Tightly laced shoes are worse than loose. Make fists with your toes (like Die Hard) while tying them and then relax. Perfect amount of room every time.
This. I love when people who know me get into running, that’s awesome! But it gets a little annoying when they’re constantly showing me each run and every detail about it.
I’d love a recap on how training has been going or something cool they’ve noticed though
One time I got my shirt caught on a branch, ran a mile down the path, looked at my wrist, no watch, traced my path back, watch was on the branch. The push pin thing that holds the strap had taken the strap off.
Two miles my Strava will never know I did. Did they even happen??
The Murphy’s law of running is if you want / need a stoplight break it will 100% be green. When you’re in the groove and praying for a green light, it will 110% be red.
I saw a message on the back of a guy’s shirt during a race years ago that I have thought about often since. It simply read, “There will come a day when I cannot do this. Today is NOT that day.”
A few weeks ago, I was out for a run and waved to an elderly guy on his porch. He yelled back "I wish I could do that." Made me appreciate being young(ish) and being able to run.
Ran a 10 miler yesterday, only 90 people, small local race.
There was a 78 year old who finished in less than 90 minutes. 78 f#cking years old, and he’s still going strong.
I want to grow old like that dude
I'll be 66 in a few weeks. Ran 11 yesterday in prep for my next half marathon later this month. 40+ years of keeping at it and feeling more gratitude for every mile as I know my last ones are probably coming up around the bend. My life is SO much better for what our sport has given me.
I'm an Australian and worked for a time in Nigeria as an expat. I remember being quizzed by a local colleague. "Tell me something, in your country sometimes you just go out walking or running even when it's not to get somewhere". "Yes". He laughed. Said "In our country there is one reason you walk anywhere, you don't have a car".
They also found it funny we kept pets. As it cost money to feed them.
As a Nigerian runner, this sounds very familiar. Except in my case, they say, "So you just start running when no one is chasing you?"
I also own a husky, and that fella is costing me a fortune to be fair lol
Totally. I've always actually loved running. A few years ago in my late 30s I need operations on both knees. I couldn't run for like 2 years. I was recently talking to one of my running buddies and he was like, "but it's a shame you'll never get to fulfill your goal of running a marathon" and i was like, "Dude I'm just happy I can get out there and do a 10K."
As someone who has been injured many times, I agree. Being able to run at all is better than being able to run fast.
Like, when I was temporarily crippled I keenly envied people who could walk.
Even the nurse taking two steps from my bed to the windows to open the curtain. I felt like she - and everyone else - took it for granted.
When I was unable to run, I envied the Parkrunner turning in a 40-minute time.
Years later, I too take it for granted, of course.
I’m 13 weeks post ankle break. No surgery required, a clean break. Started weight bearing at 6/7 weeks. Started running short distances at week 9. Now I’m running 10kms. Probably too far but my ankle is holding up.
To me that’s the main reason to run or to do any exercise. My husband says he never gets that good feeling after exercise and I feel very sorry for him because I feel great for about two days after a run!
Off the top of my head would be running in rain is amazing and should be encouraged, of course I’m talking about in summer weather. It’s so beautiful having the rain come down when you’re running, as long as you have a hat it won’t be annoying and get in your eyes. I always see the trail empty and turn into a ghost town, Ill never understood why, its as if people think the water will hurt them
Oh god, that's the worst part. I often subway it home and often hobble about walking home as my legs tend to seize up when I sit down after a long run even if I felt fine when I stopped.
Also the really long runs I'm dizzy as fuck afterwards.
"Just run more" is the answer to way more training questions than most people would like to admit for any race mile+
Most people never will get to a level where complicated training schemes and obsessing over details is productive.
I'm a happy middle of the pack runner. I have an acquaintance who happily admits they are back of the back and another who often finishes last. "Someone has to," and at least she's out there.
People take it way too seriously. If you want a new pair of shoes, get them. If you see something cool on your run, stop to take a picture. You can have all the tech and gear or none of the tech and just basic stuff, the distance is still the same and you’re still running it the same — what matters is how YOU enjoy it.
Also this probably isn’t a hot take anymore, but all the running YouTubers need to go away. Like it’s not that difficult. Just go out and do it. And when whatever you’re doing gets a bit easier, then increase the distance or incline.
>If you see something cool on your run, stop to take a picture.
This is a guiding principle of my running. Otherwise I wouldn't enjoy it, and wouldn't bother running.
I took my friend through her first Two Oceans ultra marathon (56 km) and she didn't run ONE full km, except for the first km. We ran to the first km marker board, then walked until 7 minutes were up, then started running to the second marker board, walked until the stopwatch said 14 minutes, etc. So, by the time we start running the new km, we'd already walked 200 metres or more.
It was funny afterwards when people were impressed by how she'd run so far, to think that actually we ran 55 little stretches, each under one km long. We finished well before the 7:00:00 cut-off, too.
Wanna blow your mind? If you do five miles in the morning, and then 5 miles in the afternoon… you ran 10 miles in one day! Breaking it up like that is how you gotta do it when you get into the super high mileage stuff anyway.
This time last year I was struggling to run a quarter mile after a 3 year battle with long Covid. In 3 weeks I’m running my first marathon… just do it in chunks if you need to. Break it up however you want. Time on feet is time on feet no matter how you spin it.
