When I talk about my running stuff, my non running mates say "oh I can't run". I reply with, "well for a long time I didn't think I could but I put one foot in front of the other at a quicker pace than walk & hey presto....I was running & the more I did it, the easier it got" :thumbup:
A number of years ago when a group were chatting at work about "So what did you do last weekend", I mentioned I'd run a half marathon, one colleague said, "what, only half a marathon, couldn't you be bothered to finish?" This person actively avoids any exertion at all ever, bringing her car down into the disabled parking outside at work to load up a few work bags rather than walking a couple of hundred yards up the hill!
And they only seem to see the mark of a 'runner' is if you've run London Marathon.
This weekend running up Clougha, a walker decided it was his right to comment on my efforts [would I think of saying out loud what I thought of him? Not within earshot anyway...]
"Oh, too much effort, do it while you're young"
- I replied "It keeps you young!" thinking of all the V50 and V60s that comfortably finish well in front of me at races!
The last 'Doctor' I saw (I only went to get a referral for private treatment) told me that at 42 I should pack in running and do non-impact sports such as swimming.... Sometimes I think Christopher Leigh is right and we should be able to opt out of funding the NHS. I didn't get a referral and I paid to get private physio. (although he was useless and I wouldn't go there again!)Originally Posted by Usually at the back
I F****liping hate swimmimg!
I've had the lot: training for London? What charity you raising for? All in one go? I tend to treat all daft comments with a bit of patience, and explain to them the error of their ways. Besides, most mean no harm, they're just a bit ignorant.
I often use the line about how if I run for a couple of hours a day, I'm obsessed; sitting on your arse watching TV & eating for the same period is seen as normal.
Seems to shut them up as well as genuinely offering them a different perspective.
Except for that. That should've earned a swift punch to the chops.
The only thing that really winds me up is if people at work ask if I'm going for my 'jog' when the see me disappearing in my running gear at lunchtime. Jog?! Cheeky mutthafu...!
Last edited by southernsoftie; 02-04-2012 at 11:53 PM.
"The best shield is to accept the pain, then what can really destroy me?"
http://garyufm.blogspot.co.uk
bit like Mrs Stagger's "you're too thin to need to run"
best one I had was an (otherwise highly intelligent) work colleague:
"ooh, I'm too unfit for anything like that"
swear to god
ycmiu
Scramble the rock face through the glare of morning sun — to run
to be fair i probably bore a lot of people with my enthuasism re running but i do get the odd thinly veiled (and irritating) negative remark like "Oooo I don't know how you find the time" or "you will end up with shot knees"...in reply to the latter i have started to point out that when I am an elderly lady the chances are I will be able to get knee replacements but a heart and lung transplant won't be so easy to arrange! if people are particularly persistent I remind them that my risk factors for dementia, diabetes, heart disease etc are all significantly diminished
....also with the regard to the time issue it isn't always easy for me to get out but it helps that I hardly watch any tv and if one clocked up how many hours some people devote to watching soaps if I did the equivalent in training time i dare say I'd be a lot faster than I am currently !
anyhoo I don't want to come across as a "Smug runner" no more than I want to hear comments from "smug coach potatoes!"...just grateful i enjoy my running and can still do it for now
and we run because we like it through the broad bright land
Also had the charity one no end of times. Nowadays when people ask me which charity etc., I really quite enjoy saying something along the lines of "none actually, I'm doing it for myself" just to see how they react.
My boss is in his early 60's and is one of these people who no matter what you do or say you'll never be right, it'll never be healthy or it'll never be worth doing if he hasn't done it.
Anyway we once got onto the subject of fell running and he says, all concerned; "Yeah, I knew this fellrunner once and he'd completely wrecked both his knees before he was 50...it's not healthy y'know, blah,blah,blah"!!
This coming from a man who snapped a tendon in his left knee while skiing in a mogul field and had to walk with a brace for 6 months, then broke his right ankle on his next trip, two years later when someone skiied over the back of his skis!
I bit my lip.
Do what you like, like what you do
I'm loving this thread and specially the above. Laughing into my mug of tea, thanks Southernsoftie.
I remember lots of daft comments when running in the Preston area in my teens (mostly "knees up", shouted out of cars). But I'm genuinely struggling to think of any daft comments made by people I know in Cumbria. More often they say, "I wish I had the guts to do that". Interesting regional variations.
More please!
Eleanor Knowles, Ambleside AC
I agree with Eleanor ( I would, we are almost neighbours!) that it is a situational issue to some extent. I ran to work this morning and got in early to shower and change. Nobody commented beyond 'bit chilly this morning'. Why? because they all have to pass a 6 or 12 month fitness test like the one the Police are claiming they could'nt possibly manage. Here if you fail the test you don't get your annual bonus - simples. Oddly enough, even the chain smoking doughballs are out training without comment.
Dont tend to get too many comments, as I dont tend to see many people when Im out running.
Should someone say "oooh, running in the hills, isnt that dangerous" I tend to say "Yes, its bloody dangerous, I might get lost, fall down a hole, break a leg, or some such thing, and no one would come to rescue me. Under no circumstances follow me or run up any hills- stay at home! Watch TV! Play with your ipads! Look both ways before crossing the street!"
seems to do a great job of keeping numpties off the hill. (which I believe is well within the spirit of the FRA(!))
When walkers/ramblers say Im irresponsible for going out into the fells with nothing more than a bumbag, its almost a challenge to take it off and compare kit with them. In the winter and I have a small rucksac, I'm invariably better equipped than them. Ah, smug self-satisfaction.
Also, the charity question. Next time I'm asked that I might say "yep, running for charity, fancy donating? I'll take cash off you now if you have it- easier than collecting it all at the end". Simple way to get Ice cream money.
Or maybe thats just taking it a bit too far...:wink:
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