running

[forgotten_aria]

I'm coming to the realization that I don't hate running, I just hate being slow and everything that mean. From childhood associations of inadequacy to just feeling guilty if people have to wait for me.

I wonder what I can do to start separating running from these issues so it doesn't send me in to a mental health spiral.

Comments

[dcltdw]

I'm not a fan of group runs, because almost certainly I'm one of the slowest. Now, that said, I typically go to a Wed night group run, because it turns out that they're only slightly faster than me, and the logistics are a perfect workout for me (2 mi warmup, 3 mi at tempo pace, 2 mi cooldown).

That said, it helps tremendously that this is a group that fissioned out of Run Fellow Run Club, whose motto was I Like Your Pace, and was explicitly set up to be welcoming to slower runners. (When runners finished, they didn't go inside to the bar, they stayed outside and formed a two-column line. Everyone finishing after the 1st person got a high five from everyone who finished before them, so the last person got all the high fives. Pretty cool to experience, and a fantastic way to hammer home the club's values, which led to good esprit de corps.)

Have you considered joining a track club? The nice thing about running laps is you never really fall behind. Sure, people will be starting their set #4 while you're finishing your set #3, but at least for me, I'm still around people, and that's what matters. Nrrrr, I'm around supportive people, and that's what matters. :D

One thing that I've heard multiple times from faster runners is how much respect they have for slower runners: they went through this workout in, whatever, 35 minutes, but there are people out there at 45 minutes, and holy crap, they can do that for 45 minutes?!? So they don't think of it in terms of pace time, they think of it in terms of total time, and that's something they find inspiring. First time I heard that, I was like: nooo, wait, really?!? But I've heard it multiple times over the years.

Speaking for myself, I give mad props to slower runners, because I've been that person - multiple times, due to taking breaks because of injuries or burnout or depression - and I know how much that phase sucks for me. Slower runners are not more or less inspiring than faster runners, they are qualitatively differently inspiring - but no less so to me.