RunningAHEAD - Topic: Talking during a race

rururunner

posted: 9/5/2008 at 11:37 PM
modified: 9/5/2008 at 11:37 PM

This might sound strange, but I'd like to get other opinions. It really irritates me when I am in a race and people around me are having extensive conversations with their running partners. When I race, I try to do my best and usually I am really struggling to keep my pace up. So there I am trying to tell myself that I'm not going to die, I will PR, I'm the best and I can do it and go for it and all that motivational stuff and beside me or around me are usually two people running along at the same pace yakking away about their friend's friend who said such and such and wasn't that awful and some people can be so rude...blah...blah...blah... Come on people! It's a race! Not a Sunday morning fun run. Shut up and run hard! Don't you care? Sheesh! Is it just me? Am I being over-sensitive here? Confused

Suffering Benefiting from mature onset exercise addiction and low aerobic endorphin release threshold. Hoping there is no cure.

xor

posted: 9/5/2008 at 11:41 PM
modified: 9/6/2008 at 1:42 PM

Sometimes it bugs me too. (edited to add: note "sometimes". This means "not often") But I'd rather run next to two people chatting than that one dude breathing like a steam engine locomotive. (edited to add: I don't mean "breathing hard"; something more specific; and in a marathon when I might get to listen to it for a very long time) Or the person who whips out the cell phone. YEAH! I'M AT MILE 3! WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU! MILE 3! (edited to add: more often than "sometimes") Double edited to add: people talking rarely bugs me that much and lots of the time, I'm the one talking. So I probably bug others.

thomasruns

Insert witty title here

posted: 9/6/2008 at 12:05 AM

Well going back to another recent thread.. if you had your ipod then you wouldn't have to listen to any of that.. just sayin Smile

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"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - [Walter Bagehot]

Craig S

Menace to Sobriety

posted: 9/6/2008 at 6:34 AM

I have the opposite problem.....I try to have a conversation with someone and they start running.

Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 9/6/2008 at 7:24 AM

Quote from thomasruns on 9/6/2008 at 12:05 AM:

Well going back to another recent thread.. if you had your ipod then you wouldn't have to listen to any of that.. just sayin

Heh, it's ironic, isn't it? I have a feeling that there are more than a few purists (who are on the course half the time many of us are) who would say "no talking, no music." And there's always the old "you'd run faster if you ditched the iPod." Oh, really...? Wow, I'll bet I could be elite without the music. Yeah, that's all that's holding me back. Damn you, Steve Jobs! Wink

Though I don't need my iPod for any race, I will admit that there have been many races where I either end up alone for miles (smaller races with packs ahead and behind me by a stretch) or about ready to smack those gabby talkers, shufflers, loud plodders, and heavy breathers...and to drown out the sound of my own labored breathing. At those times I really miss it. The only time talking during races annoys me is when I am struggling. If I'm having a good race and feeling strong I don't mind hearing other conversations or taking part. I have also had that feeling of "well, damn...if you can talk so easily you should be running faster--what the hell did you pay for?" Ruth, the best thing about those talkers is knowing that they are wasting energy gabbing. And if they don't pick up the pace you can beat 'em to the finish line and have that many more people below you in the standings! Big grin

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

Phidippides

posted: 9/6/2008 at 7:27 AM
modified: 9/6/2008 at 7:28 AM

Quote from rururunner on 9/5/2008 at 11:37 PM:

This might sound strange, but I'd like to get other opinions. It really irritates me when I am in a race and people around me are having extensive conversations with their running partners. Come on people! It's a race! Not a Sunday morning fun run. Shut up and run hard! Don't you care? Sheesh! Is it just me? Am I being over-sensitive here?

I think your being over sensative......people race for difffrent reasons......what if the people talkiing are a really conditioned runner that is training a newbie and he is talking to him to make sure he won't over extend and complete his first race?? Might be someone that is running their 5 race in a row and there just chilling.... Might be someone that doesnt care about time or speed and is out with a friend having fun..... When I train or race, dont pay much attention to to other people - I just focus on myself...... Cant do anything about others anyway... what does annoy me is when Im killing myself to run a PR and people are floating along talking..not because they are taking it easy, but because they are that much more conditioned then I am... Cry

Champions are made when no one is watching

mikeymike

posted: 9/6/2008 at 10:32 AM

Quote from rururunner on 9/5/2008 at 11:37 PM:

Am I being over-sensitive here?

Yeah, a bit.

Runners run

Teresadfp

One day at a time

posted: 9/6/2008 at 10:49 AM

My running partner and I seem to be on the same wavelength - sometimes we feel like talking during races, and sometimes we don't. Or we'll talk for a little while, and then shut up. I run races for fun since I'm so slow - if I get a PR, it's a bonus.

rururunner

posted: 9/6/2008 at 10:53 AM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 9/6/2008 at 7:24 AM:

The only time talking during races annoys me is when I am struggling.

I think you nailed it there! It just points to the fact that I need to focus on how I am doing and not everyone else. At my athletic ability the only one I'm racing against is me. Smile

I am being sensitive but singing can be annoying even though I should look at that as an opportunity to go faster to get away. Thanks for the input. I'm going to try to lighten up!

Suffering Benefiting from mature onset exercise addiction and low aerobic endorphin release threshold. Hoping there is no cure.