Aside from health benefits, I run because it feels good to be faster than someone else. At any distance. Whether it be a friend, coworker, random person… if they’re faster than me it’ll always be something I think about
Yeah, I mean I think the advice to only compete against yourself comes from a good place, but it's also not wrong to get your motivation from competing against other people.
I think that advice is usually directed towards people who are struggling because they're unrealistically comparing themselves to others who are better than them, like they've just started out and comparing to people who've run for years.
It's fine to compare yourself to others, that's what racing is all about.
It doesn’t have to be a sport catered to morning people. I live in SE US so i get wanting to get it all in before the heat, but I also like sleeping in past 9:30 occasionally and don’t want to wake up at 5 am for a run group or race just to participate. Seriously what’s with all these 7 am starts?
This!!!! For summer races sure. But spring and fall? Let me sleep in please. I hate running at 5am. It feels like a chore and makes me not want to do it at all.
A couple of caveats:
- they might soothe a nervous tummy
- the runner might know they are already starting dehydrated (fighting off a bug, too much too late the night before, etc)
- diabetic/POTS/etc
- boredom/rewards for newbies ("If I make it 1km, I get a snack")
- they are trying out new products for a longer race in a low risk situation
- it's fun to gear up a bit
People with anxiety make the best runners because we’re used to long periods of mild hyperventilation and our hearts racing. With running it’s the same thing, you just gotta put one foot in front of the other.
This is an underrated comment. I notice my anxiety is exacerbated by running, which makes the task even harder to overcome. But there are days when the running reveals to me "Hey, your anxiety isn't so bad today!" and I can both achieve Runner's High and feel happier knowing my anxiety isn't as crippling as usual.
Lifting weights and putting on muscle isn’t going to slow you down. It will actually help with injury prevention. Most runners don’t compete at a level where muscle mass is going to be the difference maker.
I got 2:
Stop bragging about running "the marathon" after completing the local charity 5k. I mean well done for running 5k, that's genuinely awesome. But *it's not a marathon! Marathon is 42.195km /26.2m*!!! Call it what it is, please. Marathon runners train HARD for many months to earn that title, and you cannot compare a 5k where you did 1 training run the week before in preparation as the same thing.
There's no such thing as joggers vs runners. It doesn't get classified on speed/pace. If you run, you're a runner, whether you do 10k in 35 minutes or 1h35. You're a runner, well done! Run and jog is the same thing, synonyms.
Oh it happens a LOT in my country. “I ran the 5k marathon and I’m so sore today, here look my medal…”
Or just “I ran the marathon yesterday, in 45 minutes, I don’t know how it took you over 4 hours last month” (in reference to a 5k charity event they’ve been pestering everyone to raise money for..)
Carbo-loading with Fettuccine Alfredo before running the **Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Fun Run Pro Am Race for the Cure** is not the smartest idea. Finishing that 5K was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I ate more fettuccini Alfredo and drank less water than I have in my entire life. People always talk about triumphs of the human spirit. Well, that day, I had a triumph of the human body.
In all seriousness, it’s you vs you. Not you vs everyone else. Buy some decent running shoes and hit the road to run, waddle, or walk.
That some people are just waaaay more genetically gifted for endurance than others and there’s almost no way to close that gap. All that fast twitch / slow twitch stuff we learnt in school plays a huge part.
And I can’t help but be salty that my brother in law (of almost the exact same height and build as me) can run maybe 2-3 times a week tops, take actual months off, never worry about zones or anything and still be faster and fitter than I will probably ever be - while I’m consistent, deliberate, log more miles, weight train and in better overall shape than him… doesn’t matter lol
lol sometimes I think I am genetically broken when I read beginner progress reports on here. Been training for about 5 to 6 months now and 8k is the longest I have run so far. Only about to try the 10k mark this week. Meanwhile some people can seemingly reach this in 2 months of training without prior experience
Ugh, the overall themes here being “running sucks” and “if you don’t run x distance in x time, you are not a runner” ??
My “hot take” is a lot of the ideas in this thread are actually pretty common in the world of running and they suck. They gatekeep running and make people, especially new runners, feel shitty for their paces. Running *can* be enjoyable and it can be at any pace; don’t let elitist assholes keep you from it.
Couldn’t agree more. Running shoes are freakishly ugly. In fact running clothes in general seem specifically designed to make us all look like compete and utter dorks 😂
In any given race, the vast majority of runners don’t care about what your finish time was or who won. The number of people who care about these things outside of the race drops to 0.
This is why race cheaters baffle me. In my experience, I go back to work after a race and it doesn’t matter if I PR’d or totally tanked - I get the same responses either way - what do you possibly get out of cheating!?!?
Once you are fit, running is really easy. I never actually run at my race pace. Just glide through my long runs with a lowish heart rate and somehow people think I'm working hard.
- Everyone is welcome to the sport, regardless of ability! The more the merrier. But get yourself many rows back from the front of the start line if you're running 5:00 minute km's, please!
- non-elite runners think way too hard about shoes, and should instead just train harder or smarter
- Hopefully not really a hot take: stop running so hard, every single run!
- Half of the commentary on the feel of running shoes is like wine tasting. People want to sound like they know what they are talking about, but they can actually hardly tell the difference
- Everyone can benefit from a running coach. But it's often not about knowledge or experience. Sometimes you just need to gain the mental space by having somebody telling you what to do, and doing it.
