How many of you can truly say you're a runner till you die?

Thought I would be but pirformis issues for the last 6 mos make it impossible to do much running. Sucks. Tried everything to treat too. Stretch, no stretch, lax ball, strength training, weeks just walking. But when I come back to just a a few 4mi runs, need Alleve to sleep those nights. Fun. I hope to run consistently again but not hopeful.

Didn't run for many years and it wouldn't kill me not to run for another 25 years.

Certainly not open to pushing myself into surgeries in hopes of keeping on running.

Nope, it's today's passion, tomorrow's could be something else.

I'm 71, just passed 60,000 miles, slowing down (a lot), but I'm getting close.

time will tell wrote:

Some of you tho, I question your heart.

You question our hearts? Huh? Is this a trick question?

You question if they are still beating? If they are, I guess you'd say that we might quit running before the heart gives out. It the heart ain't pumpin', then you'd argue that we were no longer runners.

KudzuRunner wrote:

I'm that guy. A runner till you die means that when you can no longer run, you stand there, watch other runners do it for you, cheer them on, remember your own earlier days, wish you could still do it, dream about it at night, and have no regrets at the end.

No. A runner till you die means you keep hobbling through every physical problem, and when that is no longer possible, take your own life. You have to literally run until the day of your death to qualify for that.

Trump2020OP wrote:

Ed Whitlock = Running role model

Started running at 40 or something like that.

A Typical LRC A-hole wrote:

KudzuRunner wrote:

I'm that guy. A runner till you die means that when you can no longer run, you stand there, watch other runners do it for you, cheer them on, remember your own earlier days, wish you could still do it, dream about it at night, and have no regrets at the end.

No. A runner till you die means you keep hobbling through every physical problem, and when that is no longer possible, take your own life. You have to literally run until the day of your death to qualify for that.

Funny.

My words are being misinterpreted here as somehow suggesting that being a runner till you die, in the way I've described, carries a negative emotion contained in the phrase "wish you could still do it." I don't mean it like that at all. It's possible to wish you could still run, know you can't, and accept that paradox.

In any case, I was simply answering the OP's question. Being a runner till you die means that running feeds your soul, you know that, and you know it and live it even when you're not actually running and CAN'T actually run. You feed it by participating imaginatively in running. You watch others race; you kibbitz races. You pause and, in reverie, reexperience your own best races for a minute or two. You don't lose the love. That's what the phrase in this thread title means. It's a pretty simple thing, actually.

And of course if you actually CAN run until you die, like Ed: well, more power to you. Just slow down and savor it.

56 here.

Not me. I've already quit - a long time ago.

If I could still feel like I did in my 20's then I'd still run. That's not happening again. So I've moved on.

I still follow the sport - just as I follow other sports or activities I do not participate in. Running, distance running in particular, does not feel good any more.

Yes, I'll trot across the street. I'll chase my grandkids around. I do some sprinting occasionally - as the benefit there outweighs the fact that I'm slow as some of you 18-20 minute guys now (former sub 4:10 guy).

Life moves on. With or without you. You need to be able to adjust. If you want to keep running because it makes you feel better, or you think it's good for you, then fine it's your choice. My choice is to move on to other activities which give me more joy. I'm still in decent shape - just not for distance running, and that's fine by me.

I'm actually disappointed no one on this black-humor-loving board has said it.

So I'll say it.

Q: Who can truly say they are a runner until they die?

A: Ryan Shay.

For some of us, at some point in our aging process, vigorous exercise doesn't seem to get us in better shape; it just wrecks us and tears us down. For example, when jogging makes us hobble around for the next few days, and we find that not jogging allows us to walk around like normal people.

gahuga wrote:

I'm actually disappointed no one on this black-humor-loving board has said it.

So I'll say it.

Q: Who can truly say they are a runner until they die?

A: Ryan Shay.

Guess you missed the Ed Whitlock posts.

I can relate -- I'm 32 and have been constantly injured (except for a few short perios) for about 15 months and my body feels like what you 50 year olds described. It just doesn't seem possible for me to run even short distances without getting connective tissue injuries.

It used to pain me to watch others run / run races but now I actually get enjoyment out of it -- perhaps a sense of acceptance on my part.

I do PT, stretch, strengthen, monitor my form, track my diet carefully, read all available treatments, sleep, keep stress low. but cannot stay healthy enough to run even 10 or 15 miles per week consistently. Running just messes up my feet and ankles. I can't imagine how I'll feel 20 years from now.

I ran and played a lot of sports from a very young age and have been active my whole life. Starting to think that maybe my best running days are behind me and I should take up cycling / other forms of cardio.

in the no wrote:

gahuga wrote:

I'm actually disappointed no one on this black-humor-loving board has said it.

So I'll say it.

Q: Who can truly say they are a runner until they die?

A: Ryan Shay.

Guess you missed the Ed Whitlock posts.

Not quite the same thing.

I'm a runner in my mid 50's. I ran D1 (middle of the pack guy) and hung up the shoes at about age 25. I started running again when I turned 40, and found running to be much more enjoyable now than when I was in HS and College. No pressure to run fast all the time, and it provides that much needed time away from stress each day. I average 35-40 mpw, do a little speedwork, and mix in some hill work on the trails. I typically take 2-3 weeks off each year around Christmas and New Year to iron out any nagging injuries. I hope I can keep this mileage routine up into my mid-60's when I retire.

I can't say for sure that I will be disciplined or healthy enough to keep running as the years trail on, but I can tell you that I associate running with being healthy and so long as I'm not depressed or handicapped I can't see myself preferring another exercise outlet.

No idea what "kibbits" means, but experience tells me you're wrong.

When I was too injured to run, the last thing I wanted to do was watch other people run and race. It was like salt in an open wound.

Chronically-Injured Old Runner wrote:

time will tell wrote:

whats ur injury

More like "injuries." Ruptured PTT & OA of the ankle, Achilles tendinosis - complements of a 2nd degree strain years earlier, patellar tendinitis & hip OA. All occurring in my early to mid-50s. I cross train & rehab like a madman just to run a few times per week. And if any of you get to this point as you age, and want to continue to run, you better learn to like pain & discomfort.

You are too fixated on your injuries. Like most things in life, running injuries go away of you ignore them long enough. The best way to avoid future injuries is to ignore the current one.

If you get injured, just increase your mileage. You will get stronger and more injury resistant.

Pre

Shoebacca wrote:

I can't say for sure that I will be disciplined or healthy enough to keep running as the years trail on, but I can tell you that I associate running with being healthy and so long as I'm not depressed or handicapped I can't see myself preferring another exercise outlet.

Exactly. Running is the only exercise that I don't have to really fight myself to do. It's the only one I actually enjoy. My running book, titled Running: A Long Distance Love Affair, is all about this thread topic. I HOPE to run as long as I can, but unless I drop dead while running, eventually there will come a point when the aging body just won't do it at any kind of satisfying level anymore. It's something all of us "life-long" runners will face. Until then, I do my 5-milers several times a week at 8-minute pace, wishing I could still do 10- or 20-milers at 6-minute pace, but still enjoying it and hoping to do so for as long as possible.