Forums >General Running>Do we run for ourselves, or to feed our ego?
I *am* a runner and even I didn't know they had half of 5ks.
Half the 5ks I've run aren't 5ks
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Oooh, nicely played.
It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.
Biomimeticist
This is really cool. So why do you want to make runners faster? Why teach the ignorant masses about how to run like an ostrich who is far superior to us? Aren't you contributing to the demise of society as we know it?
No, I do it to offer solutions that actually prevent the most prominent injuries athletes face.
Experts said the world is flat
Experts said that man would never fly
Experts said we'd never go to the moon
Name me one of those "experts"...
History never remembers the name of experts; just the innovators who had the guts to challenge and prove the "experts" wrong
All the other BS aside. If I was running for personal ego or to make myself look better I think I would of burned out long ago.
Although I admit that running is a very selfish activity and i do it completely for me. I crave the inner piece and quite I get while running, I like my alone time to clear my thoughts and plan out the day. The few times I have been hurt and had to take more than a week off I slowly turn back into the unsure, sleepless, anxiety fulled, mental wreck of a person I was before I started running. I feel I hide these issues well but I had a lot of practice before I started running. The thought of turning back into that person scares me more than anything.
I started running for my health and weight but now that I'm at a healthy weight and numbers I keep running for my mental health and all around great outlook running has given me towards my life.
not bad for mile 25
It's actually pretty humbling to participate in a race in which thousands of people finish ahead of you. It's also exhilarating.
I crave the inner piece
+1 Especially if we are talking brownies.
The Plan '15 → /// "Run Hard, Live Easy." ∞
I was just reading the Motivation thread by 123 and it got me to thinking about these oddball goals we have. I'm not talking about a pr, getting in shape or losing weight, the endorphin high of a long run, or even (my favorite) just feeling good about oneself, but things like running a marathon in all 50 states or on all 7 continents. My wife is a triathlete and tried to explain the difference between an Iron distance race and an Ironman branded race. Other than the latter is a few hundred dollars more, the only difference is in the name, and IM brand triathletes are snobs about this. Do we really want to do these things, or just seek the admiration of others for the accomplishment. In the absence of sheer love of the activity as an end in unto itself, goals are what keep us going. I like running, most of the time. Matter of fact I just did a set of 400 M repeats faster than ever and it felt great! However, it doesn't hold a candle to surfing where just last week I was a kid on Christmas with an ear-ear grin and vocally hooting to myself when there was no one else around to see or hear me, just me and the wave. I surfed till I could physically no longer stand; it's the only sport that does that for me. I'm a decent surfer, but I have no egomaniacal goal to surf on every continent or whatever so that I can tell people and they can look at me in awe. An exotic surf trip would be fun, but that's about it.. It's supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow morning, but the surf might be good enough to write home about (so to speak) and I can't wait to go get it!!! Do ultra marathoners feel this way about running the Badlands? How about that guy that ran across the Mojave desert a while back who was crying as he changed into refrigerate shoes? I understand that goals keep us going, and that a 50th marathon for one person is the same as another's 1st 5k, but where is the line between running for yourself turn into running for your ego? A perfect example is that guy in Portugal that just "surfed" a potentially record breaking wave. Instead of surfing left or right the way one is supposed to, he went straight so that his height could be used to measure the height of a the wave to see if he broke a record. Then he got swallowed by the foam pile and wiped out. He didn't do it for the love of surfing, but to feed his ego. Just wanted to get a few opinions.
I was just reading the Motivation thread by 123 and it got me to thinking about these oddball goals we have. I'm not talking about a pr, getting in shape or losing weight, the endorphin high of a long run, or even (my favorite) just feeling good about oneself, but things like running a marathon in all 50 states or on all 7 continents. My wife is a triathlete and tried to explain the difference between an Iron distance race and an Ironman branded race. Other than the latter is a few hundred dollars more, the only difference is in the name, and IM brand triathletes are snobs about this. Do we really want to do these things, or just seek the admiration of others for the accomplishment. In the absence of sheer love of the activity as an end in unto itself, goals are what keep us going.