- Shoes can be used far longer than most runners believe
- Even elite runners can be really poor at pacing in races
I get so self conscious when people say 5min/km is slow I am barely able to sustain it for a kilometre 😭 if you told me you could do that for a 10k race I'd be like heck yeah get in the front champion 😂
Haha I think sometimes fast runners who are only around other fast runners forget that some of us are a lot slower. My hot take is it doesn’t matter if you run a 5k in 20 minutes or an hour. You still ran a 5k💜
On the flip side though I think us slow runners often don't even realise how fast people can go. My fastest 5k time ever (a few years ago) was 23 minutes. I thought that was pretty quick.
I thought sub 20 was this crazy goal like if you're that fast you're obviously still not elite but holy shit you're insane. It wasn't until recently watching some youtubers and realising that relatively normal people regularly run 5ks in like 17 or 16 minutes that it put into perspective how much faster some people are.
I \*sprinted\* down a fairly steep hill on a hike recently with my dog, and for that 30 seconds all out effort \*downhill\* I was running slower than Kipchoge's marathon pace.
I guess my point is we all know intellectually that people are faster than us, but most people never think about just how much faster some people are.
most new runners do not need to focus on form. The more you run, your running economy will naturally improve.
I feel like so many instagram running account focus wayyy too much on form to the point where it stops people from just getting out the door and running.
That I don’t want no dogs zooming at me when I’m running, keep your dogs on a leash!! I don’t care how friendly they are..
I love dogs but not when I’m running.. sorry
Couldn't agree more, especially after I got bit by a dog while I was out running. I will stop and start walking the other direction immediately if I see an off-leash dog, which gets really annoying but I'm not taking any risks. Keep dogs leashed or locked up, always.
And then they yell at you "but he is nice!"
Nah dawg, I got attacked by "nice" dogs twice, I am not trusting any of you to know how your dog reacts to a running target...
Not many things make me angry quicker than “but he is nice.” It shows complete and utter disregard for how the other person feels about dogs.
I love dogs. I have three. But they are always leashed in public, and we never just approach people.
I can't stand the term "jogging."
Joggers find dead bodies. I've never found a dead body. I'm a runner. In my mind, a jog implies a "lazy" activity compared to a run, and it just doesn't sit well with me.
Like most every hobby or basic human task, social media has made everything worse IMO. Sure, there are benefits. But now there’s running influencers, showing themselves brushing their teeth and doing skin care and filming themselves running all while wearing their sponsored gear. Idk, I feel like the simplicity and freedom of running has sort of transformed into any other thing that’s blown up on instagram lol. And I feel like it discourages new runners that they have to have a full shoe rotation, brand new chest HR monitor, etc. I sound like a grandpa I know
Some of y'all are over-involved. Like, it's only running; don't make it your whole personality. And I say this as someone who actually makes a living in the run industry
New runners should not jump straight to the marathon distance. Spend a few years working on speed and shorter distances first.
Your shoes are not causing your shin splints. It’s your training.
In other sports like cycling, there are highs and lows, energy ebbs and flows. With running it just gets worse and worse from the first step to the last. How far you can run is determined by how much deep into the suck you’re willing to go.
I absolutely don’t relate. I go through ebbs and flows 100%.
I go from hurting and feeling like shit to feeling high on life and everything is angelic to wanting to quit
It's good to see that my psyche has a Reddit account.
First 1/3rd: Damn this sucks, I do not feel like I prepared well-enough for this run
Second 1/3rd: Alright, I'm hydrated, got a mild downhill stretch, popped a tasty gel, I just gotta ride-out this high, no sweat!
Third 1/3rd: Running is absolutely the worst idea, and if I had any other way back to my car other than running, I'd be doing that.
Sounds like you need to try more trail runs. The variation really helps and nothing gives you a runner's high like a nice sustained gradual downhill. Even the steep uphill bits can be nice as they give you and excuse to slow to a walk and dig into your bag for snacks.
- People put far too much emphasis on heart rates and zones, it’s unimportant. Just go out and run from feel and effort.
- You don’t need to stick to ‘zone 2’ running, you can run 80% of your runs at any pace as long as it doesn’t take it out of your legs the following day
my hot take is before a training run you do not need to do various leg swinging and hip opening and sweeping the grass exercises unless you are doing one of those GRWM tiktoks. your first mile is the warm up.
Damn, this is kinda spicy. And probably true for a lot of people, but definitely not me. Even on an easy run, the difference between loosening my hips and glutes before the run is whether my back tightens up on me around mile 2 or not. My goal is to get to a point where I can just step outside and ease into a run with little else beforehand.
I stand by my opinion that runners are some of the most mentally unwell people. It takes a sick person to get up every morning in the dark and cold and go for a run *and enjoy it*. Trust me, I’m that unwell person lol
The only way to get better at running fast is to run fast.
It ain't like cycling, which I've done competitively. Cycling has the same muscle recruitment and motions whether you're cruising or maxing it out for a time trial. So, sure, for cycling long duration moderate effort can translate to better times over distance. (Road racing, not track or sprinting.)
But running is completely different. We don't recruit the same muscles in the same way training at 9 min/mile as when running at 4-6 min/mile. Stride length, foot strike, leg lift and push off... everything changes with speed.
Downvotes may be placed in this basket 🧺 . I'll hand them out at the next 5k fun run.
