slow runners pity party (Page 5)

It is not an either/or thing.  Many, if not all, of the people who have posted here have worked hard and continue to learn and do their best to improve.  Sometimes it's just nice to have some company and shared experiences on the journey. 

Agreed.  It was a joke thing.

Ahh...gotcha, and glad to hear it!

Before IronBabyBoy was born, I was running an 8:50 pace for marathons.

Now I can barely keep a 10 mm on training runs, but I'm getting there!

Now you're playing my song . . .

On my "long runs" (which are still only 7-8 miles, not considering the half marathon I did), I tell myself that this is my "ultra" pace. If I ever run 100 miles . . . I've got that pace down.

Speaking of the half marathon . . . my plan was to do the first three miles at 13 m/m. Yes. That's not a typo. That was my plan. For mile 3, I ran with a race walker. Yes. She was walking, and I was "running," and we were going exactly the same speed. I looked over to her and said, "How sad is this???" She was really sweet: "Well, I'm only about five inches taller than you, so . . ."

I had to stop at mile 7 for a potty/family visiting break for five minutes, and while I was . . . um . . . busy . . . she evidently passed me, because I saw her again at about mile 8.5. Since she was keeping close track of her pace (and I only keep a general track), I asked her how we were doing. Then I wished her well and went on. I ended up beating her by only 10 minutes.

At my first 5k, I was passed at about mile 2 by a 75 year old guy that I thought was going to have a heart attack. He was breathing so hard and his face was so red, and he was barely shuffling. But, yep. He passed me, three or four times before he eventually left me in his "dust."

One more . . . I run quite a bit at night, for scheduling reasons. One morning after a short run at night, one of my students said, "Oh, I saw you running last night." I'm thinking. Dang! Now he knows how really slow I am. So I stammered a little, and said, "Well, that was recovery run." (lol) He kind of nodded and playing along said, "Oh, well I was wondering why you were going so slowly."

And as slow as I am on the run . . . it's my strongest leg of the triathlon. I still pass a lot of people on the run because just about everyone passes me in the water and on the bike.

But I'm okay with it. Like most everyone else has said, I'm still faster than my couch.

But I'd wager you had more time, more energy and could do more running (and quality running) before ironbaby was born?

Question for everyone who doesn't seem to get any faster despite running, and apologies if someone already noted this (I haven't read all 6 pages of this) have you consistently ran 20+ miles a week for months? For me, 15-20 miles a week seems to be a place where running feels better. I see on these boards a lot questions like "how do I get faster at running? I run 2X/week, 2 miles each time. Do I need to do speedwork?". No, you just need to run more. So even if you have been running for a long time, is that 3X3 miles a week, which I think will never make you any faster, or are you really running 4-6X/week, one long run, one tempo run and 3-4 easy runs (or some variation on that theme?), getting 20+ miles/week spread across those runs? Try that for 6 months and you will be faster. But maybe that is not the point of this thread and maybe it is more to just enjoy the pity party, in which case, rock on and ignore this.

I don't run often enough to be any good.  I recognize and accept that.

My form stinks.  I'm working to correct that.  Over-striding heel striker.

My back is aching because of my crummy form, which makes me run less.

As a priority: I'd rather correct my form and run pain-free, than run lots and work on speed.

I live in a hilly neighborhood so training runs are slow, and if I set the HR alarm to Zone 2, I end up walking more than jogging (it's a laugh to say I'm "running"). 

I'd love to be a MOP runner.  Maybe in the bigger events I can be, but I have a preference for the smaller events which makes my runs stand out much moreso at the back of the pack.

However, I can smoke the bike.  

Agreed, and I didn't mean to rain on the pity party. :-) But at some point it is good to move past that and if you really want to improve, there are ways to do that, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of commitment. Sometimes you look at people's race results and can't believe they run that fast, but you also dont know how many of those are natural runners with a background and how many just work really hard at it. But for those of us who are not natural runners, working hard can make you faster. Maybe not 6 min/mile fast, but faster than you are now.

Hooray! Something I know something about. The answer to the piano question is "yes." With lessons and coaching, of course. I was an excellent pianist in college -- and that's being modest. I practiced 2-3 hours a day -- sometimes 4. But I also had one hour lessons two times a week. If I could have practiced four hours a day, every day. I'd be on tour now and not grading freshmen composition essays.

Yeah, I took the bullet for this about 4 pages ago.

I regularly run 25-30 mpw I have gotten a little faster -- closer to my old speed -- but I know it will take time. I am a big fan of Run More!

And yeah, I had more time, energy, and mileage before the baby was born. Also, I have to remember that a c-section is major surgery, and while I am certainy completely recovered, it did change my body.

In a week and a half I'm starting a training program that has me running a lot more than I have been.  I hope that helps with my run time.  I'm quoting this, because I think this a post that had good advice, but was responded to very poorly.

Hilarious!

At my first 5k earlier this year about mile 3, just outside Angel Stadium I caught up to a father and his 5-6 year old daughter that had run the entire course.  So yes I ran the same pace as a 5-6 year old.

ETA: I did however think that it was the coolest thing that she had run the whole course though.  I found it very motivating.

This thread is awesome, I feel like I have come home. Thank you TurtleGirl for starting this.

I PR'd a half marathon two weeks ago. My time was 2:38 (12:05 pace).  I was and still am ecstatic! And while I say I would love to get faster, the bottom line is that I don't put in anywhere near enough miles to make it happen.

I prefer to think of myself not as slow, but merely "less fast".

BikerGrrrl - 2011-10-06 12:39 PM

KansasMom - 2011-10-06 10:47 AM

BikerGrrrl - 2011-10-06 9:25 AM

Does this logic extend to all things?  If I practiced the piano for 4 hours a day would I be an accomplished pianist?  Doubtful.   

Hooray! Something I know something about. The answer to the piano question is "yes." With lessons and coaching, of course. I was an excellent pianist in college -- and that's being modest. I practiced 2-3 hours a day -- sometimes 4. But I also had one hour lessons two times a week. If I could have practiced four hours a day, every day. I'd be on tour now and not grading freshmen composition essays.

You could be.   But could everyone?  What if I have no ear for music or my dexterity is poor?  I can't believe that practicing is the only factor.

KansasMom - I know you're not the one saying that more running is the answer to everything.  I just thought I had a good point and need to stick up for it

Oh, you did have a good point. I just wanted to talk piano for a few minutes. But maybe fast runners feel a little like good pianists. People would hear me play and say, "You have such a gift." Well, yeah, I guess. But it was also a heck of a lot of work and time and tears and relaxation meditation. lol

I am now officially jealous.

Jealous of everyone here that has posted a race photo (or has one as their avatar) and you're running in the pic!  Every single race pic that's been taken on the 'run' (whether taken by the course photographers, or by friends) not ONE of the 'run' pics actually looks like I'm running!  Death march, shuffle, walk, whatever you want to call it - but there's no way you could ever call it running as at no time are both of my feet actually off the ground at the same time! 

Let's see em Monica. 

Seems like this thread needs more posts anyway!  

By the way, what's the record for thread pages? We may be slow runners, but we can post like nobody's business.

Hey Bikergrrrl,  

At least he had had an excuse for losing to you, you know with his bum knee and all. 

Seriously though, nice work.

x2 on this. I'm thrilled when I hit a 12:30 mile. 10 min mile would be lightning quick for me.

Shelly