Had team #GOM going this AM. Conversation was like this (NSFW). 13 miles.
News stuff – this might be the closest thing that Dr. Nick has to a blog post (and no – a race that has finish times in the hundreds of hours is not a race for me in even the darkest corners of my imagination), and an excellent PPA write up by Peter M. And again, no.
I have been kicking around a theory. Or maybe it is a hypothesis. Or even a hunch. It is around the once a runner types I have come across. Most that I knew in high school, or even college, don’t do it any more. And in fact, most are probably a far cry from navigating around a local track in anything other than a walk. Sure there are exceptions. But most hung up the shoes and don’t even hobby jog anymore.
So why did they leave? And why do some guys stay with this competitive running thing? A lot of these guys who left were pretty damn good at some point. And then, they were good-um-okay. And then maybe just another “C” level runner. They went from being the big fish, to not such a big fish. And the structured competition (HS, college) faded away, life crept in and they let it all slip. Age plays in there as well of course.
The hunch? Maybe they let it go because when the limelight faded, the sport was not as appealing. And so perhaps it was less about the sport after all. And perhaps some stuck with it because they never had that benefit (curse?) of being quite that good. Maybe back to yesterday’s musings on ego tie in here as well (and the things I am still chasing).
Of course, there are a lot of stories, a lot of reasons, but there is theme I see in there. It ain’t some unifying law of running, but it some stereotype I can draw from (and yes, I do make those judgments even though my daughter tells me coming to such conclusions on little evidence is really a wrong thing to do and I tell her it is the benefit of getting old).
You're theory / idea is mostly spot on. But I'd add to it that those that are sometimes the best at the younger age just don't really like to run, only doing it because they're good. The ones who aren't the best younger tend to be more into because they enjoy it, those become the lifelong runners. As a Dad of two girls, one who LOVES to run, but could give or take the races, I'm completely ok with that. Would rather her do something she loves now later in life than be the top dog now and hate it later. Damn, time for a beer.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that.
DeleteI know a bunch of examples of what you are talking about. Dudes who once no longer competitive, let it go. They were in it for the competition - not so much the running. I think that is a fine reason to be in it actually.
I know of a few guys too who let it go as the times began to slip as they got older. They really could not fathom racing a 35 minute 10k as a 50 year old when they had been a sub 30 guy as a 20 something.
For those who retire or walk away at a young(er) age as you described in my opinion is that they are no longer leveraged to do it. The running was more than likely just the means to a specific objective. The leveraging factors were probably notoriety, an activity to fill high school/college req's, seeking parental or peer approval, too small to play football, basketball - but still wanted an athletic letter, etc. Once those objectives were met or no longer necessary, the leverage is no longer there was so need to continue the sport. You can see the same thing not just in running but in other activities at that age like band for instance... I am sure that is not all of it but that is probably a great deal of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree in part. Running is actually something you can leverage on your own more than those other extra curriculars. If you were in band, well it is hard to get a bunch of instruments together so you can play tuba. Football requires a bunch of people, equipment and a field. Running ... well, you can do that anywhere.
DeleteBut the part of the structure helping along - I do agree that infrastructure helps quite a bit.
My running social circle in Lawrence (of somewhat same aged guys) is a pretty even mix of lifers and more recent converts with backgrounds in other sports, or no sport at all. The lifers, relatively speaking, were only ever "ok" in highschool and college (if they were good enough).
ReplyDeleteWith one notable exception, the most talented guys - a couple were decent D1 runners - just don't bother anymore. Those I've asked most often cite mental fatigue. They HAD to run so much, so hard, for so long - and often with a lot of pressure - that they just can't see it as a leisure activity. Nor can they tolerate the plummeting of PRs that comes with the severe decline in training focus.
The guys who ran back then and still do of course trained hard also - probably as hard, in many cases, as the faster guys - but with less hype and expectation of success, and thus never had the stakes associated with it. Their scholarship wasn't riding on their fitness. And so running for them was more about the act itself than results, since their results ultimately only mattered in a private sense.
Anyway, it's an interesting discussion. And I think you're right, probably, that the subsubsub-elite crowd would only stick with the sport if they enjoyed it, because the external rewards just aren't there. So there's selection bias going on, in that sense. People who run for a long time like running, and thus run for a long time.
The "Running was my job" thing is a good insight. I can see the desire to get away from that. Particularly since it is not a well paying job.
DeleteI wouldn't consider TdG a race. More like an adventure that 700 people decide to do at once. At some point though there is a desire to go fast (relatively speaking of course) since you just want to be done, and the thought of another night out is not very appealing. I was definitely racing the Sun the last day…I lost.
ReplyDeleteThis came across my inbox today. You should use it for your next sub-5 mile attempt http://news.sciencemag.org/sifter/2014/09/experimental-jetpack-makes-runners-faster?utm_campaign=email-news-latest
I saw the jet pack and I think I posted something on that last week.
DeleteIf people raced across this country (as they did at one point), a mere 300k is certainly a race too.
OK, I should say I wasn't 'racing', especially after the sh*t hit the fan with my anterior tibialis tendon and I couldn't really run downhill.
DeleteI'm sure there is actually some racing going on towards the pointy end. Though I imagine it is not really directly racing against someone in the strategic sense, but mostly seeing who can slog to the finish first.