Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

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Samantha
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Samantha » Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:22 am

turd ferguson wrote:
ETA: golf is the exception to the "nobody is looking" rule in paragraph 1 above. Everybody is looking and they're all judging you. Golfers are assholes.


:lol:

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La
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby La » Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:46 am

Let's use water skiing as an example: it's something I think I'd love to be able to do. I like to ski, I like the water, perfect combo. But every time I've tried (though I haven't tried recently), I just haven't been strong enough to get myself up onto my skis. I'm confident that if I were to get up there that I could actually water ski, but not being able to even get up is a bit of a deal breaker. And it's a big production to start, try to get up, fall, and then get re-set in the water to try again. The person driving the boat is also involved, so your failure impacts them, too. For that reason, I put water skiing in the category of things that I likely won't ever do because I'm just not good enough. And I also don't have the facility to practice enough that I could ever become proficient.

Another example: snow boarding. I learned to ski when I was 3 years old and got be pretty decent at it since I did it regularly. Even though I haven't done it in a while, it's something I could pick up and get right back at it fairly easily. Snowboarding, not so much. The one time I tried I spent the entire time on my @ss. It wasn't enjoyable. At all. I felt like I was going back to square one and re-learning a skill all over again that I thought I'd already mastered. I'd gotten to a point with skiing where I could go all day without falling, but now I was on this stupid board where I couldn't stay on my feet!

Compare those to cycling: I LOVE riding my bike. I've certainly gotten better (meaning, faster) over the last 14 years, but not my a huge amount. I've gotten better in terms of my knowledge of the sport, how to train, how to change gears more effectively, how/when to use my power, how to climb out of the saddle, etc. But my average speed for long rides hasn't really gotten much faster; I'm still in the bottom third of the pack, and as soon as there's any rise in incline, I pop right off the back of the group. However, I don't care! I love it, so I keep doing it, even if I'm not getting any faster (though I would argue by changing the definition of "better" or "good" to not equate only with speed, that I am actually a "good" cyclist, and that I'm getting "better").
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Dstew
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Dstew » Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:58 am

Samantha wrote:
turd ferguson wrote:
ETA: golf is the exception to the "nobody is looking" rule in paragraph 1 above. Everybody is looking and they're all judging you. Golfers are assholes.


:lol:



Runners can be as well. I ran my first half marathon in 2004 and as can happen, near the first 1/3 of the race this guy and I start pacing each other. Long story short, I finish in 1:35 and he is right behind me. The guy is on cloud nine and comes up shakes my hand as he had never broken 1:40 and so was thrilled we were able to work together to do it. He even introduced me to his wife. We are both 40, just slightly over weight and doing this race thing for fun. As we are cooling off, he says that it would be great if one day we could break the 90 minute half marathon barrier. Some little twerp who would not have the upper body strength to open a jar comes over and pipes in that only "real" runners can even dream of such a time and what it is better we drop such thoughts. I have run into my fair share of other pompous and arrogant **** runners over the years.

Why can golfers be assholes - because they are realists who do not believe that with rainbows and unicorn tears that anyone can do anything. Get some proper lessons, go to the range and hit off the appropriate tees and if you do not do that, you will be judged accordingly as it should be. The only time a slow runner is going to upset a fast runner is if the slow runner insists at starting the race at the front or on narrow out and back courses or when the 10 K goes first and then the 5 K, then the back of the pack runners are completely obvious to anyone else. Or the moron running in a group and figures why should he stay on his side of the yellow line on a bike path when I am coming towards them, I can just step off the path. The one time being 210 pounds is an advantage as I will not move and the poor dumb **** who does not gets a shoulder check.

And if there is need for further evidence runners can be judgmental assholes, one merely needs to go to any Boston Marathon forum and read about what the "real" runners think of charity runners. Or the old joke that what is the difference between a runner and a jogger - a jogger is anyone slower then me. I will admit that most runners are very good and a very supportive and open lot by and far but then again, what any other runner is doing does not have a direct and immediate impact upon what they are doing so why should they judge. However, despite the warm and fuzzy, runners do judge and size up, they are normally very polite and less obvious. I had someone in my age group come up to me after the second race in the series and he knew my entire race history in that series since I first ran it in 2007.

And if one were to apply running to the golf. Imagine I a person who is well trained, did the proper taper, etc and on the race, they were paired up with some person who did little if anything to prepare for the race. Tell me the properly prepared runner would not be judging the slower run in those circumstances.

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Jwolf
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Jwolf » Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:22 am

Golf is a perfect example of something that I would really like to do but won't try again because I sucked so badly at it the times that I tried and won't continue to embarrass myself. But there are a few other things that I have thought about venturing into, but have resisted because of fear of sucking and frustration.

