Forums >Running 101>Why does weekly mileage matter so much?
Its about the competition to me, finishing in a high percentile. If people can't handle that, they shouldn't read the thread. ... Why do so many people on message boards actually look for a fight? I mean someone accuses me of being a teenager when in fact I'm married with a toddler and we all couldn't be happier. I mean I'm this terrible person who can't have a family of my own because I'm trying to run faster without spending all my time in training? Wow!
Its about the competition to me, finishing in a high percentile. If people can't handle that, they shouldn't read the thread.
...
Why do so many people on message boards actually look for a fight? I mean someone accuses me of being a teenager when in fact I'm married with a toddler and we all couldn't be happier. I mean I'm this terrible person who can't have a family of my own because I'm trying to run faster without spending all my time in training? Wow!
Have a popsicle.
I re-read this thread, and the ONLY response I've seen that seemed a little edgy was Nobby's initial response. Two things: 1) he kind of explained the tone in later responses and 2) he's Nobby... this man offers up so much and so often... read for understanding and not tone. Bonus: 3) it's easy to read tone sometimes that might not be there, nor intended.
Anyway, own what you post. Some of the feedback and the perceived tone could possibly be impacted by what you wrote and the way you wrote it.
As for telling us whether we should/shouldn't read a thread based on what we can "handle"... dude. Really. How do we know what the thread is about to make that determination unless we read it.
Go out and run.
PS, in the middle of all of the supposed fight picking... which I don't even see... is a ton of very useful info. Have you tried to understand and utilize it?
have a nice day
So you don't want a popsicle then?
The freezer's not working and they are all melting. You really should have one. They are just gonna go to waste otherwise.
can you email it to me?
Why is it sideways?
If you are a message board veteran, then you would have realized that asking vague questions, taking a counter-intuitive position, then giving anecdotal evidence as support of your position is likely to make people argumentative.
So are you the resident troll?
No, I'm the resident smart ass. There's a difference. I rarely post insincere threads trying to get people riled up. That's what a troll does. My posts above are completely sincere. "Have a popsicle" is a literary device, but I think you get my intended message. The origin is from the movie American Graffiti, which is where I took the smart ass-y follow-up from.
And I agree with Jeff's post above. I would have just written "+1", but I too am a message board veteran... probably a lot longer than most of the people here as I helped Al Gore invent the internet and all that... so I don't like the +1 thing.
I've got a fever...
Also there is no easy answer as to how much additional running it takes to improve from 9min/mile to 8min/mile verses going from 7:45min/mile to 7:30min/mile. So I figured I would post my specific question on the board given my background, how much I more I needed to do to reach this. I think the same answer can't be blanketly applied to everyone which is why I sought advice from the board.
I understand your dilemma. Unfortunately, things like this don't lend themselves to specific, formula-driven answers. The short answer is that to improve, run as much as you can - as much as you can fit into your schedule. It's an aerobic activity, and the more time you spend on your feet, the better. There's a reason why even world-class milers often run over 100 miles per week. Sure, they do hellacious interval work, but it's the huge base that supports that.
Nobby hates when people look for shortcuts, and I think that's how he perceived your post. But I understand that you have a practical concern with regards to balancing running with other things in your life. As an engineer, I understand that good results are not about cutting corners, but rather are about efficiency. In a sense, finding the way to attain a given goal with the least possible amount of work is searching for the most efficient solution. But there are always trade-offs. For a short race distance, 35mpw with serious speed workouts is more efficient than 55mpw of just mileage and might get you to the same finishing time. (FIRST training, anyone?) But the latter exposes you to greater chance of injury. The longer the race, the less you can do that.
On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.
Feeling the growl again
The problem is that most of the websites I've visited are too generic about training programs.
That is because it is up to you to learn about yourself and know your specific situation, and adjust the generic plan to fit you. If you are too new to running to do this, but demand specifics, you need to hire a coach to take the general and give you an exact plan. No one can put a specific plan out there that will meet your demands without knowing you personally. I'll go even further than that and say an extremely precise plan is over-instructive as there is a lot of flexibility you can put into a plan and acheive the same results.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Giant Flaming Dork
You know what? You're right.
Feel better? Good.
Now can we have popsicles?
http://xkcd.com/621/
So everyone hates a skeptic. I don't believe everything I read on the internet, especially when it comes to athletic performance. I don't think my question was all that vague. And without dropping race times, people would have no idea what the context was of my posting the thread. My position was basically saying here's what I did and how it worked out, what is the reasoning why this won't work. Some posters were able to respond politely with useful information, and some had to attack me personally. I don't think I'm at fault for the personal attacks because of the way I posted.
Umm, I just said that your approach would make people argumentative. The skeptical approach often does. I didn't blame you for creating personal attacks on yourself. Why are you twisting my words?
Sincere: Andy (spaniel, a fast runner with many years of experience) took a sentence you wrote about generic training plans and responded to that specific thing. There's nothing in that response about whether it is appropriate to ask questions in Running 101. There's nothing in that response that seems feisty either. To me it reads like a response/solution to a sentence that started with "The problem is..."
Are you absolutely sure you don't want a popsicle? They are delicious and refreshing.