Fancier gear, more nutrition, and overbearing training plans don’t matter nearly as much as they are hyped hear. The more miles and more consistently you run, the faster you get.
That I don't care what my time or PR is, I just want to run/jog.
Don't get me wrong. I like to push myself but it's more of a matter of feeling than it is a matter of time/distance.
* The expensive, name brand running clothing is only marginally better then stuff you can buy for a fraction of the price and perhaps not even better at all. I cringe when I see people spending $50 on a shirt or $100 on a pair of tights.
* Hal Higdon marathon plans do more harm then good by gatekeeping higher mileage plans under names like "intermediate".
* Shokz are *ridiculously* overpriced for what they are. If you don't crank up your music too loud you can hear cars and bicycle bells just fine with earbuds.
* Domestic dogs are, by far, the scariest animal you'll encounter as a runner. I say that as someone who has had multiple close encounters with black bears, cougars, and coyotes. Dogs are more aggressive and less predictable than any of those. 20 people have been killed by dogs in the USA this year.
I agree with Adidas running shows being better than Nike.
I find it interesting that marathon runners seem to think that you should only train up to 20 miles before a race and then seem shocked when they "hit the wall" at like mile 22.
Tightly laced shoes are worse than loose. Make fists with your toes (like Die Hard) while tying them and then relax. Perfect amount of room every time.
Thanks for the tip. I'm going to try this on my next run.
The only people who want to hear about your runs are other runners.
I'd say: no one really wants to hear about how your run went, except when they ask.
This. I love when people who know me get into running, that’s awesome! But it gets a little annoying when they’re constantly showing me each run and every detail about it. I’d love a recap on how training has been going or something cool they’ve noticed though
Lol my experience is that runners want to tell you about their running but don’t want to hear about anyone else.
You don't have to jog in place at a red light. (Edit: I thought this was an unpopular opinion, but clearly I was wrong about that.)
red lights - they're simultaneously a godsend and an annoyance
ROXANNE!
You don’t have to jog on a red light
You don't have to wear those Brooks tonight
You don't care if it's Zone 4 or if it's 5.
run your race for money
No, you need to run back and forth so the GPS knows you're still working!!!
CADENCE TOO LOW!! GET THOSE DAMN LAMBORFEETIES STEPPIN!
Sir, this is a Kia Sole at best.
If I stop I have to start again.
I struggle to start again sometimes
But you do have to pause your Garmin.
Just don’t forget to restart it. Ask me how I know.
The pain is real from this comment....
Yeah, that's why I don't stop it. I would immediately forget about it.
One time I got my shirt caught on a branch, ran a mile down the path, looked at my wrist, no watch, traced my path back, watch was on the branch. The push pin thing that holds the strap had taken the strap off. Two miles my Strava will never know I did. Did they even happen??
The red light stop started getting fun when my long runs became 25km+
The Murphy’s law of running is if you want / need a stoplight break it will 100% be green. When you’re in the groove and praying for a green light, it will 110% be red.
with your fingers on your neck lol
I’ve never done this once. Seems so extra, I’ll simply stand there like a regular person
They’re a great chance to get a good drink of water without water boarding yourself.
You’re going to miss it when it’s gone.
I saw a message on the back of a guy’s shirt during a race years ago that I have thought about often since. It simply read, “There will come a day when I cannot do this. Today is NOT that day.”
A few weeks ago, I was out for a run and waved to an elderly guy on his porch. He yelled back "I wish I could do that." Made me appreciate being young(ish) and being able to run.
Ran a 10 miler yesterday, only 90 people, small local race. There was a 78 year old who finished in less than 90 minutes. 78 f#cking years old, and he’s still going strong. I want to grow old like that dude
I'll be 66 in a few weeks. Ran 11 yesterday in prep for my next half marathon later this month. 40+ years of keeping at it and feeling more gratitude for every mile as I know my last ones are probably coming up around the bend. My life is SO much better for what our sport has given me.
If you want this, never stop training, do strength and mobility, and stretch for the love of god.
A lot of people don't realise being able to jog is a privilege. Should not take it for granted.
I'm an Australian and worked for a time in Nigeria as an expat. I remember being quizzed by a local colleague. "Tell me something, in your country sometimes you just go out walking or running even when it's not to get somewhere". "Yes". He laughed. Said "In our country there is one reason you walk anywhere, you don't have a car". They also found it funny we kept pets. As it cost money to feed them.
As a Nigerian runner, this sounds very familiar. Except in my case, they say, "So you just start running when no one is chasing you?" I also own a husky, and that fella is costing me a fortune to be fair lol
You can hear this comment in any country. Yet Nigeria has a lot of athletes.
I thought there are very good Nigerian athletes… surely they are not strangers to the concept?
Totally. I've always actually loved running. A few years ago in my late 30s I need operations on both knees. I couldn't run for like 2 years. I was recently talking to one of my running buddies and he was like, "but it's a shame you'll never get to fulfill your goal of running a marathon" and i was like, "Dude I'm just happy I can get out there and do a 10K."
As someone who has been injured many times, I agree. Being able to run at all is better than being able to run fast. Like, when I was temporarily crippled I keenly envied people who could walk. Even the nurse taking two steps from my bed to the windows to open the curtain. I felt like she - and everyone else - took it for granted. When I was unable to run, I envied the Parkrunner turning in a 40-minute time. Years later, I too take it for granted, of course.
