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Someone explain the point of running all those miles please!!??
- Thread starter Yoop33
- Start date
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
I have thoroughly enjoyed running after dark in my neighborhood. Luckily I know the streets well enough that I can recall where all the pot holes are or bad spots in the sidewalk. It is like no one is around but me and the street light every 50 yards. I dont run with headphones during the week anymore and have grown to wonder what it is like with them. The only time I wear them is on my long runs and Ill listen to a Hans Zimmer, John Williams or equivalent soundtrack/score to a movie. I am actually going to experiment this weekend and run without them for my long run to see what it is like.
There is such a difference running at night or early in the morning when it is dark. Combo that when it is 50 and below... perfect zen.
Testtrack321
Well-Known Member
History: 3 years ago I was around 180 and only 5'8"-5'9". I didn't get any exercise, was feeling like crap, and was generally miserable.
I made some life changes between my junior and senior year of college, including an increased emphasis on working out. I first was on elliptical, then weights, then running and weights.
Right now I'm around 135, 9% body fat (trying to get that down still), can run a 5k in 20-some minutes, and benching a lot more than my weight.
Why do *I* run? I'm not a loner, I love people and my close friends. But sometimes I need *me* time; an iPod with my favorite energetic music, a treadmill, and just the window infront of me to look out of. It takes a bad test, stupid administrator, or just bad day and works it into something positive. Plus I feel great and trim afterwards.
I made some life changes between my junior and senior year of college, including an increased emphasis on working out. I first was on elliptical, then weights, then running and weights.
Right now I'm around 135, 9% body fat (trying to get that down still), can run a 5k in 20-some minutes, and benching a lot more than my weight.
Why do *I* run? I'm not a loner, I love people and my close friends. But sometimes I need *me* time; an iPod with my favorite energetic music, a treadmill, and just the window infront of me to look out of. It takes a bad test, stupid administrator, or just bad day and works it into something positive. Plus I feel great and trim afterwards.
I am a Jags fan so I am all to familiar with it.You want to talk about MENTAL PAIN ?
-dave
I used to take naps after work so I could get up in the middle of the night and work out. Walking downstairs to the gym (24 Hour Fitness in my complex) Nothing but silence, darkness and cool weather. Awesome
As for Testtrack and trying to lose weight.... I have always had a hard time gaining weight and until the past couple years, was not able to much at all. Unless I eat like a monster and work out heavy with the weights I cant gain or maintain my weight and will wither away... and I hate that. Im not big by any means but I just like the feeling of being as big as I can be and always push to be bigger.
JillC LI
Well-Known Member
I understand you are asking in all genuineness, and I will answer the same way. You say there is nothing more pleasing than a Team Victory. I would disagree and say there is nothing more pleasing than a Personal victory. That is what completing the marathon is to me - conquering what I thought were the limits of my own mind and body.
I have accomplished a lot of amazing things in my life academically and professionally, but the thing I take the most pride in is finishing a marathon. That is because I am not an athlete by nature, I had to work HARD for it, and I achieved it. And somewhere along the line, I fell in love with running and do not want to stop now. Why do I love it? Well that's a whole other post (and one I in fact posted on here a few months ago). But why do people run marathons? That's like asking, why do people climb Mount Everest? I have never been moved to mountain-climb, but the marathon called to me in a way that it has apparently not called to you. And that's fine. We all have our own callings. :wave:
lukacseven
Well-Known Member
I've never really had problems after a race and I like to believe that running a 1:36 half marathon is pushing myself enough. After the '07 Disney Marathon, I felt very nausious, but that was a complication of it being inthe high 80's and sunny/ humid. I also recently struggled at about mile 10 of the Denver Half Marathon. I was very winded crossing the finish line, due to the altitude (I trained at sea level).
As far as injuries, I have a complete tear of my patella tendon and have had numerous knee, ankle, foot injuries, including broken bones. (Knock on wood), I've encountered very little probelms since I started running. Outside of a stress fracture cuased by bad running shoes, I've studied Chi Running, got the right gear and can run a half marathon with very little (if any) soreness in the following hours/days.
Have you ever been a part of a Team in sports? I do have personal victories in sports and while they may not compare to a marathon, they were performed and completed alone. But at the end of the competition, there was no one really there to share it with like there is with a Team. But like you said, Everyone has their own calling. I will find out how it is soon enough for the old lady when she runs the Space Coast Race. I actually cant wait!!
lukacseven
Well-Known Member
I think you just contradicted yourself. The answer is that your girlfriend is your team. I can understand poeple just don't like to run and I'm not trying to convince you to go out and run a marathon. But just because you don't have matching uniforms and engauging an opponenet doesn't mean you can't be part of a team. I get a similar sense in sharing finishing a race with my firends, even if they didn't run but came out to support the runners.
That's exactly it. I look at Steve and myself as a team. He helps motivate me on those bad runs when I feel like giving up and that keeps me working hard so I don't let my "team" down.
I started running my freshman year in high school after playing football, baseball and soccer in town leagues before, and X/C was & is definitley a team sport, however unlike the games played with a ball, if the team won all the satisfaction of a team win was there, but if the team couldn't pull it off, you could still individually get the satisfaction of winning or placing individually overall which I could not get with other 'sports'. Same with Track & Field.
Running is also completley different as every level of race is different and taxes and necessitates training different systems...red lining a 5k is completely different than a trail race which is different than a 1/2 marathon which different than a marathon. Sensation is different, feeling is different, race strategy is different...mixing up brings something new month after month & keeps it fresh now that I run individually.
for those that are finding their mind focused on problems and not being able to escape while running, try hitting a trail race at full clip and see if your mind wanders.