I like running, most of the time. Matter of fact I just did a set of 400 M repeats faster than ever and it felt great! However, it doesn't hold a candle to surfing where just last week I was a kid on Christmas with an ear-ear grin and vocally hooting to myself when there was no one else around to see or hear me, just me and the wave. I surfed till I could physically no longer stand; it's the only sport that does that for me. I'm a decent surfer, but I have no egomaniacal goal to surf on every continent or whatever so that I can tell people and they can look at me in awe. An exotic surf trip would be fun, but that's about it.. It's supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow morning, but the surf might be good enough to write home about (so to speak) and I can't wait to go get it!!! Do ultra marathoners feel this way about running the Badlands? How about that guy that ran across the Mojave desert a while back who was crying as he changed into refrigerate shoes?
I understand that goals keep us going, and that a 50th marathon for one person is the same as another's 1st 5k, but where is the line between running for yourself turn into running for your ego? A perfect example is that guy in Portugal that just "surfed" a potentially record breaking wave. Instead of surfing left or right the way one is supposed to, he went straight so that his height could be used to measure the height of a the wave to see if he broke a record. Then he got swallowed by the foam pile and wiped out. He didn't do it for the love of surfing, but to feed his ego.
Just wanted to get a few opinions.
you know what they say about people who own street jeeps with meaty tires right?
In order to see the truth, sometimes you have to loose an eye.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Utri/
What's wrong with running for your ego, as long as you are not bragging about it to others?
We all need some kind of accomplishment to keep us going.
My friend knits marvellous sweaters and probably part of it feeds her ego.
Her accomplishment doesn't reduce my sense of self nor does my running reduce hers.
"dancing on the path and singing, now you got away,
you can reach the goals you set from now on, every day"
Sonata Arctica
Lots of good responses, I like seeing the different opinions an points of view. I like running because it make me feel good about myself, a sense of accomplishment, not so my non-runner friends can look up to me in awe. It's more like, you missed your goal by how much? Awe. I had a paddle race yesterday where I only wanted to beat 1 guy, a friend of mine. due to a number of factors I ended up way behind with 1 mile to go. I got my act together and was closing fast but there wasn't enough course left and got beat by about 10 yards. While neither of us was a contender for anything else, we both had the same goal. There was no hint of trash talking, just a big hug and a "good job" afterwards. I guess we all have an ego to feed, and mabey that's what keeps us going. goals, large and small, success and failure. I'm using this experience to build on, make changes, do a little better the next time. Looking at it another way, being separated by just 10 yards after almost 2 hours of paddling is pretty good. Racing is fun!
rather be sprinting
PRs: 5k 19:25, mile 5:38, HM 1:30:56
Lifting PRs: bench press 125lb, back squat 205 lb, deadlift 245lb
Yeah, when you run a race and lose, arguably you are feeding OTHER people's egos.
Performing a public service!
Once upon a time I did like hearing people say "wow, you did x,y,z, race that's crazy." But it long ago got old. Now I do it cause it's fun and I like to eat pizza and ice cream (and the above mentioned leftover halloween candy) and I want to improve over my last race, despite getting older. Also, it stopped being fun to get admired when I realized the same people in awe of my marathon or ultra or whatever, were equally in awe of their uncle's neighbor's friend's sister's 5k muddy marathon walk jog that they did to raise money for drippy noses in Cuba.
Once upon a time I did like hearing people say "wow, you did x,y,z, race that's crazy." But it long ago got old. Now I do it cause it's fun and I like to eat pizza and ice cream (and the above mentioned leftover halloween candy) and I want to improve over my last race, despite getting older.
Also, it stopped being fun to get admired when I realized the same people in awe of my marathon or ultra or whatever, were equally in awe of their uncle's neighbor's friend's sister's 5k muddy marathon walk jog that they did to raise money for drippy noses in Cuba.
+1