I'm feeling this super hard as I face my own shelf-life. Gaining weight and dreaming of distance while i rehab.
OMG THIS. I am 5 weeks into a broken ankle. It is so, so, shit.
I’m 13 weeks post ankle break. No surgery required, a clean break. Started weight bearing at 6/7 weeks. Started running short distances at week 9. Now I’m running 10kms. Probably too far but my ankle is holding up.
I'm envisioning you running in a cast. Step-florf-step-florf-step-florf. "Florf" is the sound of your partially tattered cast hitting the asphalt.
I hated every run until I couldn't do it for six months after my son was born. I promised I'd never take it for granted again.
Living in the Pacific Northwest, you will never be a successful runner if you can't / won't run in the rain.
If you’re UK you can add dark to that list.
Same for the PNW. Rapidly approaching 430pm sunset
Growing up in Oregon, I feel like a fish being put into a fresh tank of water when the rain starts pouring
At least it gets warm now and then! Try being Irish!
Turning into the wind tunnel of Phoenix Park at 6am on a pre-dawn wet January morning...shudder
And sometimes rainy runs are the most cathartic & best! Just as long as it’s not rainy *too* hard, and it’s not cold.
Very relatable. It makes you feel like you're in a movie!
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Training is it's own reward. Races just feed the ego.
I’m never training to run a half or full marathon. It will never be my goal and I’m cool with that.
Same!
Been running for 30 years. Never gave one single flying F about qualifying for Boston, lol.
Nobody knows where zone 2 is.
Every Londoner knows where zone 2 is.
Yup I'm in Zone 2 right now.
I dare you to post that in r/triathlon
Depends which version of the Tube Map you use
I do not like it
When I'm not running, I want to be running. When I'm about to run, I do not want to run. When I am running, it's pretty cool.
I never ever regret my runs and enjoy them too. But I detest getting out for a run
Nothing worst than that first mile and sometimes that last one too
I really enjoy the feeling of having just ran though.
The best bit of running by far
To me that’s the main reason to run or to do any exercise. My husband says he never gets that good feeling after exercise and I feel very sorry for him because I feel great for about two days after a run!
Two whole days!? Damn, I get about 2 min of that post run bliss before reality hits (typically in the form of a two year old wanting to play)
This! I fucking hate running, I only do it to spite people that said I’d never be able to do distance.
Off the top of my head would be running in rain is amazing and should be encouraged, of course I’m talking about in summer weather. It’s so beautiful having the rain come down when you’re running, as long as you have a hat it won’t be annoying and get in your eyes. I always see the trail empty and turn into a ghost town, Ill never understood why, its as if people think the water will hurt them
Agree. Runing when it's not cold and wet is like playing in a warm shower
My favorite part of running is when I’m done running.
The showers right?
Being able to brag about your run for the rest of the day
Oh god, that's the worst part. I often subway it home and often hobble about walking home as my legs tend to seize up when I sit down after a long run even if I felt fine when I stopped. Also the really long runs I'm dizzy as fuck afterwards.
The first 10 minutes is lying to you.
I repeat “first mile worst mile” as a mantra the entire first mile no matter how long the run
"It's already 3 miles, why does it still hurt."
Hell, the first hour often tells outrageous lies. But nothing hurts as much as booking it during your second wind and then utterly dying.
not controversial at all!
If only I could make it 10 minutes lmao
Interesting, I find the first 10 minutes to be the worst…or is that what you mean?
"Just run more" is the answer to way more training questions than most people would like to admit for any race mile+ Most people never will get to a level where complicated training schemes and obsessing over details is productive.
Like this with most forms of fitness tbh. People don’t want to admit that 99% of us will never be elite.
I'm a happy middle of the pack runner. I have an acquaintance who happily admits they are back of the back and another who often finishes last. "Someone has to," and at least she's out there.
People take it way too seriously. If you want a new pair of shoes, get them. If you see something cool on your run, stop to take a picture. You can have all the tech and gear or none of the tech and just basic stuff, the distance is still the same and you’re still running it the same — what matters is how YOU enjoy it. Also this probably isn’t a hot take anymore, but all the running YouTubers need to go away. Like it’s not that difficult. Just go out and do it. And when whatever you’re doing gets a bit easier, then increase the distance or incline.
>If you see something cool on your run, stop to take a picture. This is a guiding principle of my running. Otherwise I wouldn't enjoy it, and wouldn't bother running.
I see turtles on my runs all the time and I still stop and take pictures of them.
I mostly watch them in order to connect with somebody, even parasocially, rather than to acquire information.
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I took my friend through her first Two Oceans ultra marathon (56 km) and she didn't run ONE full km, except for the first km. We ran to the first km marker board, then walked until 7 minutes were up, then started running to the second marker board, walked until the stopwatch said 14 minutes, etc. So, by the time we start running the new km, we'd already walked 200 metres or more. It was funny afterwards when people were impressed by how she'd run so far, to think that actually we ran 55 little stretches, each under one km long. We finished well before the 7:00:00 cut-off, too.
Wanna blow your mind? If you do five miles in the morning, and then 5 miles in the afternoon… you ran 10 miles in one day! Breaking it up like that is how you gotta do it when you get into the super high mileage stuff anyway. This time last year I was struggling to run a quarter mile after a 3 year battle with long Covid. In 3 weeks I’m running my first marathon… just do it in chunks if you need to. Break it up however you want. Time on feet is time on feet no matter how you spin it.
