slow runners pity party (Page 4)

Fun thread!  Slowpokes unite!

Last year at a 5K I got double-geezered!  I was plodding along when I hear footsteps approaching  me from the back.  Two 70-somethings must have been doing the race together and decided to split apart and pass me, one on each side!  Humiliating at first, but then I found great humor in it and just kept plodding on.

Most of the time it's all in our head.

So last Saturday the 5K I did starts off the homecoming parade. You basically run down a parade route that is lined with people. It's a lot of fun. So as i'm chugging along I start to get self conscious. It seemed like EVERYONE was looking at me. It was the one eyebrow raised kind of looks. A couple of kids were even pointing. People were taking pictures. Then I could hear them:

"Mommy look at that guy!"

"Oh my, that's silly."  

"What the?"

"He just looks ridiculous."

"Takes a lot of courage to wear that. HaHa"

By this point I am just trying to ignore the comments. I was happy I didn't wear my tri shorts. Can you imagine? Do I really look that bad? I finally mustered up good dose of who cares and sped up.  After all i'm out here for me. Who cares what they think.           

As I rounded the a corner I just happened to glance over my shoulder.  To my surprise there was a giant eyeball wearing a pink tutu running behind me. It looked like he was pacing me and trying to catch up. Guess he had been there for awhile, and he DID look ridiculous!

I'm an idiot. 

My strongest event leg of a tri is the swim, followed by the bike.  I am generally one of the first out of the water and am then passed by the strong cyclist on expensive bikes.  Then on the run about half of my age group passes me.  It sucks being the rabbit :-)

I was never a runner before I got into Triathlons ~4 years ago and now I've run a marathon.  I'm going to do a lot of running this winter to get my miles below 8 and hopefully into the 6 minute range. 

I actually like the Kinvara 2s quite a lot, despite being one walking chronic orthopedic issue (I have always trained in low-slung, lightweight trainers...but i am not a barefoot/minimalist person), so even if you DO have "issues", something like this might help.

I have poor proprioception in my bad leg, and less shoe and lower to the ground helps "remind" me what my legs and feet should be doing, if that makes sense.

Oh my God.. thank you so much  KathyG, the Claw and everyone else for absolutely making my day...

So I'll chuck a story in there too...

Was running Disney for my first marathon a few years back. Those last 6 miles really were pure hell. But one thing that just kept me going was a guy in full Gladiator attire. Sword, helmet, shield - the works. I kept thinking to myself Dear Lord please let me beat Maximus....

Lo and behold... we're on the last mile and I have that SOB in my sights. I give it everything I've got and beat his a$$ by about 20 seconds! Woo-Hoo! Hurray for me, I beat a Gladiator!  It's when they were handing out the finishers medals and I see him go over to get his Goofy medal.  That dog had also run the 1/2 marathon the day before. *sigh*. 

I am somewhat confused because people are saying "I run X mm" but you aren't saying at what distance. I mean 10 mm for a marathon would be awesome IMO. Not so much if that's your 1 mile TT time though.

I used to be a slow runner. When I first showed up to my tri club's track workout, I was running 12.5 mm and could run about 2 miles at once. In my first 5K, I was ecstatic because I was able to run under 12 mm! Of course, when I looked at the pictures, I saw that not only had I been passed by a bunch of people with kids in strollers -- and not the faster jogging strollers either -- but also a dog (though he had all 4 legs)! But I was still happy.

In my first two tris, the runs were hilly and I averaged 13:49 mm for 4 miles in one and 14 mm for 6.2 miles in the other. I was still happy about that since it was hot and hilly and for the 10k, I'd never actually run that far before.

But I was tired of seeing my results go down from swim to bike and then bike to run. So I traded a swim workout for a run workout and eventually I saw the run becomes my best event! I'm still slow compared to the fast guys and I have an injury that limits my speed (the faster I go, the more it gets aggravated), but I'm a MOP runner vs. a BOP triathlete. So it is possible to get better at running, if that's what you want.

I LOVE this thread!  I walked 2 half marathons this year.  I did cut 7 minutes off my time from my first to my second.

