If I had 250k for every time I have heard, "26 miles!!!! I can't *drive* 26 miles..." I'd be a millionaire. Many of these people drove more than 26 miles to deliver the news.
So you’ve heard this a whopping… 4 times in your life? Crazy.
I was talking to the anesthesiologist during my last hospital visit and somehow the conversation turned to running, and he told me he was stuck at about 5:10 and would really like to break 5 minutes.
I told him that I had not been very good and my best times were 4:33 for the mile and 2:50:20 marathon. He was greatly impressed by this, but I told him truthfully, that I had been in a club with several sub-4 milers and a number of world class people (LATC), and I was about the slowest guy in the group.
A while later, my nurse came in and said he had told her that I had been an "elite" runner. I did my best to disabuse her of the notion.
I guess it's all in perception.
I never saw that doc again, unfortunately, as I wanted to ask him about his training, and perhaps provide some thoughts to help him reach his goal.
Sir, If you really ran 4:33/mile, then your 2:50 is very slow, in comparison. A 4:33 miler should achieve at least 2:30:00.
I agree, but then again, I blew up at about 21 miles. I had just turned 19 at the time, and it came about 3 months after I ran 4:33.
Any recommendations on getting them to stop approaching me? I don’t run for attention, so it’s bothersome.
It took some time for me to accept being the best looking, physically perfect human being that I am in my town - I can't help that chicks dig me and that they find my lack of underwear or very unusual underwear to be so intoxicating. People will respond to you - when you're hot, you're hot. Just learn to accept these compliments as your burden in life - it's the price we have to pay and should pay it in private, weeping tears of sadness that nobody appreciates our plight.
I have both these burdens, but a different sport and state wide . Hang in there. I even sought counseling, but she too just stared at my eyes and wanted to talk about my athleticism
Any recommendations on getting them to stop approaching me? I don’t run for attention, so it’s bothersome.
I can relate. I can’t even take a walk without neighbors saying “are you ok, why aren’t you running?” Or “what marathon are you training for “ 🙄 (I ran a total of 2 marathons like 20 yrs ago!) Just remember they mean well. Be polite and smile. And let it go.
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Be a part of the answer by sharing your experiences
I think you folks are missing a big opportunity to give others a chance to understand the benefits of fitness and running.
When interacting, why not mention just a slight bit about how good it makes you feel, how it isn't that hard if you start easy, and how it has improved your health (assuming this is true for you)?
People deserve to understand things beyond their own experience, and you might be the one to expose them to a good thing they could try, too.
Maybe they are really asking 'is this something a person like me could ever do (?).'
This sort of thing used to happen to me a lot when I was one of the best runners in the country. I lived in a small town, and people would buy me drinks at the bar. Doctors would free schedules to put me forward etc. Enjoy it while it lasts because once it’s over, not one person cares or wants to hear your stories about running.
Having once been one of the bigger fish in a really small pond myself, this used to happen occasionally.
What I like to do is thank people with a smile and then ask them about their own running. People who care about your running are probably runners themselves and I'd rather hear about their training or races than talk about my own.
I was in this game of never have I ever where 1 person stands in the middle, says "never have I ever..." and then everyone that has done it has to stand up and find a new chair, and whoever doesn't get a chair is in the middle. One guy in the middle said "never have I ever run a marathon" and I was the only one to stand, and I got an applause for it. If I had said "never have I ever run a sub 16 5k" and the one guy in that group who has stood up, there's no way he would have gotten an applause. It's crazy how obsessed non runners are with covering distance.