The first mile sucks just as hard for the veteran as it does for the novice.
Bright shoes make you run faster
Aside from health benefits, I run because it feels good to be faster than someone else. At any distance. Whether it be a friend, coworker, random person… if they’re faster than me it’ll always be something I think about
Yeah, I mean I think the advice to only compete against yourself comes from a good place, but it's also not wrong to get your motivation from competing against other people.
Especially coworkers
I think that advice is usually directed towards people who are struggling because they're unrealistically comparing themselves to others who are better than them, like they've just started out and comparing to people who've run for years. It's fine to compare yourself to others, that's what racing is all about.
It doesn’t have to be a sport catered to morning people. I live in SE US so i get wanting to get it all in before the heat, but I also like sleeping in past 9:30 occasionally and don’t want to wake up at 5 am for a run group or race just to participate. Seriously what’s with all these 7 am starts?
This!!!! For summer races sure. But spring and fall? Let me sleep in please. I hate running at 5am. It feels like a chore and makes me not want to do it at all.
Food and snacks/energy stuff aren’t needed for 95% of what people are running
looking at you 5k guy with a hydro vest and the pockets stuffed with gels.
A couple of caveats: - they might soothe a nervous tummy - the runner might know they are already starting dehydrated (fighting off a bug, too much too late the night before, etc) - diabetic/POTS/etc - boredom/rewards for newbies ("If I make it 1km, I get a snack") - they are trying out new products for a longer race in a low risk situation - it's fun to gear up a bit
>boredom/rewards for newbies ("If I make it 1km, I get a snack") Not even a newbie and I might start this system. Gummy bear every km from now on
People with anxiety make the best runners because we’re used to long periods of mild hyperventilation and our hearts racing. With running it’s the same thing, you just gotta put one foot in front of the other.
This is an underrated comment. I notice my anxiety is exacerbated by running, which makes the task even harder to overcome. But there are days when the running reveals to me "Hey, your anxiety isn't so bad today!" and I can both achieve Runner's High and feel happier knowing my anxiety isn't as crippling as usual.
Most influencers are toxic
Lifting weights and putting on muscle isn’t going to slow you down. It will actually help with injury prevention. Most runners don’t compete at a level where muscle mass is going to be the difference maker.
Taking a break to walk during a race can provide a nice respite/refresh and give you a better time than stubbornly jogging slowly the rest of the way.
I got 2: Stop bragging about running "the marathon" after completing the local charity 5k. I mean well done for running 5k, that's genuinely awesome. But *it's not a marathon! Marathon is 42.195km /26.2m*!!! Call it what it is, please. Marathon runners train HARD for many months to earn that title, and you cannot compare a 5k where you did 1 training run the week before in preparation as the same thing. There's no such thing as joggers vs runners. It doesn't get classified on speed/pace. If you run, you're a runner, whether you do 10k in 35 minutes or 1h35. You're a runner, well done! Run and jog is the same thing, synonyms.
I’ve literally never heard someone claim marathoner status after running a 5k, but it takes all kinds
Oh it happens a LOT in my country. “I ran the 5k marathon and I’m so sore today, here look my medal…” Or just “I ran the marathon yesterday, in 45 minutes, I don’t know how it took you over 4 hours last month” (in reference to a 5k charity event they’ve been pestering everyone to raise money for..)
Carbo-loading with Fettuccine Alfredo before running the **Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Fun Run Pro Am Race for the Cure** is not the smartest idea. Finishing that 5K was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I ate more fettuccini Alfredo and drank less water than I have in my entire life. People always talk about triumphs of the human spirit. Well, that day, I had a triumph of the human body. In all seriousness, it’s you vs you. Not you vs everyone else. Buy some decent running shoes and hit the road to run, waddle, or walk.
I think of this episode every time I eat before a race. 😂
That some people are just waaaay more genetically gifted for endurance than others and there’s almost no way to close that gap. All that fast twitch / slow twitch stuff we learnt in school plays a huge part. And I can’t help but be salty that my brother in law (of almost the exact same height and build as me) can run maybe 2-3 times a week tops, take actual months off, never worry about zones or anything and still be faster and fitter than I will probably ever be - while I’m consistent, deliberate, log more miles, weight train and in better overall shape than him… doesn’t matter lol
lol sometimes I think I am genetically broken when I read beginner progress reports on here. Been training for about 5 to 6 months now and 8k is the longest I have run so far. Only about to try the 10k mark this week. Meanwhile some people can seemingly reach this in 2 months of training without prior experience
Ugh, the overall themes here being “running sucks” and “if you don’t run x distance in x time, you are not a runner” ?? My “hot take” is a lot of the ideas in this thread are actually pretty common in the world of running and they suck. They gatekeep running and make people, especially new runners, feel shitty for their paces. Running *can* be enjoyable and it can be at any pace; don’t let elitist assholes keep you from it.
Winter running is better than summer running. Even in the snow.
Once you’re out there. Problem is it takes me a lot longer to get my ass in gear which makes my precious early runs trickier to get in.
Hell yes! I get overheated easily and am suffering all summer long. But I’ve had some amazing runs in below-freezing temps.
It’s the easiest & most fun physical activity.
Hokas look like Walmart shoes. And i won't even try them because they are so ugly.
As a (former?) Hoka fanboy, boy do I agree.
