Have come across it in every sprint training group I've been in, and have seen it with middle distance runners too. People who train and train, yet NEVER actually enter a race. Why is this? Is it fear? Is it ego of not wanting to run a time slower than people think you can run? What is it?
I simply could not be motivated to train 5 days a week if I was not going to race. I just do not understand the logic behind it.
I know people like that, too, and it makes no sense to me. I'm talking people who run 80+ miles a week and never race. I do not see the point in that.
Run for fun.
I've always wondered, too. I was part of a 300-membver running club and I may have been the team's second best runner. The best guy, who had no trouble outrunning me in workouts, never raced.
OCD or narcissism
There is so much more to running than racing. Health, lifestyle, enjoyment; I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that IMO a runner who asks why a non-racer would run is not really a runner at all.
Most people on this forum clearly rarely race
Trainyesraceno wrote:
Have come across it in every sprint training group I've been in, and have seen it with middle distance runners too. People who train and train, yet NEVER actually enter a race. Why is this? Is it fear? Is it ego of not wanting to run a time slower than people think you can run? What is it?
I simply could not be motivated to train 5 days a week if I was not going to race. I just do not understand the logic behind it.
I train a ton and seldomly race. Why? Because I love training and I suck at "putting it all together" on race day which leads to disappointment 99% of the time.
if there are people
Trainyesraceno wrote:
Have come across it in every sprint training group I've been in, and have seen it with middle distance runners too. People who train and train, yet NEVER actually enter a race. Why is this? Is it fear? Is it ego of not wanting to run a time slower than people think you can run? What is it?
I simply could not be motivated to train 5 days a week if I was not going to race. I just do not understand the logic behind it.
Do you mean never race as in "never" or only like a few times a year? If somebody literally DOES NOT race then yes, unless it's for fitness, training really doesn't matter. However, there are some people who just prefer to run by themselves, like me, where I do not have team events and are instead up to my own devices as far as when I race. I only race about 10 times a year including track and cross, which some people would consider not very many.
Mooiiiisssttt wrote:
There is so much more to running than racing. Health, lifestyle, enjoyment; I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that IMO a runner who asks why a non-racer would run is not really a runner at all.
The things running offers other than racing can be had on 30 miles a week. Running high mileage with long runs, intervals, tempos, ect. are NOT enjoyable, and are certainly not healthy. I cannot grasp what would motivate a person to train HARD without competition as a goal. Jogging several times a week? Sure. Actually training for...nothing at all is... completely illogical.
Oliver Wendell Douglas wrote:
Mooiiiisssttt wrote:There is so much more to running than racing. Health, lifestyle, enjoyment; I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that IMO a runner who asks why a non-racer would run is not really a runner at all.
The things running offers other than racing can be had on 30 miles a week. Running high mileage with long runs, intervals, tempos, ect. are NOT enjoyable, and are certainly not healthy. I cannot grasp what would motivate a person to train HARD without competition as a goal. Jogging several times a week? Sure. Actually training for...nothing at all is... completely illogical.
Like so many people here do, you're assuming that everyone is like you. Just because you don't enjoy doing a lot of running or pushing yourself at times while doing it unless it's to race doesn't mean no one does. Yes, those people are probably a bit rare but they exist and they run as much as they do because they like to.
HRE wrote:
Oliver Wendell Douglas wrote:The things running offers other than racing can be had on 30 miles a week. Running high mileage with long runs, intervals, tempos, ect. are NOT enjoyable, and are certainly not healthy. I cannot grasp what would motivate a person to train HARD without competition as a goal. Jogging several times a week? Sure. Actually training for...nothing at all is... completely illogical.
Like so many people here do, you're assuming that everyone is like you. Just because you don't enjoy doing a lot of running or pushing yourself at times while doing it unless it's to race doesn't mean no one does. Yes, those people are probably a bit rare but they exist and they run as much as they do because they like to.
What if someone said they liked smashing their fingers with a hammer? Would you think that person was a bit off? Or would you shrug and say, well, people like different things?
I've kind of gotten this way with golf. I love to practice and do it a lot, but with golf, I often choke when I get on the course. It's no fun. That's one of the things I love about running...for me at least, I don't choke. You train, you come up with a race plan and you just run. With other sports, nervous energy leads to choking, with running (for me) nervous energy leads to more speed.
That said, I guess some people do somehow "choke" when racing and if that's the case, I can completely understand why they just avoid it.
Oliver Wendell Douglas wrote:
What if someone said they liked smashing their fingers with a hammer? Would you think that person was a bit off? Or would you shrug and say, well, people like different things?
If you equate running workouts with smashing your fingers with a hammer, you need to find a new sport.
Because I'd hate to be labeled a racist. You never know with all those liberal wackos out there
I don't know of anyone who smashes their fingers with a hammer deliberately at all. Millions of people run. Some run a lot. Some run a little and many are in between. The two things aren't comparable at all.
Maybe because they don't believe in paying an entry fee to have to run?
People like to run. People like to train and see what they're capable of. People run for health reasons. People run to avoid their demons. Not everyone wants to race.
Maybe they are performing something called exercise. Here's some news for you, stupid OP: People also recreationally cycle, play basketball, baseball, etc.....never to compete.
You be a dummy........
I train 50 - 80 miles / wk over the course of a typical year and probably run about 2-4 road races (half marathon and marathon) and maybe 2-3 time trials on my local track (mile - 10k).
I don't like paying $$ to run races unless I've put in a good training block and am looking to log a PR. I don't like paying $50 - $70 to run a road 5k or 10k, and I'd usually rather run a workout than a solo time trial on the track unless I'm in a similar situation where I've put together a good 1-2 months of training and can tell I have a shot at a PR. It can be fun to run races, but at big races I have no shot at competing and at small races I typically end up running a solo time trial off the front so races just become a way of logging official PRs.