BadDawg

posted: 9/6/2008 at 1:28 PM

I meet more nice people yapping during races than I do anywhere else. It doesn't have to be a three act play, even a very brief exchange can make a race more interesting. My recent favorite series: Young man (breathing like a steam locomotive): Is the finish just ahead? BadDawg: No, about 3/4 mile. You run 5ks? Young man: Yeah, I run high school cross country The runners come to the finish, and our young steam locomotive has caught his second wind. He passes the old man, but the old man outkicks him coming in to the line. They introduce each other, and offer congrats. Several weeks later, our combatants return to the Good Times course: Nick: Hi Mr H. BadDawg: Hi Nick, gonna kick some ass tonight? Nick: Yes sir, I'm going to stay with you. The old man runs particularly well, and opens up some daylight in the last half mile. At the Good Times series finale, I looked for Nick before the start but didn't see him. About two minutes in, I heard footsteps and somebody breathing just over my shoulder. BadDawg (without looking back): Is that my young friend Nick? Nick: Yes sir Mr H, I'm going to stay with you tonight. BadDawg: Actually, I'm hoping YOU are going to drag me around the course tonight. I did a 23 mile training run a couple of days ago. Nick: WHAT? Why would you do that? BadDawg: Training for BayState marathon. Nick: Cool, I'll be working a water stop with my cross country team. BadDawg: Excellent, that's something for me to look forward to. On this night, I was struggling and Nick was shoulder to shoulder with me from the time he arrived to about the 2.5 mile mark. Nick: Are we going to be under 19:00? BadDawg: No, about 19:10 Nick: Let's GO! I would have loved to have another battle to the finish, but I just didn't have the legs and had to be content with staying close enough to see him cross the line with a sub 19:00 PR. I don't think I'll be able to stay with him when Good Times resumes in the spring, but I look forward to chatting and pushing each other to improve.

E.J.
Greater Lowell Road Runners
Cry havoc and let slip the dawgs of war!

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your SPF30, may the rains fall soft upon your sweat-wicking hat, and until you hit the finish line may The Flying Spaghetti Monster hold you in the hollow of His Noodly Appendage.

xor

posted: 9/6/2008 at 1:34 PM

Yeah, "steam engine locomotive"... see, many of us are doing that in a 5k or a 10k. The steam engine locomotive that I mentioned should have come with more details. He's the guy with the very odd, loud breathing pattern. I don't mean just "breathing really hard"... I mean the very regular "hugga puffa wsss hugga puffa wssssss". And he's doing it at M1 of a marathon right next to me. That's 3+ hours of listening to hugga puffa wssss. I'm not saying he's bad or doing anything wrong. Just saying that it gets kinda old :-). Anyway, he sometimes drops me after a bit. Or I drop him. As for people talking, there are different situations and levels. Dunno why it bothers me sometimes and not others. That's probably true about eavesdropped conversations in general, not just running. It's fine. Except cell phone guy.

BadDawg

posted: 9/6/2008 at 1:41 PM

Quote from xor on 9/6/2008 at 1:34 PM:

Yeah, "steam engine locomotive"... see, many of us are doing that in a 5k or a 10k.

That's me, except I've always described my breathing as that of a mortally wounded water buffalo. Has a certain ring to it, no? I actually had someone complain about it while I was running the Applefest HM hard. I was pretty surprised, but I guess I shouldn't have been.

E.J.
Greater Lowell Road Runners
Cry havoc and let slip the dawgs of war!

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your SPF30, may the rains fall soft upon your sweat-wicking hat, and until you hit the finish line may The Flying Spaghetti Monster hold you in the hollow of His Noodly Appendage.

milktruck

an amazing likeness

posted: 9/6/2008 at 3:38 PM
modified: 9/6/2008 at 3:39 PM

I usually have more lungs than leg, so sometimes when I've been running next to the same person for a couple miles, I may ask how they're feeling, something about the course, or something to be friendly. Some people will chat, some shoot daggers or just give me the stink eye. At the start area, I'm quiet and focsued, but I find that to be the time people are really chatting and being social, or worse, predicting their time in (overly) loud voice -- that cracks me up when I reel them in later in the race as they're dying. At the last 10 miler I was followed by two lawyers who spent the entire race talking about the legal business, their stock portfolios, things in the city -- it was pretty entertaining....and scarey at the same time.

_{Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.}

Girl In Motion

posted: 9/6/2008 at 5:06 PM

BadDawg, I love reading your exchange with the kid. Very cool and a great slice of running life. As for the original question, I'm one who gets annoyed with talkers, but purely out of jealousy. Wish I could run a race and have something left in me to chat with - but if I could chat, I wouldn't be running my hardest.

www.girl-in-motion.com - blog
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Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 9/6/2008 at 5:30 PM

Quote from BadDawg on 9/6/2008 at 1:41 PM:

That's me, except I've always described my breathing as that of a mortally wounded water buffalo. Has a certain ring to it, no? I actually had someone complain about it while I was running the Applefest HM hard. I was pretty surprised, but I guess I shouldn't have been.

There is a guy I have done several races with here who sounds like he is going to keel over and die. But he starts that the second he starts running and it keeps going at a nice steady pace the whole run. We used to be very close to the same pace but listening to him breathing drove me batty so I had to force myself to run faster. I was stuck with him for 5.5 miles of a 10K once and it was torture. On a longer race I'll often exchange short dialogue like what BadDawg describes early on in the race. Its kind of nice to know the people around me and I have met some nice people that way. but no, I dont do a running commentary during the race. Actually the only time other people talking has ever bothered me was a half marathon I did last year where the guy behind me griped to his running partner the entire race about how bad the race was, how poorly it was organized, how poorly the course was laid out and for 3 miles he asked every 20 feet "where is the goddamn turnaround because we should be there by now this is bullshit. They said it was an out and back and we are past mile 6 so it should be here where the hell is it stupid #$%^ lied they said it was an out and back" Which they didnt, they said loop around the park, then an out and back to the finish, so the turn around was nearer to mile 9. Which I turned AROUND to tell him to try to stop his bitching. Didnt work. Then he bitched about the turnaround and the race for another 2 miles AFTER the turnaround until I finally finally dropped that jerk.

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

Talking during a race (Read 922 times)