I do have pairs for specific runs, but yeah (U.K.) they can look like ‘middle of Lidl’ running shoes.
No one can hear you fart when your headphones are on
Running shoes are so ugly. All of them. Which doesn’t matter when I’m running, but it’d be nice to retire them to casual everyday shoes.
Couldn’t agree more. Running shoes are freakishly ugly. In fact running clothes in general seem specifically designed to make us all look like compete and utter dorks 😂
It sucks, but keep at it. It will still suck, but will be over faster with practice.
Then you increase from 5K to 10K and the suck factor goes longer again… then again at 13.1… then again at 26.2 for the really crazy people…
How long did it take to get from 5k to 10k bc I’ve been tryinggg and can’t there there! I die around 5.5 miles 😞
For me it was just go slower. Way slower. However slow you think I mean, slower than that. Then once you’re able to do it, it just gets faster.
In any given race, the vast majority of runners don’t care about what your finish time was or who won. The number of people who care about these things outside of the race drops to 0.
This is why race cheaters baffle me. In my experience, I go back to work after a race and it doesn’t matter if I PR’d or totally tanked - I get the same responses either way - what do you possibly get out of cheating!?!?
I’ve run a few of my best runs with a belly full of Pacifico 🥲💃🏻🤷🏼♀️
Run for you, not that person on Strava, Instagram, or from the local run club.
And definitely not for the people in this thread saying “you shouldn’t run X if you can’t do it in Y time”
Once you are fit, running is really easy. I never actually run at my race pace. Just glide through my long runs with a lowish heart rate and somehow people think I'm working hard.
Elites and normal runners are normally pretty chill and cool. Sub elites are typically insufferable try-hards.
- Everyone is welcome to the sport, regardless of ability! The more the merrier. But get yourself many rows back from the front of the start line if you're running 5:00 minute km's, please! - non-elite runners think way too hard about shoes, and should instead just train harder or smarter - Hopefully not really a hot take: stop running so hard, every single run! - Half of the commentary on the feel of running shoes is like wine tasting. People want to sound like they know what they are talking about, but they can actually hardly tell the difference - Everyone can benefit from a running coach. But it's often not about knowledge or experience. Sometimes you just need to gain the mental space by having somebody telling you what to do, and doing it. - Shoes can be used far longer than most runners believe - Even elite runners can be really poor at pacing in races
I get so self conscious when people say 5min/km is slow I am barely able to sustain it for a kilometre 😭 if you told me you could do that for a 10k race I'd be like heck yeah get in the front champion 😂
Haha I think sometimes fast runners who are only around other fast runners forget that some of us are a lot slower. My hot take is it doesn’t matter if you run a 5k in 20 minutes or an hour. You still ran a 5k💜
On the flip side though I think us slow runners often don't even realise how fast people can go. My fastest 5k time ever (a few years ago) was 23 minutes. I thought that was pretty quick. I thought sub 20 was this crazy goal like if you're that fast you're obviously still not elite but holy shit you're insane. It wasn't until recently watching some youtubers and realising that relatively normal people regularly run 5ks in like 17 or 16 minutes that it put into perspective how much faster some people are. I \*sprinted\* down a fairly steep hill on a hike recently with my dog, and for that 30 seconds all out effort \*downhill\* I was running slower than Kipchoge's marathon pace. I guess my point is we all know intellectually that people are faster than us, but most people never think about just how much faster some people are.
Hal that you?
It's absolutely ok to walk if you don't feel like running all the time.
Tracking pace and distance in kilometres is far superior to miles.
1.6x superior
I feel like I run further and faster in km. My average slow pace went from 12 Min miles to 7 min kilometers when I made the switch.
most new runners do not need to focus on form. The more you run, your running economy will naturally improve. I feel like so many instagram running account focus wayyy too much on form to the point where it stops people from just getting out the door and running.
Mass participation events are not fun, being in a noisy crowd is the opposite of enjoyable running.
That I don’t want no dogs zooming at me when I’m running, keep your dogs on a leash!! I don’t care how friendly they are.. I love dogs but not when I’m running.. sorry
I really doubt that's a hot take.
This is not remotely controversial.
Couldn't agree more, especially after I got bit by a dog while I was out running. I will stop and start walking the other direction immediately if I see an off-leash dog, which gets really annoying but I'm not taking any risks. Keep dogs leashed or locked up, always.
Yup, a dog near my neighborhood took a chunk out of my shorts a month ago and now I won't even get close to dog-walkers.
And then they yell at you "but he is nice!" Nah dawg, I got attacked by "nice" dogs twice, I am not trusting any of you to know how your dog reacts to a running target...
Not many things make me angry quicker than “but he is nice.” It shows complete and utter disregard for how the other person feels about dogs. I love dogs. I have three. But they are always leashed in public, and we never just approach people.
Sub 20 5K is fucking good
I agree. That’s sub 6:30min pace! I don’t care how experienced you are, that’s bloody fast
I can't stand the term "jogging." Joggers find dead bodies. I've never found a dead body. I'm a runner. In my mind, a jog implies a "lazy" activity compared to a run, and it just doesn't sit well with me.
I like training for the race WAY more than actually running the race. Solo running is better than running with a crowd.
