You said it better than I could have. It makes me uncomfortable to be around the later in life competitive types because college was a pretty painful and difficult experience for me. I was injured A LOT and looking back there were some great results I really think made it all worth it but I don't have room in my adult life for the level of pain and frustration I experienced running in college and I can't take the optimism of runners who think they can be as fast as college runners without any idea of what it was like to actually do it.
You said it better than I could have. It makes me uncomfortable to be around the later in life competitive types because college was a pretty painful and difficult experience for me. I was injured A LOT and looking back there were some great results I really think made it all worth it but I don't have room in my adult life for the level of pain and frustration I experienced running in college and I can't take the optimism of runners who think they can be as fast as college runners without any idea of what it was like to actually do it.
+1
Many of these runners wanted to be fast, they would say it. They wanted to break 4:20 or get an OTQ in the marathon or whatever.
And then they'd question why I warmed up for 15–20 minutes instead of 1 mile. They thought drills and strides were optional or didn't even know how to do an A-skip. They thought if they did "The Michigan" workout enough they'd just get fast, and then they'd hit ludicrous, all over the place, splits. Their weekly tempo was just an all out 5k. They couldn't read the markings on a track. They thought their GPS watch was infallible. If a workout had more than 2 different length of reps, it was hard to explain, or they couldn't comprehend rep notation like "4x(200/400/200 w/ 30s) w/ 3min".
It's one thing to not know these things if you're not trying to be fast or you're brand spanking new—there's nothing wrong with being a casual runner or learning the ropes. But it bugged me when they said they wanted to be fast, but made no serious effort. It's like saying you want to be an author but you don't read or write much. Just a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes.
I feel like every running group I go to is filled with a bunch of want to be influencer types. The vibes are just bad.
Love this post and thread because it is so relatable. Ever since college, have struggled to find a run club. First, problem was everything was marathon focused and everyone was too old. Now, because running clubs are "the new bars," no shortage of clubs in my area but all dominated by influencer/sorority girls and dudes trying to hookup with them. Still have some friends who stayed in my area to run with now and then but I've accepted most runs are solo.
So grateful to be British seeing posts like these.
We have a developed network of volunteer-run clubs that are low-key and approachable.
At my local club we have one Olympic standard runner, a handful of national class runners, right through to 40 minute 5k runners.
We have track sessions, group runs, cross country meets, most of which are included in your £8 a month fee, because we all pitch in to run the place.
Many of our races are from a chalk line drawn in the park path to another chalk line, following routes that were made 30 years ago.
Last night I did a high quality track meet with electronic timing, big crowd, great competition for next to no cost because it was all run by a different local club.
This was all established, including its non-commercial ethos, way before social media. You see the instagram or puresport clubs running around taking selfies etc and I thank goodness.
No idea how you would find something similar in the US where every inch of life is commodified