Oh, and my run pace is almost the same as my walk pace around 14mm.

Holy crap did this thread make me laugh.  There's no doubt about it...I'm a slow runner.  I'm not giving up though.  I'll be smoking some of those guys eventually!  For now, I'll just have to be that 6'3" guy putting out 280 watts on the bike and running 10 mm's.

My friends constantly ask me questions like, "you did the run in WHAT!?...what do you actually do during that period of time!?"

I answer them with "thinking that even though I'm running this slow, I'm still kicking your a$$".

I try not to pity my slowness too much, but here it goes. Started off August 2010 with running and not being able to make it one block without my chest being on fire. I was ecstatic that my first 5k was around 12 mm in Nov 2010. After a year of running, I'm finally starting to be able to run without fearing a cramp and almost broke the 30 min 5k barrier a few weeks ago. Hopefully my next 5k in 2 weeks, I'll be able to push myself enough to finish sub 30.

Currently training for a marathon with an estimated pace time of 11-11:30 mm. Plan says I should run 90 secs slower than the goal pace for long runs. Little does the plan know, I would basically be walking if this was the case which I don't think will prep me for "running" a marathon.

I'm happy with the strides I've made, but slow is still slow. It's especially sucky when I can't even point the finger at any factor. I'm young, not overweight, and completely injury free. My only excuse is I'm slow (and of course I probably haven't ever put in the miles to really become faster). What's worse is my husband is carrying at least 25 lbs of extra fat on him and runs anywhere from sub 7mm to 8mm depending on the race distance. I'm convinced some people are runners naturally while the rest of us can only try. 

While I know a lot of you are convinced that you're destined to be slow runners, I don't believe run speed is a foregone conclusion.  In 2006 I ran a stand alone marathon in 5:10 (which at the time was a PR).  In 2008 my marathon time at IMKY was 6:25 and in 2009 my marathon time at IMAZ was 6:07. 

In 2010 I started training differently.  I slowed my pace, trained solely based on heart rate and gradually increased my frequency and miles. 

In 2011 I ran the marathon at IMLP in 4:15 (and that was with GI issues over the final few miles) and I now consistently do the half marathon portion of a HIM in about 1:50.  Not blazing fast but respectable.

Getting faster came down to consistency.  I ran slower, ran more often and increased my cumulative volume.  When I was injured, I ran in the pool (not fun but really effective).  If you want to get faster, you just need to focus on it.  For 99% of people running slow is psychological and not physiological issue. 

x whatever on the Kinvara 2s.  I love them and I definitely run faster in them than my other heavier running shoes with a higher heel-toe drop.  That said I am still slow compared to the people running 6, 7 or even 8 min miles.  I am ok with it, though because I still run faster than I did when I didn't run at all 

In all seriousness, my goal is to try and run a just a little faster each year and stay healthy and uninjured doing it.  

It's great to see a thread like this and know we're not alone.  Yes, I'm a slow runner, and it is my best event of the three! 

A couple years ago, I went to the local running group to give it a try.  In the pre-run meeting, I introduced myself to the group and then the leader asked what pace/distance I'd like to run that day so they could pair me up with someone.  I was pretty happy with saying 10:30 ish pace for 8ish miles would be good.  In fact, that was probably stretching it a bit, but with peer pressure much is possible, right?  The leader looked around the room and told me noone was going that slow that day, but one guy was walking and I could go with him.  It wasn't said in a mean way, and attendance in the group was down that day due to some big race, but still I never went back.

The tri scene is really skewed towards very fit (and mostly younger than me) people.  I like that it encourages me to do better and not settle.  I mean knowing that I will be out there wearing a spandex outfit amongst a very fit mostly 20-30 something crowd can be quite motivating .  But sometimes it is difficult to take when I feel like I'm working so hard just to hang on in the back of the pack.   

I've gotten a little faster and fitter with my first season of tri training, but am still a slogger.  When I get down about my lack of speed, I remind myself that I'm still leaving my couch in the dust!  But I will continue to work to get a little faster....for me....one step at a time.  I'm even thinking about giving the running group another try.

This is a pity party, not a solution party.  Apparently.