Something I heard that ticked me off

[April]

Talk en route....

I was at  38 or 39km on Sunday and overheard a girl tell her family "I'm Done". They asked her what was wrong and she said "Nothing, but what's the point? I'm running almost 8 mins/km". I was mad  . What's the Point?!! WHAT'S THE POINT?!!! 3km!! Was she kidding?! All that way to quit because you're not running faster? I really hope her family talked her into finishing. 

Has anyone ever heard someone say that? or even felt that way? I know I'm still new at this but I don't think I would ever say I'm done if I wasn't hurt.

Maybe this should be in the rant section but... 3km   

[The Moose1]

I guess I'd understand if they were trying to qualify for Boston, and had a backup race in the very near future, but you need to quit alot earlier for that to work.  From my point in the field the point is to finish your marathon

"Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever." L.A.

Mike

[Kate]

The thought that immediately comes to my mind April is maybe (she) hit a wall.  Perhaps not the first one in the event, but maybe the wall that made (her) question why she was there.

When I ran PEC (the half marathon) last fall, at about 18k I decided I had had enough.  I didn't voice this out loud, but mentally, I just wanted to go home.  Prior to that event, I had run the distance many times before.  I think I just had had enough.  On a good note ... as I was wrestling with that thought, another runner caught up to me and kept pace with me and talked with me and we finished the race together.  I think I was just bored and tired and wanted the run to be over.  For clarification ... I would NOT have dropped out at that point and would have finished the run.

Everyone is different.  Mind over matter.  I think I can.  I think I can.  Maybe (she) was looking for excuses ahead of the finish line to justify her time.  Hopefully once (she) crossed the finish line she wore nothing but a smile and self confidence in her accomplishment for DAYS!

Congrats again, April, on your successful run!!

[NancyR]

Being new... I could do the 3km for her... lol

Kinda scared about this "wall" I hear people talk of... one day I am sure I will hit it..

You all amaze me with these distances, good job!

[Sandy]

I hear you April!!!    I have heard this before, during and after racing.  While every race should have a purpose and yes the point is to get to the finish line as fast as you can, every day bring a new race EVEN IF YOU ARE RUNNING THE SAME COURSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Ever wonder why the elites don't worry AS much about hitting a certain time as they do about winning?  All you have to do is change one element and it's a new ball game so you can't compare race courses, even to themselves.  Mental training should be a big part of every racers program so you should never get to the point that you are talking yourself into quitting.

As far as the wall.....nutrition management.  That's all I'm going to say.

The thing that bugs me more is the runner who won't change things about their training, ends up with the same result as previous races and then complains about their time and not knowing why it wan't different.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. (or running an ultra  )

[April]

Mike........ I read your race report for PEC and  if you had given up in that last mile and a half because you thought you didn't hit your time, you may not have ended up qualifying (again, congrats on that! ). Your time difference in between age groups may have dwindled away as well because you gave up. And that might have hurt even more. Truly an example of why people should not give up. This girl was in her early 20's so I doubt she was trying to BQ, or she wouldn't have been where I was (insert turtle icon here)LOL.

What goes through my mind is, 10 more km, then you can stop...... 3 more km, then you can stop. I may be my own  . I don't think I ever said I want to quit. I know I said I couldn't go any faster but never, I quit.

Right around the time I was at the point where people say you can hit "the wall", I just pictured the scene in the movie Run Fat Boy Run of him staring at the wall. It made me laugh.   

[Kate]

Perhaps this would be a good time to clarify one little point ...

Even though I thought that I had had enough and wanted to go home, there is absolutely NO way I would not have finished that race. 

Maybe I am old school, but if I sign up for an event (no matter the sport), I don't go home until the job is done!

Happy running!!

 

[April]

I knew what you meant Kate, I feel the same way. I felt like giving up on a few of my training runs but instead I just slowed down my pace and finished. Not a lot of distance on my legs, but time.

"Maximizing my race dollar" . It's like going bowling and using three balls a frame instead of one. I want to get my monies worth LOL

[Rhonda]

I think you can train your body to do anything. I think it's your brain that tries to tell you "you can't do it". You just have to fight the brain! On a long gruelling run when my head is telling me to just quit and walk home, I go over a check list of my body asking myself questions (sometimes outloud). I ask...how's your feet, how's your legs, how's your stomach, how's your back, shoulders, arms etc. If I really think they are all working fine then I tell my brain that's it's not going to win this fight and I can keep going. I would crawl across the finish line before I ever quit. Last fall I told myself at the Scotia Bank marathon that I would not get the beautiful medal if I decided to just pack it in after suffering through many port potty stops and missing my goal time. Most of my friends and family couldn't tell the difference between a Boston qualifier and a 5 hour marathon. They are just so proud and impressed that I completed such an amazing feat. It has taken me several events to come to the same realization. Your expectations for yourself are usually far different that the one's others have of you.

Hopfully the runner you overheard will eventually absorb the huge accomplishment she had just to finish the marathon.

[Kate]

Interesting how a lot of things in life fall under the "if you think you can or if you think you can't, you are probably right" category.

[Sandy]

So true Kate, so true.

[The Moose1]

I guess what suprises me most about this statement from a marathoner, or half marathoner is that we do it because it's hard, at least I assume we all do.  If running a marathon was easy, then everybody would do it.  I can't imagine why someone would sign up, train and start a marathon if they didn't believe they would finish.  I mean really believe, like you believe the sun will come up in the East tommorrow morning.  When I start a race of any distance, I never even entertain the notion that I might not finish, or that it will be so hard I'll want to stop.  The only questions are, how I'll get to the finish, and how long will it take?  Up until now, I took great pride in the fact that I've only ever DNF'd twice.  I've raced hundreds of times, and didn't finish twice.  The first time I tore something in my ankle before starting a 10k, and by half way was hopping on one foot.  It still bugs me, because it was a race I could have won easily.  The second was when I dropped out of ATB at the 21k mark.  I shouldn't have started, and was diagosed with pnemonia the next day.  Pretty hard to race 30k when your body starts shutting down limbs.  That bugs me to.
The reason I say "up until now" was because until this discussion I thought I was pretty special that way, but now I see that I'm just another runner, everyone in this discussion probably feels the same way.



Mike

[cucina]

"the mind sells the body" I forget who said this but I always remember it!