(here's one I've run 7 times - tell these people no one's having fun! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJBpop7jfs)
Sure I still lift & cross train, but nothing is more honest than the time between the gun and the finish line...no time outs...no you can play this position but not that...no sitting on the bench for 1/2 the event waiting for your chance to play...
To imply that every time runners go out the door it hurts and there are injuries and there is no enjoyment is a misguided perception - I will say that more than describing it all as 'fun', the sport is satisfying and fulfilling.
And since I mentioned I started in HS, I can also say those who were playing games on a team then are not still doing that activity unless it's a pickup softball game, where I can still fit into the same size pants I did in HS and knock out a good race time every now and again...& I've been doing this for over 30 years. Looking forward to another 30. Or maybe I'm just :hammer:
Running is also completley different as every level of race is different and taxes and necessitates training different systems...red lining a 5k is completely different than a trail race which is different than a 1/2 marathon which different than a marathon. Sensation is different, feeling is different, race strategy is different...mixing up brings something new month after month & keeps it fresh now that I run individually.
for those that are finding their mind focused on problems and not being able to escape while running, try hitting a trail race at full clip and see if your mind wanders.
(here's one I've run 7 times - tell these people no one's having fun! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEJBpop7jfs)
Sure I still lift & cross train, but nothing is more honest than the time between the gun and the finish line...no time outs...no you can play this position but not that...no sitting on the bench for 1/2 the event waiting for your chance to play...
To imply that every time runners go out the door it hurts and there are injuries and there is no enjoyment is a misguided perception - I will say that more than describing it all as 'fun', the sport is satisfying and fulfilling.
And since I mentioned I started in HS, I can also say those who were playing games on a team then are not still doing that activity unless it's a pickup softball game, where I can still fit into the same size pants I did in HS and knock out a good race time every now and again...& I've been doing this for over 30 years. Looking forward to another 30. Or maybe I'm just :hammer:
Wilt Dasney
Well-Known Member
I'm with you on this. I'm a big fan of Eastern philosophy, and I find that a big help in getting through a long run is adopting the mindset you talk about. I take on kind of a "this moment is all, this moment is perfect, this moment is eternity" mindset, and it can be very calming. (I know I sound like a dirty Hari Krishna or something, but so be it.) :lol:
I don't run hard enough to feel the all-out physical pain the OP is describing...the kind I assume you get from going all out during basketball practice. I know some distance runners do go top gear, but that's not for me. It's called "endurance" running at longer distances, and it's very hard to endure it if every second feels like death. Your mind can't focus on the task at hand if your body is begging you to stop.
I have a very leisurely (to me) pace that has gotten me through runs up to 15 miles so far, and I plan to ride that pace to a marathon finish in less than 2 months.
This was why I eventually took up mountain biking. I have alway liked bike riding and initially turned to road riding for fitness. I found myself doing the same thing I did while running....focusing on all of the worries of my life. Mountain biking did not allow my brain to become vacuous. All I could think about is what turn, hill or obstacle was next and how do I get past it without seriously injuring or killing myself. It was the perfect solace for my mind and body.
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
I WOULD BE ALL OVER THAT!
That looks so much fun. are some of those people running to the side of the mud puddles for. I come on. You just waded thigh deep through a creek. Go for it! I would try to get as muddy as possible.
What is the distance of that run. What city?
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
I think I have posted this before, but I would love to do one of these
http://toughmudder.com/
Watch the video clips on the home page - running through FIRE obstacles. Am I the only one this appeals to?
-dave
Donald Duck
Tonga Toast Killer
Hey Dave, the Muddy Marathon is in NJ in April 2011. You going for it? I was thinking about it, but it's way too close to the NJ ultra, and I gotta focus on that.
lukacseven
Well-Known Member
Do they still do the Muddy Buddy race at WWoS?
Anyoen ever hear of this...http://www.toughguy.co.uk/
joel_maxwell
Permanent Resident of EPCOT
I have wanted to do that, but it is a bit far away. If it were in the ATL Id consider, but it is 2 hours past the ATL. That isnt a day drive and back from Bham. If they expand and bring one a bit closer, Im all over the tough mudder.
Phonedave
Well-Known Member
Wow.
OK, I hike in that area somtimes. I live pretty close to there. I know the terrain. It's not the mud, it is the 1,600 feet of elevation gain and loss every LAP (its a 4 lap loop for the marathon) Thats 6,400 feet of hills in a marathon.
There is an option for a quarter and half marathon as well. I may run a quarter.
I want to concentrate on USATF certified courses in 2011. 2011 marks my first full year as a masters runner (Yeah, old man here)
I would love to get a Gold Phidippidies Award the first year I am elegibile.
To do so I need a 5k every other week or so. Of course I assume the WDW Marathon is a USATF certified course. So that knocks out 4 points right there. If I do the F&W 1/2 again thats another 3 points - so 7 out of 20, I am well on my way.
In honor of the very first marathon runner in history, a new award program for Masters Long Distance Running has been established, the "Phidippides Awards". The awards will be predicated upon participants accumulating a number of points over a given calendar year for participating in long distance running events. Each runner will be eligible for only one award per year.
Points will be accumulated pursuant to the following chart:
1 point 5K to 5 mile2 points10K to 15K3 points10 miles to half-marathon4 points25K to marathon
Runners will be eligible for the following awards, based on the point totals indicated:
Ages40-50s60-70s80+Gold 20168Silver 16124Bronze1282
The rules are simple and straightforward. The course must be certified so that we can verify the distance run, and there must be a finish time recorded for the runner. Finishing times must be verifiable by a results posting on an event website, or if none is available, a newspaper listing submitted by the runner will suffice.
Since this is a USATF award, USATF membership is required (to become a member, see their website, usatf.org). The award itself is free, and it will be bestowed to the runner upon receipt of his/her application (see below) and verification of the event information.