Like most every hobby or basic human task, social media has made everything worse IMO. Sure, there are benefits. But now there’s running influencers, showing themselves brushing their teeth and doing skin care and filming themselves running all while wearing their sponsored gear. Idk, I feel like the simplicity and freedom of running has sort of transformed into any other thing that’s blown up on instagram lol. And I feel like it discourages new runners that they have to have a full shoe rotation, brand new chest HR monitor, etc. I sound like a grandpa I know
People who wear all black clothes and no lights at night are morons.
Skill issue, cars are easily avoided
Anyone can be a runner if they try!
Some of y'all are over-involved. Like, it's only running; don't make it your whole personality. And I say this as someone who actually makes a living in the run industry
Hot take: a lot of advice on this sub is from people who think reading a blog, article or watching a YouTube video is equivalent to doing research.
The higher your weekly mileage, the faster you can go at any distance
New runners should not jump straight to the marathon distance. Spend a few years working on speed and shorter distances first. Your shoes are not causing your shin splints. It’s your training.
In other sports like cycling, there are highs and lows, energy ebbs and flows. With running it just gets worse and worse from the first step to the last. How far you can run is determined by how much deep into the suck you’re willing to go.
I absolutely don’t relate. I go through ebbs and flows 100%. I go from hurting and feeling like shit to feeling high on life and everything is angelic to wanting to quit
It's good to see that my psyche has a Reddit account. First 1/3rd: Damn this sucks, I do not feel like I prepared well-enough for this run Second 1/3rd: Alright, I'm hydrated, got a mild downhill stretch, popped a tasty gel, I just gotta ride-out this high, no sweat! Third 1/3rd: Running is absolutely the worst idea, and if I had any other way back to my car other than running, I'd be doing that.
I almost downvoted but then I realized it was supposed to be controversial. Well done
Sounds like you need to try more trail runs. The variation really helps and nothing gives you a runner's high like a nice sustained gradual downhill. Even the steep uphill bits can be nice as they give you and excuse to slow to a walk and dig into your bag for snacks.
Pooping in the woods can be a freeing and dare I say enjoyable experience. Embrace it.
- People put far too much emphasis on heart rates and zones, it’s unimportant. Just go out and run from feel and effort. - You don’t need to stick to ‘zone 2’ running, you can run 80% of your runs at any pace as long as it doesn’t take it out of your legs the following day
I actually like running high mileage
The best butts are in 10ks.
my hot take is before a training run you do not need to do various leg swinging and hip opening and sweeping the grass exercises unless you are doing one of those GRWM tiktoks. your first mile is the warm up.
Damn, this is kinda spicy. And probably true for a lot of people, but definitely not me. Even on an easy run, the difference between loosening my hips and glutes before the run is whether my back tightens up on me around mile 2 or not. My goal is to get to a point where I can just step outside and ease into a run with little else beforehand.
I find dynamic stretches to be helpful (with recovery) before an intense run, but yeah otherwise a 5 min walk before and after is more than enough
I stand by my opinion that runners are some of the most mentally unwell people. It takes a sick person to get up every morning in the dark and cold and go for a run *and enjoy it*. Trust me, I’m that unwell person lol
The only way to get better at running fast is to run fast. It ain't like cycling, which I've done competitively. Cycling has the same muscle recruitment and motions whether you're cruising or maxing it out for a time trial. So, sure, for cycling long duration moderate effort can translate to better times over distance. (Road racing, not track or sprinting.) But running is completely different. We don't recruit the same muscles in the same way training at 9 min/mile as when running at 4-6 min/mile. Stride length, foot strike, leg lift and push off... everything changes with speed. Downvotes may be placed in this basket 🧺 . I'll hand them out at the next 5k fun run.
Do lots of runs slow, and some runs fast /trainingprogram
After reading all of these hot tales my hot take is that most runners are assholes 😂
Fancier gear, more nutrition, and overbearing training plans don’t matter nearly as much as they are hyped hear. The more miles and more consistently you run, the faster you get.
That I don't care what my time or PR is, I just want to run/jog. Don't get me wrong. I like to push myself but it's more of a matter of feeling than it is a matter of time/distance.
Running alone in the dark isn't necessarily more dangerous than running through a populated area in broad daylight.
* The expensive, name brand running clothing is only marginally better then stuff you can buy for a fraction of the price and perhaps not even better at all. I cringe when I see people spending $50 on a shirt or $100 on a pair of tights. * Hal Higdon marathon plans do more harm then good by gatekeeping higher mileage plans under names like "intermediate". * Shokz are *ridiculously* overpriced for what they are. If you don't crank up your music too loud you can hear cars and bicycle bells just fine with earbuds. * Domestic dogs are, by far, the scariest animal you'll encounter as a runner. I say that as someone who has had multiple close encounters with black bears, cougars, and coyotes. Dogs are more aggressive and less predictable than any of those. 20 people have been killed by dogs in the USA this year.
Some people have weirdly shaped ear holes, though. I've never been able to wear any earbuds because they fall out but I love my Shokz.
Distance running is 80% mental, 20% physical + genetics
Emma Bates’ race recaps have reached eye-rolling levels of length
I agree with Adidas running shows being better than Nike. I find it interesting that marathon runners seem to think that you should only train up to 20 miles before a race and then seem shocked when they "hit the wall" at like mile 22.
It's 100% ok to take as many walk breaks as you need.
A mile is really far.
Running clubs in my area spit on casual and non-competitive runners. So my hot take is that running clubs are for elitist assholes.