As for continuing to do something for enjoyment-- I love swimming and running and will continue to do them. But I feel like I'm hitting a wall of frustration when I set goals, which isn't fun.
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Nicholas
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Nicholas » Sat Mar 21, 2015 8:09 pm

I've gone from running at the front of the group to struggling to keep up at the back. From playing competitive soccer to organising our fun, mixed recreational scrimmages. So, in most senses...I suck at both sports. However, I still enjoy them and will continue until they are finally taken away from me. And I do both of them in public!!
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Walking, Yoga, Soccer scrimmages and whatever else I can do
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Mark.AU
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Mark.AU » Sat Mar 21, 2015 8:54 pm

Life's too short to do something unless you're enjoying it. That enjoyment can come in many ways, and it's very personal. Sometimes the enjoyment is being good at something, sometimes the enjoyment is trying to be good at something, sometimes the enjoyment is just doing it.

Being public or not has nothing to do with it, at least for me, I never really care what other people think about what I am doing. The next test for that will be learning to surf - not much chance to learn to do that in Aus without a very large and knowledgeable audience!
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Jo-Jo
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Jo-Jo » Sun Mar 22, 2015 5:50 am

Mark.AU wrote:Life's too short to do something unless you're enjoying it. That enjoyment can come in many ways, and it's very personal. Sometimes the enjoyment is being good at something, sometimes the enjoyment is trying to be good at something, sometimes the enjoyment is just doing it.



I like this. :D
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MichaelMc
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby MichaelMc » Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:10 am

I'm a poor skater but really like playing hockey. Put me on a team of fun people with a high tolerance for a pylon and I'll play for years. If said team gets "serious" I'll drop off because I'm affecting everyone else's enjoyment by continually getting beaten to the outside or lofting soft shots at the goalie :oops:

There are sports where I take pride in my performance, and others I simply like doing.

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QuickChick
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby QuickChick » Thu Mar 26, 2015 3:27 pm

I think in general, most people tend to enjoy doing things that they're good at, and/or things at which they can see progress as they learn and practice. If someone perceives that they are not good at something, there has to be some motivation to continue. Do they want to get better? Do they care enough about getting better to put in the work required? That's the big point for me. Most of you have heard me talk about how I am done with marathons for the foreseeable future. It is just not my strength as a runner, and I know it would take a ton of work to get myself to the level at which I could consider trying to run a marathon in a time that I'd be proud of based on my other race times. At this point in time, the work is just not worth it to me.


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Jogger Barbie
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Jogger Barbie » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:08 pm

QuickChick wrote:I think in general, most people tend to enjoy doing things that they're good at, and/or things at which they can see progress as they learn and practice. If someone perceives that they are not good at something, there has to be some motivation to continue. Do they want to get better? Do they care enough about getting better to put in the work required? That's the big point for me. Most of you have heard me talk about how I am done with marathons for the foreseeable future. It is just not my strength as a runner, and I know it would take a ton of work to get myself to the level at which I could consider trying to run a marathon in a time that I'd be proud of based on my other race times. At this point in time, the work is just not worth it to me.


LOL, I totally get the part that I bolded, because I feel the same way in the other direction! I've had some good marathons and been proud of the results, but doubt that I could ever work hard enough to do a 5 K or 10 K that would be as fast as predicted by the marathon time. Too many interval workouts and other hard workouts in training, and too much pain on race day. No thanks. Too big a hit to the joy that running brings me, for a possible reward that I just don't care about attaining.

This thread has been really interesting. Between my last injury and my age (54 in April), I'm not sure what "good" will look like once I'm fully recovered, or exactly how I'll feel about that. I can say for sure that it's kind of nice to be headed to London with zero performance expectations beyond finishing. Same for ATB this weekend. :)
Jacqueline
--------------
19 marathons (3:24:56), 9 30 km ATBs (2:21:33), 2 Midsummer 30 km (2:22:07), 15 half marathons (1:33:53), 5 10 Ks (44:17), 1 5K (22:59), 1 50 K (4:29:22)
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2016: Boston, followed by injury rehab and then ???

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daddy_runner
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby daddy_runner » Wed Apr 08, 2015 12:29 pm

purdy65 wrote:My only question is - is there a relationship between how much you enjoy something and how good you are at it?


I suck at sex (documented proof!). But I still enjoy it immensely.
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Engmomma
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Re: Continuing to do things you aren't good at...

Postby Engmomma » Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:42 pm

Golf - love it but not great at it. I would be happy to be a bogey golfer
Running - love it but I am slow and chubby and hate trying to keep up with my friends
Swimming - like a rock, tried to go back to first principal lessons, still suck
Cycling - better than some but not as good as others, just wish I had more time to do it
Bootcamp/PT - I have certain strengths and weaknesses - pull ups I suck at, push ups I rock
Snowboarding - as someone who took it up in her 40's I can get down the hill without dying...most of the time

My thoughts on doing this in a public forum?

A. Don't give a ****
B. Don't think anyone else gives a ****.
C. Don't give a ****.

I love doing these things with my friends and family. That is all I care about. Cause it makes me happy.
The Summer of Eng is over.


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