RunningAHEAD - Topic: Running is hard work (page 2)

backstretch

posted: 3/12/2008 at 11:14 PM

Quote from Teresadfp on 3/12/2008 at 11:09 PM:

Well, there are worse things that could happen, I guess! I'm just happy I'm ABLE to improve my time. My first 5k time was 41:XX.

That's a tough call, yes getting faster is good.........but so is, getting easier. I know just HTFU!

"The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius

Narsi

Man in Tights

posted: 3/13/2008 at 12:05 AM

Quote from DeadMopoz on 3/12/2008 at 11:10 PM:

That is so not true!!! If running is a work I would hire someone to do it! Running is a very hard pleasure!

Well said. The hard work makes it worth the while. When flying out of town the aircraft usually flies over city and I can clearly trace my running route. And I think - man I actually run all that distance. There's an amazing sense of acomplishment. Hang in there.

Figbash

posted: 3/13/2008 at 12:49 AM

Quote from backstretch on 3/12/2008 at 10:51 PM:

Is that really true? What if you didn't want to get faster?

I always do my runs at the same intensity and as my mileage increases my average pace increases. This has been a tough winter and my mileage is way down as is my pace. I'll pick up 30-35 seconds per mile this summer when I start running more. I can't imagine not wanting to get faster as your conditioning improves. Tom

Sulli42

posted: 3/13/2008 at 12:54 AM

Running most definitely gets easier the longer you do it. That said, if you are running to improve yourself, then you have to make it hurt every once in awhile. There just ain't no way around that one. You must embrace the pain. Just be sure you understand the difference between "good" pain and "bad" pain. One of my favorite quotes similar to the one already posted. "Nothing worth experiencing comes easy, especially when it comes to personal satisfaction."

Hoshiko

posted: 3/13/2008 at 3:25 AM

I'm still a complete beginner, but I had the week from hell last week and every minute I ran sucked. In the middle of one of my worst "runs" a horrible feeling came over me and I thought "What if it doesn't get any easier? Runners must be complete masochists!" Thanks for confirming my worst suspicions. Wink

If I had a dollar for every time I said that, I'd be making money in a very weird way. - Mitch Hedberg

Hefty

posted: 3/13/2008 at 4:27 AM

Last month I ran with a bad cold and the running was not good. I probably should have rested instead Big grin

The endorphin high is good, yes... Clowning around

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080303101110.htm

ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2008) — Throughout the world, amateurs, experts and the media agree that prolonged jogging raises people's spirits. And many believe that the body's own opioids, so called endorphins, are the cause of this. But in fact this has never been proven until now. Researchers at the Technische Universität München and the University of Bonn succeeded in demonstrating the existence of an 'endorphin driven runner's high'. In an imaging study they were able to show, for the first time, increased release of endorphins in certain areas of the athletes' brains during a two-hour jogging session. [...]

Kimmie

posted: 3/13/2008 at 8:28 AM

Quote from jeffdonahue on 3/12/2008 at 4:25 PM:

To quote Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own" "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

Love this line!!

Anya_

posted: 3/13/2008 at 9:03 AM

It's weird. Sometimes, a normal run, takes you by surprise. Sometimes, I'm amazed I can run that far with no problems at all. Or, sometimes, I'm driving along a normal route, and think to myself, " I can't believe I run all the way over here " Shocked

- Anya

BadDawg

posted: 3/13/2008 at 9:59 AM

Quote from Hoshiko on 3/13/2008 at 3:25 AM:

I'm still a complete beginner, but I had the week from hell last week and every minute I ran sucked. In the middle of one of my worst "runs" a horrible feeling came over me and I thought "What if it doesn't get any easier? Runners must be complete masochists!" Thanks for confirming my worst suspicions.

I had a 30K race on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago, and was pretty happy with my result. On Tuesday, I was shocked how great I felt on a seven mile run. I was feeling smooth and strong, and felt good after. On Wednesday, I had one of my all-time worst runs. It just sucked. My legs felt like lead, and at the halfway point I wanted to just give up and walk. I should have taken it easy on Tuesday no matter how good I was feeling. I just should have known better. Oh well, screwing up every now and then helps me to burn the lesson into memory and keeps me humble. The bigger takeaway for me is how rare a truly bad run has been for me. Without an occasional bad run it's really quite easy to take good runs for granted, so even bad runs serve a purpose. Masochist? Yes. Complete masochist? No. Smile

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.

JimHowe

posted: 3/13/2008 at 10:18 AM

Quote from jeffdonahue on 3/12/2008 at 4:25 PM:

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

Myth. Running should feel easy most of the time.

Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33

Hannibal Granite

posted: 3/13/2008 at 10:26 AM

Quote from JimHowe on 3/13/2008 at 10:18 AM:

Myth. Running should feel easy most of the time.

It depends on the perspective. The 'hard' part is often just getting up and getting out the door, or when first starting out when working through those first few weeks or even months when even running 'easy' isn't easy. Although I do agree that the vast majority of the actual runs should be easy - thoguh still not as easy as continuing to sit on the couch Wink

"You NEED to do this" - Shara

JimHowe

posted: 3/13/2008 at 10:44 AM
modified: 3/13/2008 at 10:44 AM

Quote from Hannibal Granite on 3/13/2008 at 10:26 AM:

...still not as easy as continuing to sit on the couch

nor as easy as hanging out on runner's forums Wink

I could probably run an extra 20 miles a week if I gave them up, but then what reason would there be to run? Clowning around

Age 60 plus best times: 5k 19:00, 10k 38:35, 10m 1:05:30, HM 1:24:09, 30k 2:04:33

Gordo_S

~Gordo~

posted: 3/13/2008 at 12:12 PM

I know that my body goes through a cycle when I've been off the roads for a bit. The first couple of days, or even weeks, will seem easy. Then all of sudden, I feel I'm running slower and working harder. Almost like the your body is saying enough...but working through that "hard" part is what makes it all worthwhile. You let your body know that this is what I want to be doing and just as quick as it was hard it will seem easy again...until it's time for speedwork... ~Gordo

!If you don't...you won't! ~Remember the light at the end of tunnel maybe you~ ~If you choose not to decided, you still have made a choice~

Ben_1415

Hey, nice marmot!

posted: 3/13/2008 at 12:26 PM

Quote from JimHowe on 3/13/2008 at 10:44 AM:

nor as easy as hanging out on runner's forums I could probably run an extra 20 miles a week if I gave them up, but then what reason would there be to run?

All the "free" race t-shirts.

Ben

"The world is my country, science is my religion."-- Christiaan Huygens

sully708

My legs are killing me

posted: 3/13/2008 at 12:49 PM

I was just venting a bit. Big grin

Running is as hard as you make it. Like most everyone here, when I started it was hard to run 1 minute straight and running a 5k was just a dream. Now a 5k run is an easy distance to complete. But now a 5k isn't enough so I've done 10ks to test myself. Now I know I can complete a 10k so now a 1/2 is in order. We're addicts. lol But, at 44, I think its great to have the ability to run and push myself. It's a great feeling to feel like I am an athlete again. I guess thats the point of running - to make it hard and to challenge yourself but sometimes, just when you think you've got it beat, your body fights back. But we're runners so we HTFU and push through it for the thrill of going farther or faster.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4B-r8KJhlE

Running is hard work (Read 1039 times)