Runners and racers

[MrBond]

A few of my running friends (and I) have independently decided to take a sabbatical from racing.
Keep running yes, but the need for racing has lost its immediate fascination.
Anyone else in the same boat ?

[5km]

I have similar thoughts from time to time, especially after an extremely tough race!
These thoughts eventually fade and I find I need the motivation of an upcoming race to get me out the door, particularly in the winter.

[Spirit Unleashed]

I have been pondering this for awhile. Partly cuz of my foot, partly cuz of cost, partly cuz why?
I like meeting maniacs. But apart from that, I am realizing that much of what I was doing was just fooling myself.
So why race? I can't yet answer the deeper meanings.

[La]

Sort of. My resolution is not to do any race that requires me to sign up months in advance. Unless I can register the week of the race, I likely won't do it. That means smaller races rather than the big ones that sell out quickly. That said, I'm already signed up for Disney (Jan) and ATB 2x15 relay (Mar), so obviously I'm doing those, but not signing up (in advance) for anything else in 2014.

[danziggirl]

I have a 10km race in November then probably think about it over the winter. Made BIG mistake over last winter and did not run - will NOT happen again!

[richie-rich]

totally. running for enjoyment these days. no races in about a year.

[fingerboy]

I like having races - gives me focus. It's hard to run 6-7 days a week in all conditions.

[n_fraser]

I went through a running funk last year when I was training for my first full. I went hog wild when I first started running and burned myself out. Between racing a ton, training, training someone else, magazines and reading about it all the time, I just felt sick of running.

Now I do races that I think are fun and maybe one big one a year. I stopped training the lady I was running with. I am also trying to do more races with my friends. This weekend 6 of us are doing the Ottawa Oktoberfest run as a team (Team Bad News Beers) and I did the Energizer race with friends earlier in the summer. I needed a little break and I'm glad I took it!

[timc]

I like having races - gives me focus. It's hard to run 6-7 days a week in all conditions.

I agree 100%.

[Dr. S]

I LOVE races! I like to have one a month usually. This year I've had none (b/c of my injury) and I find it very hard and depressing!!

[scrumhalfgirl]

I really enjoy racing, but I found I've cut back a lot since having C - I generally do about one per season. I think it's mostly because of trying to juggle family time, plus if I run a shorter race, I lose out on my longer run for that weekend. While I love racing, if you told me I could never race again, but keep running every day and enjoy long runs with my friends indefinitely, I'd take that trade!

[Doonst]

I am definitely racing less these days, just once this year. It just seems sort of pointless when you're not in top form. It takes some adjustment to get such lousy results and still enjoy it. If only I would run more than 20 K a week I could be a contenda!

[purdy65]

I also love to race, and it keeps me motivated, but I never forget, once in a while, to just run for the sake of enjoyment. I truly do love to train though! I can see myself coming to a point where I'm less motivated to race though.

[Jwolf]

I missed racing a lot while I was injured, and I loved being out there again when I was able to run well again. I will keep entering races for as long as I can.

[La]

I like having races - gives me focus. It's hard to run 6-7 days a week in all conditions.

I agree 100%.

I used to be like that, but then I found that having a race looming stressed me out and I started to lose the enjoyment of running because I felt I *had* to do it.

[dgrant]

Between getting older and being set back by a very long injury hiatus, I don't think I'd ever be able to race for personal bests anymore so I don't see myself entering any races. (Exception for the Utica Boilermaker, because it's the Utica Boilermaker.) I'm running 5 or 6 days per week now just because I like running, but at maybe 40km/wk it's not really anything that will improve my fitness. I just enjoy the activity, and I'm more into other sports these days.

[Doonst]

Between getting older and being set back by a very long injury hiatus, I don't think I'd ever be able to race for personal bests anymore so I don't see myself entering any races. (Exception for the Utica Boilermaker, because it's the Utica Boilermaker.) I'm running 5 or 6 days per week now just because I like running, but at maybe 40km/wk it's not really anything that will improve my fitness. I just enjoy the activity, and I'm more into other sports these days.

oh, its on, shallonge accepted, Elder Jogfest 13!

[dgrant]

Between getting older and being set back by a very long injury hiatus, I don't think I'd ever be able to race for personal bests anymore so I don't see myself entering any races. (Exception for the Utica Boilermaker, because it's the Utica Boilermaker.) I'm running 5 or 6 days per week now just because I like running, but at maybe 40km/wk it's not really anything that will improve my fitness. I just enjoy the activity, and I'm more into other sports these days.

oh, its on, shallonge accepted, Elder Jogfest 13!

Haha, we should meet up at the Boilermaker next year, for old times' sake. You might have to piggyback me for a couple miles... 15km is a marathon to me now.

[Doonst]

Between getting older and being set back by a very long injury hiatus, I don't think I'd ever be able to race for personal bests anymore so I don't see myself entering any races. (Exception for the Utica Boilermaker, because it's the Utica Boilermaker.) I'm running 5 or 6 days per week now just because I like running, but at maybe 40km/wk it's not really anything that will improve my fitness. I just enjoy the activity, and I'm more into other sports these days.

oh, its on, shallonge accepted, Elder Jogfest 13!

Haha, we should meet up at the Boilermaker next year, for old times' sake. You might have to piggyback me for a couple miles... 15km is a marathon to me now.

Will you get off my back about doing that old race! Things have changed, races have changed.
http://electricrun.com/ I must have maximum neon, that hasn't changed.

[barebuns1]

If I am running a 5km or a 10km race, I tend to race them. If I am running a marathon I tend to just aim to finish them. I don't consider it racing.

[Jump145]

I've also decided to stop racing, training for races doesn't leave much left in the tank for other activities, and every time I would play a lacrosse game I would injure myself.

Sports are more fun than running for me, so my plan is to keep the running to 15-20k a week and see if I can play without injury, so far so good.

[erinmcd]

Here's the thing for me- if I didn't have any races on the schedule, I'd have a hard time getting out of bed at 5am day after day to go run- it's way too easy to make excuses, and slowly my fitness would slip away. I really like maintaining a fitness level where if I can run as far as I want, and as fast as I want, whether I'm racing or not. The racing helps with the motivation to train, and I enjoy racing too. I just try to not get too carried away with it as it can get quite expensive and time consuming.

[Jwolf]

I've also decided to stop racing, training for races doesn't leave much left in the tank for other activities, and every time I would play a lacrosse game I would injure myself.

OTHER Sports are more fun than running for me, so my plan is to keep the running to 15-20k a week and see if I can play without injury, so far so good.

Fixed that for you.

Running is a sport too.

It's definitely hard to do running at a high level while also doing other sports.

[Habs4ever]

I run to just run, but I like following a schedule so I may as well do a race at the end of the schedule. I like seeing Maniacs, and going to a race once or twice a year is a good excuse to see friends and meet new ones. I doubt I would race if I wasn't a Maniac, but I would still run.

[Jwolf]

I don't need the races as motivation to run but I find racing such and enjoyable part of the sport. My problem now is that I've been putting too much pressure on myself to improve and try to get faster. I need to back off and just let it come naturally or else I'll keep finding myself injured!

There are lots of reasons to enter races other than for PBs and I have to remember that.