Why runners stop racing
Why do older runners stop racing. This is a topic that has been touched on several times in our monthly club news letter. After reading about it again and again, I felt I wanted to offer my opinion on the topic and in sight into where I see my self going.
When I started running in 1983, I gave little thought to quiting. In fact I only ran in a local race at the urging of my high school basketball coach. And I would have stopped shortly there after if he had not kept dragging us to races.
Then, some where along the way, I transitioned from someone not planning to run another step to someone that has been running every day since Oct 0f 1986.
Through all those years I have made many friends through running. I greeted them during the first attempts at racing. I watched them as progressed into very good runners. Then, sadly, I missed them as they faded away - not racing and sometimes not even running.
Part of the reason, I think starts with our life choices. As we grow older, we start to settle down and have families. A lot of these family activities take place on Saturday morning - soccer, baskeball, and/or swimming. These activities tend to consume the excess free time that we once used for running.
When I was in my twenties, running, getting another pair of running shoes, and money for races were my only concerns.
Once I got married and had children, I found that were was more to life than just running and races. I found that I enjoyed my daughter's soccer matches as much as I did racing my buddies. Which lead me to take an even deeper plunge, I coached one of my daughter's soccer teams on Saturday morning. Honestly, I didn't miss going to races and I have to say it was the best time of my life.
But there are other reasons why runners stop racing. As we grow older, we tend to slow down. Some runners have more difficulty dealing with ageing than others. Knowing that once they had ran 15, 16, 17 minute 5Ks and now they are running 20 minute 5Ks is too much for them to handle. Rather than face the prospect of running slower, they mostly avoid the situation by staying away from races. I can understand this mindset. Old "PR"s are like ghost of Christmas past, they haunt us in our endeavor to best them.
The last point that I want to make is in regard to "hurt". Perhaps this is what is happening to me. Running by no means is an easy sport. Each stride yields a pounding of 3 times our body weight on our bones and muscles. Pushing our bodies hard leaves us sore and tired. Over the years, it tends to wear on us.
Then, at some point we stop racing because we stop training so hard. Certainly, it is easier to run 8 miles at a comfortable pace than to run an 8 mile tempo run or interval run. Growing older and wiser, all of us at some point ask if it is really worth it.
Maybe we all reach a point where it is easier to just hang the racing flats in the corner. I like running, and I don't see a reason for quiting but I am not so sure about racing. Life is so rich with things to do, I hope I don't spend my entire life pounding out fartlek workouts and long runs.
-BTW I have always had this dream of life on a small Caribbean Island - just fishing, watching the waves roll in, and clouds passing over head. Maybe, just maybe, I will still want to run on those sandy beaches.
When I started running in 1983, I gave little thought to quiting. In fact I only ran in a local race at the urging of my high school basketball coach. And I would have stopped shortly there after if he had not kept dragging us to races.
Then, some where along the way, I transitioned from someone not planning to run another step to someone that has been running every day since Oct 0f 1986.
Through all those years I have made many friends through running. I greeted them during the first attempts at racing. I watched them as progressed into very good runners. Then, sadly, I missed them as they faded away - not racing and sometimes not even running.
Part of the reason, I think starts with our life choices. As we grow older, we start to settle down and have families. A lot of these family activities take place on Saturday morning - soccer, baskeball, and/or swimming. These activities tend to consume the excess free time that we once used for running.
When I was in my twenties, running, getting another pair of running shoes, and money for races were my only concerns.
Once I got married and had children, I found that were was more to life than just running and races. I found that I enjoyed my daughter's soccer matches as much as I did racing my buddies. Which lead me to take an even deeper plunge, I coached one of my daughter's soccer teams on Saturday morning. Honestly, I didn't miss going to races and I have to say it was the best time of my life.
But there are other reasons why runners stop racing. As we grow older, we tend to slow down. Some runners have more difficulty dealing with ageing than others. Knowing that once they had ran 15, 16, 17 minute 5Ks and now they are running 20 minute 5Ks is too much for them to handle. Rather than face the prospect of running slower, they mostly avoid the situation by staying away from races. I can understand this mindset. Old "PR"s are like ghost of Christmas past, they haunt us in our endeavor to best them.
The last point that I want to make is in regard to "hurt". Perhaps this is what is happening to me. Running by no means is an easy sport. Each stride yields a pounding of 3 times our body weight on our bones and muscles. Pushing our bodies hard leaves us sore and tired. Over the years, it tends to wear on us.
Then, at some point we stop racing because we stop training so hard. Certainly, it is easier to run 8 miles at a comfortable pace than to run an 8 mile tempo run or interval run. Growing older and wiser, all of us at some point ask if it is really worth it.
Maybe we all reach a point where it is easier to just hang the racing flats in the corner. I like running, and I don't see a reason for quiting but I am not so sure about racing. Life is so rich with things to do, I hope I don't spend my entire life pounding out fartlek workouts and long runs.
-BTW I have always had this dream of life on a small Caribbean Island - just fishing, watching the waves roll in, and clouds passing over head. Maybe, just maybe, I will still want to run on those sandy beaches.
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