What did (or would) it take for you to quit running?

YungFartlek wrote:

jamin wrote:

Once I get to the point where I'm having to do more work for the same results, I will quit

Surprisingly, I agree with jamin.

Well, for most of us, if you are serious with running and near your peak through out 20's, it is practically all down hill then past 30's.

I saw 29 year olds who looked 17 and weighed 125 lbs and ran day in day out just to log a 15:30-16:30 in the local 5k

I knew then that I needed to quit.....i never want to be one of those idiots.

Paralysis

DONE and FINISHED wrote: Injuries, mediocrity, burnout, etc...what finally caused you to hang up the spikes? Or, if you're still running, what would it take?

I've gone through this twice. The first time I quit could be attributed equally to burnout and general laziness. I was training my arse off an not improving much, so the initial impetus was that I'd taken the sport about as far as my ability would allow. And then one day I was driving home from work and decided that I would much rather stop at the local pub for a few beers than go home and train. That was it...

...for about a decade. Then I attempted a "comeback" that I hoped would make me competitive in the Masters division. By then it was too late. I was mentally soft, which was the biggest issue, plus I had to deal with chronic knee and foot pain all the time. Finally decided it just wasn't enjoyable enough to pursue anymore.

I still run a couple of trail miles a few times a week, but I've found cycling - both road and MTB - to be a much more fulfilling activity.

It would probably take a serious injury. I took about a year off because of an Achilles issue. Now in my low 30s I'm running better than ever, I'm healthy and enjoying the sport.

However I'm thinking of quitting or taking a hiatus from coaching. Burnt out. Meets are longer and longer. Kids (and parents) lack accountability. At some point you get tired of it

Complications from cystic fibrosis.

I was cut from my D1 XC program. I was not one of the better runners, but was better than 7 or 8 runners on the team. A few of whom were not cut. Admittedly I did not have much upside, a senior in college who runs 80-90 mile weeks only for ~27 minute 8ks is probably not going to amount to much but it was disheartening to get cut rather than slower, younger runners who I had always beaten. The coach had a plan for me to be the captain/coach/founder of a farm team where he could send project runners to train and race without wasting a roster spot. He said we could have run attached in a few races throughout the year. I agreed to it, but I never really had the same level of focus again. We never met often enough for workouts and training, and most of my close friends were still on the real team. So I just sort of fizzled out, I tried to race once unattached and DNFed. So I just hung them up after that. I still try to get out for a few runs a week but its not real running. It feels way different.

This. Exactly.

Bernie fan L OL JK wrote:

I saw 29 year olds who looked 17 and weighed 125 lbs and ran day in day out just to log a 15:30-16:30 in the local 5k

I knew then that I needed to quit.....i never want to be one of those idiots.

You gots steam trolled

DONE and FINISHED wrote:

Injuries, mediocrity, burnout, etc...what finally caused you to hang up the spikes? Or, if you're still running, what would it take?

My trolling duties on the LRC forums boards.

... You see, I was living it up, the envy of my peers and a shining veneer of trollful healthiness, by all indications...

but I couldn't sleep at night, knowing I wasn't walking the talk and living a genuine life of absurdity and contradiction.

...My trolling resume would have been a farce if I had actually continued to be a runner.

So I've stopped running so I can visit the forums and comment on threads like this WITH full integrity worthy of accreditation by the International Trolling Standards Board.

As added insurance I make sure to do no therapeutic exercises to address training injuries, eat a carnivorous diet, drink like a fish, philander like Zeus, yet somehow be able to do crossfit, weight lifting, team sports, obstacle races and other popular definitions of cultural machismo. I'm also getting into tri.

The only correct answer is injury or some type of physical limitation.

Quitting racing is an entirely different discussion.

21 and graduating college this week. I haven't ran a PR since I was 17 and a junior in highschool.

IT band syndrome senior year of highschool.

Small hamstring tear freshman year of college and had to take 6 months off.

I got very ill this last summer and lost ~10 pounds and had to take time off after that.

I've gotten in really good shape 3 times since highschool but have never put things together in a race.

I keep running because

1. I don't run for a college team so I'm not burned out.

2. Want to break my PRs still

3. I love the feeling of being in good shape.

4. Running is so freeing.

5. Running is cheaper than cycling which I'll probably get into after I'm done running.

I've quit for up to a year or so because of injuries but have always come back. I simply like running, and would continue to run even if there were no races. I'm 58 years old and way, way slower than I used to be, but I manage not to let that bother me too much. I just worry about trying to compete against my own age group and not against the runner I was 30 years ago.

I quit whenever I can't run more or less pain-free without drugs. If that ever becomes a permanent situation, I guess I'll quit permanently. Not before.

At 15, I started with a 5:23 mile. At 18, I hit 4:21.9.

By age 20, I'd only run 4:19. I'd lost the fire, felt burned out, so I quit racing for a few years. After that, I settled into a more lowkey approach, running road races for fun.

I'm a professional artist, so I that's where the true focus goes.

Started when I was 14 and had to quit at age 52. Thyroid issues. Was able to solve those but could only walk after that due to hip and plantar problems. But I walk every day so still moving.

I am still with you on #1,#3, and #4. I ran my lifetime marathon PR in my 3rd marathon at age 24. I never even got close to that marathon PR in the next 34 years and 70,000 miles of fun running. Oh well. I had fun yesterday doing a hard 12 x 1min hill sprint workout at 7,100 ft. altitude and finishing ahead of some (but not all) runners in their 20s.

If you value and measure running only in terms of race times...you will inevitably be doomed to disillusion.

a career

Big Red wrote:

At 15, I started with a 5:23 mile. At 18, I hit 4:21.9.

By age 20, I'd only run 4:19. I'd lost the fire, felt burned out, so I quit racing for a few years. After that, I settled into a more lowkey approach, running road races for fun.

I'm a professional artist, so I that's where the true focus goes.

Humblebrag

When you have an extended period of time where you can't run as much or as fast as you want, you find out how you really feel about running. Either you realize that, no matter what, you're going to keep running in whatever way your body allows, or you realize that not being able to compete at your highest level takes all the fun out of it. There's no right or wrong conclusion, you just a little nudge to see where your motivations lie.

And the good news is you can always change your mind after a break. :)