Should I Race my GF's Dad?

You will easily defeat her father even if you run 37 minutes or so.

Admittedly, with your seemingly lack of training, you will probably be pretty gassed if you try to run a 10k all out. Be a man, draft off of him for most of the race, then pull away the last half mile. Faking an injury is too obvious and being a wiener.

It's a race. Stop being a fairy and just get on with it.

I think you are being pretty optimistic if you think you can run 36 minutes off of 18 months of little training and 20 pounds of weight gain.

To answer your question just go out and run it. Stick with the old man and if you feel good finish together, if not then graciously let him win.

The family is competitive. Run your own race and see how it unfolds. If I was the in shape old guy and my cocky daughter's out of shape boyfriend tried drafting off of me during the Trot I'd make him hurt.

If they are a competitive family they will want you to give it a good go,so go hammer him.

You're not good enough for the daughter if you can't beat the old man.

Birkoboy wrote:

If they are a competitive family they will want you to give it a good go, so go hammer him.

This. They will not only see right through it if you fake it, they will prob be mildly offended and certainly unimpressed. This is also true if you let him win - that is an insult to someone who is genuinely competitive, and will be one of the worst things you can do, for him and you.

The dad will love it, whether you beat him or not, if you are able to at least run a hard 10k and try to win; running it all-out is a win-win for you. Either you nick and he loves getting the challenge (and prob will challenge you again next year), or he beats you and his ego is stoked.

The only wrong step is not to try to win.

The dad will maybe run a 40 flat if he's as fit as you say. It'll work out nicely if there's a minute or so in it either way, because it'll stoke conversation and a back-and-forth of race comparisons.

He's gonna smoke yo azz.

Definitely race or they’ll think your some kind of pansy.

If my daughters boyfriend can’t beat me in a race I will be seriously concerned about the DNA she is considering making my grandchildren from.

You need to race.

geeslous wrote:

You will easily defeat her father even if you run 37 minutes or so.

Yep. I won't even concede 39 min. to him. You need to put him in his place.

No need to "puke your guts out losing to an old man." Run the race. Put in a respectable effort and run hard. Whether you beat him or not, is irrelevant. Smile and tell her dad, "Great race," at the finish line and move on, whether you win or lose. Who gives a crap, anyways? What matters is how your girlfriend perceives the whole situation.

Do you want to come off as a douche faking an injury that came up with some excuse to not run? Or do you want to show your girlfriend you realize you've grown up, you're past your D2 running years, and like most adults run to keep fit and have fun? The answer is obvious.

Now get out there, run until your heart explodes out your chest and kick that old man's saggy butt!

If you were in, say, sub33min shape 18 months ago (I recognise your PB may not have been in your final year, but presumably you didn't slow down that much before the end of college...?) - even if you've done nothing for the past 18 months but smoke and drink and eat McDonalds I bet you'll still be able to turn out a sub 36min.

Just race. I'd lay dollars to donuts that the 54 year-old Ironman-focused Dad isn't going to break 40.

Just run hard! No one cares. Go with your GF's Dad, or the lead pack (assuming no one crazy fast is running) for as long as possible. They'll think its fun, respect you more, and you'll get to run. Don't fake an injury.

Just go on some runs between now and the race to get your legs used to running again. You might surprise yourself.

Everybody so far has forgotten the most important advice: as you cross the finish line in the lead, turn around and shout "gobble gobble MFer."