them if they wouldn't mind leaving lane one clear while you finished up your workout. It even sounds like one of her friends was polite enough to let you know what was going on and what to expect. I've found most people are pretty chill and are happy to accomodate you if you just ask.

I'm guessing these looks of bewilderment were imagined and that, instead of interacting with this group like a normal human being, you started writing this Letsrun post in your head as you cursed this group and everyone else holding you back.

Also, I love how you portray your track workout as some noble pursuit furthering this "pure" sport.

This.

/thread

JoeGarland wrote:

There's a small cinder oval in the northwest part of Central Park, maybe 300 meters. Useful for speedwork now and then. I once was doing that when a group with a coach came and started jogging in the inside. I shouted "Track" to get them out of the way. 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?

To Which High Velocity Runner replied:

FWIW my team does tempo runs up there occasionally and its not hard to avoid people. Most people move over after they see you HIGH VELOCITY ELITE RUNNER pace otherwise it's not hard to move to the outside. Honestly I prefer the outside because there aren't as many divots to potentially screw up you ankles.

Also, the track is 333m if you were ever wondering.

Ha! Thanks but it's been about 40 years since I've been able to do sub-60 quarters in a workout.

333m? What's your source? On my area-track webpage I had it as 339 yards, but that source is a now-dead link.

And that seems a bit short to be a place for running tempos.