Stranger runners that race you while you easy run- what’s your problem??

Come Get Some, Easy Pass wrote:

Saucony's

*Sauconys

Had it happen to me today. I was gaining on a guy on the trail as soon as he heard me he picked it and I did the same. I was getting a little annoyed. As I caught him he made a joke and I laughed. We ran together probably another half mile till he had to turn around but had a nice conversation. I felt a little bit like an ass for taking myself so seriously. I was running 9:20 miles.

Juice Springsteen wrote:

You should at least ask for permission before you interrupt someone’s run like this. You wouldn’t pick out a stronger guy at the gym and just start copying their workout.

Decades ago I took a year off .

Lunch hour at work did a four miler four days a week in Manhattan , NY NY .

I was 14 pounds overweweight but had not lost much fitness.

At two miles at about 5:40 pace , I had to turn back on the FDR Drive walkway esplanade .

Caught this guy running my pace and asked him if I could pace off him . He said sure we exchanged names after the next two miles ,I was done .

We shook hands ,

I thanked him and left to cross back to Madison Ave . To my elevator job .

He kept running - for all I know maybe a twenty miler .

It's pretty easy to make friends out there!

Meh cars do the same thing on the high way, it’s just natural, rarely intentional.

I’ll rarely intentionally try “race” someone, sometimes I’ll try and pick up the pace and stick with them, sometimes I can hold it, sometimes it’s too quick so I drop back. I don’t really care, I run for fun.

What I enjoy doing far more than racing other runners on runs is “racing” recreational cyclists going for a casual cruise. When I find a biker doing a 7min pace, I love to hang on and just grind them down.

Lol my buddy and I were running real easy after doing a hard workout the day before. Normally absolutely nobody passes us but my buddy was really and truly hurting so we were pedantically slow. One mofo came barely run past us as we're in a jog so I start talking about paces to my buddy like - hey you're really lame today after doing 4 x 110 mile weeks at 7 mile avg pace? And the guy picks up a bit to what's probably an 8min mile (I told you we were hurting).

Then we get caught up on our conversation and see the guy again passing back the other way and I forgot about him but we were talking about a 5 x 5:10 we did and how I was surprised someone else who runs with us could do that pace. My buddy just cracked up said I'm gloating to the slow dude again. Totally forgot it was the same guy.

But in all honesty I don't have an ego - if beyond that guy - someone can actually outrun me on an easy run going 7:30 all the power to you. But I also race and those aren't the same people beating me in races.

Whenever anyone approaches me on a run I just enter into the elusive sub 7 minute mile pace range and make myself look relaxed as fukk. When they are right beside me I yawn loudly and rub my eyes with one hand and have another hand inside my shorts. If they go ahead of me I just stride ahead of them and chuckle. I then turn around to them and say gobble gobble mf.

How sad, you say?

LateRunnerPhil gets it:

MyLittlePony Size12 Men's Velcro Straps gets it:

Run007xx, while coming across as slightly unhinged, gets it:

Let me ask you a question, Mr. If you are really like this, how sad. When did you lose the fire in your belly? Did you ever have the fire in your belly?

As I said previously, I don't go looking for trouble. When someone challenges me, I take it not as an insult, but as an acknowledgement that I am a worthy opponent, someone to reckoned with. There must be mutual respect in order for there to be a challenge in the first place, a true risk of defeat, for there is no glory in preying on the weak.

I do not fear defeat. I fear the day that I lose that fire in my belly.

BLtheKid wrote:

Dkeic wrote:

BLthekid,

1. You’re slow.

2. You are exactly the type of annoying person that this thread is about.

And you're too embarrassed to post without doing it anonymously.

News flash:

Unless BLthekid is your given name, you are posting anonymously too!

Registered with a phony nickname, does not mean you are not anonymous.

I had someone race me a few weeks ago. I was doing 1 mile intervals, so fairly fast, and as I was approaching someone he started speeding up and then was running next to me for maybe 3-400 meters. Then as he started slowing down I kept cheering him to "come on", so he kept another 100 meters with me but then gave up.

It was all good fun and I've no idea why someone would be upset over these things. Running should be fun, or else why would you do it?

True Stranger and to a couple other sentiments expressed: i’m Not totally against socializing when on the run but half the time I am fitting my runs into pretty tight windows of time and just need to get it done. I’m a lot more likely to chat for a few min with someone in the parking lot or wherever we’re done if I saw them having a good run earlier.

I was doing this workout and a guy asked to jump in in my last 400 and I was like yea sure. He cut me off for the first 50 meters and then only hung on for 200m. It sounded good in theory but this guy was clearly trying to prove to himself that he still had it, and the way he went about it was not the good kind of competitive.

I'm not bothered by strangers trying to race me. What bothers me is my running friends trying to race in group runs. I either get dropped sticking to my planned pace, or spend more energy than willing to keep up. This happens quite often. People, tend to wanting to do more instead of less, thinking that's how they improve.

I just moved to DC. In my old town no one would ever pass me jogging at 8 minute pace. Here I entered a trail about 50m behind a total hobby jogger looking guy. I thought, OK, passing him in the next 200m... I couldn't believe it, he actually slowly put a bit of distance on me. I kept to my plan and didn't respond.

The next time on the same trail someone went by well below 6 minute pace, so I had no choice. I did get a quick laugh thinking about sprinting ahead and then stopping...

I know a guy who would totally do this. He wins a lot of the races around here. He gets absolutely thrilled when he happens upon someone who can run with him. I could see him turning around and running with you if he thought you were fast. But he'd talk to you. He talks to me and I'm slow.

Maybe you should take it as a compliment.

Come Get Some, Easy Pass wrote: If you have the long game in your pocket, it's on, mano a mano.

Running is "hand to hand"?

Juice Springsteen wrote:

True Stranger and to a couple other sentiments expressed: i’m Not totally against socializing when on the run but half the time I am fitting my runs into pretty tight windows of time and just need to get it done. I’m a lot more likely to chat for a few min with someone in the parking lot or wherever we’re done if I saw them having a good run earlier.

I was doing this workout and a guy asked to jump in in my last 400 and I was like yea sure. He cut me off for the first 50 meters and then only hung on for 200m. It sounded good in theory but this guy was clearly trying to prove to himself that he still had it, and the way he went about it was not the good kind of competitive.

Agree, that would annoy me .

Doesnt bother me in the slightest. Ive had people hang on to me while running who had no business doing so and we kinda just enjoy each other's company. Its nice to see someone pushing themselves and having them alongside helps save energy for me. Every once in a while if someones withing 5-10 seconds of my pace ill match them for a few miles; give a thumbs up and be on my way.