Something I learned over the last year as I got into running is that many avid runners don't even like running.
I wouldn't say that I "like" running, either. I got into running because I was experiencing a mental health crisis, and I needed something besides drugs and alcohol to deal with feelings that were otherwise impossible for me to cope with.
Suddenly, as a guy who has shouted "what are you running from?" at Bay to Breakers celebrants, what had been a joke became a dark and profound awareness. It turns out, I was asking myself that question. Running, paradoxically, helped give me the emotional resilience to face what I was running from head on.
There are very few things in this world that cost you nothing, are equally available to everyone, and can automatically, reliably and immediately improve your subjective experience.
This is a brilliant joke, and I love it. But the flip side is that almost everyone I know that ever got into running has Been Through Some Shit, is aware that running is annoying, not very fun, and kind of cringe, and Does Not Care, because whatever it is, running helps.
All of which is to say — you can think of run clubs as support groups, for everyone who has found themselves with a good reason to run, to be seen by other people who Know. For many runners I know, it's impossible to hate them anymore than they used to hate themselves. So, bring on the jokes.
Any time I have run (other than in an intentionally limited scenario like a sport) I have wondered “why am I not instead riding a bicycle or rollerblades.” We if we ever need a phrase for reinventing the wheel but, like, simpler and worse, I propose “doing a run.”
Ok I'll bite. I go running with my kids before school a few times a week. Usually a mile, but sometimes longer if time permits and we feel up to it. It's a very low-barrier activity - all you need to do is put on shoes. If we're not feeling 100%, we'll walk portions of it.
I always feel euphoric when I get back - it's a much better way to wake up than slamming coffee (although I do that too). And it improves my kids' mood and focus in the morning. I get a few minutes to chat with my kids on the cooldown walking home. They are able to improve their stamina, which makes them better athletes (they really love sports).
It's one of the highlights of my day, and my kids seem to enjoy it enough put down their iDevices for a few minutes in the morning. Sometimes it can be a bit unpleasant getting started, but that feeling usually passes within a minute or two. We could do some other activity instead - but I can't think of much that beats running when it comes to benefit vs simplicity and time commitment.
Just wanted to add a positive perspective on running. And I'm a cyclist, not a runner.
I’ve always been a decent runner, won some school and county races, but I’ve never enjoyed it, it was something to get through.
I stopped running years ago when I took up weight training and I didn’t miss it at all.
Last year my wife wanted to do some Spartan races so started training, I joined her for a few training runs and due to the controlled, slower pace she was running at set by the training schedule/app I loved those runs.
Turns out I was running too fast and hating every minute. I now run once or twice a week at a slowish pace, it’s been great. Speaking to “proper runners” since starting back up this is apparently very common, most people who hate running are simply going faster than they should.
Anything that gets you outside, run/sit/ride/tennis club is a good thing so well done them for organising something.
Get a trainer. A good one will help you understand the progression and the different lifts and such. And will also keep you motivated when you are figuring it out. You don’t have to keep them forever but just to get started for a couple months can be great motivation in my experience.
In my experience, strength training is about gradually increasing the weight, start with something like 2.5 lbs, then move to 5 lbs as you go. But only add weight once you can do your sets and reps with proper form. Form really matters, bad form is how you get injured.
The other things that make a big difference: eating enough (you need more calories to lift more) and getting enough sleep as well as rest between workouts.
Like every other exercise, it's a question of building a habit.
Could well be, the other thing could be that weight training is quite a bit more boring than running - I rely on music to get me into a lifting zone.
Weights becomes fun when you see the progress in your physique and in the weight you can lift going up and feel in that things that were hard are now easier.
As someone else suggested, a trainer can really help as can doing a a simple compound lift based programme like Strong Lifts 5x5 as it’s simple and you make good gains pretty quickly.
I get that this is harmless fun - and I am legitimately happy that people got out and had some fun making up flyers and hanging out with other people. When I saw all those people hanging out in the park on a glorious Spring day, I admit I felt a twinge of jealousy as I sit here alone at my desk.
But I've got to say... I find it a bit distasteful how Americans increasingly seem to be more united by their dislikes than their interests.
Recently there was a frontpage HN news post about "stoop coffee" [1] - and that felt like a much more chill and constructive approach to doing nothing with other people.
Yes exactly. I think it’s because it is easy and cheap to find someone with your opinion and it requires no effort if that opinion is disliking something. If you like model trains you have to build them, run their routes, talk to others if you want to build a larger town or whatever, it’s very involved and you can spend your time and money pursuing the hobby. If you hate model trains you only need to find someone on the internet who will comment back to you and already you have completed your hate and can move on to the next train to hate.
This is all why I have come to the conclusion that no matter what my thoughts are about something I should mostly keep them to myself if I’m unwilling to do things related to those thoughts. This has helped me find a lot of time I spent disliking things and discussing those dislikes and now I spend that time either trying to fix what I dislike or focus on something I do like.
5 years ago I blew out a knee running and we ended up getting a Peloton (coincidentally the end of Feb 2020) since the doctor said it would be less stress on my knees.
Used their service some, but I 3D printed a phone holder for the handlebars. Now instead of sitting in a chair watching videos and scrolling HN, I do it with an elevated heart rate for 30 minutes.
Sure it's not the "right" way to exercise, but I've lost weight (in combination with an improved diet), have more energy and I feel less guilty about screentime.
It is the right way to exercise. I think that the modern "if it is fun and pleasant then it does not count enough" is what keeps people off exercising, off learning, etc.
Why isn't it the "right" way to do exercise? I do something similar with my "zone 2" cycling workouts, where I throw a movie on Netflix while I mindlessly pedal at a fixed power output. It's a great way to get in some exercise, especially in the Winter months when it's hard/unappealing to get outside.
I have a bad ankle/foot that is causing me trouble when I run so I switched to cycling. I never had knee problems when running but I now get knee pain from cycling...
It could be an issue with your position (seat too high, too low, cranks too long, if you are using clipless pedals maybe need to get wider stance, ...). I would get a professional bike fit.
I own a stationary indoor exercise bicycle. Its quite fancy.. has a magnetically coupled flywheel to adjust the difficulty setting and has all the electronic counters etc. I try use it every day/second day and on those days I really have to motivate myself to get on it and do my 40 min cycle. The first 10 mins is really tough for me and I find I have to put in a lot of mental effort to enter a meditative frame of mind that helps me finish the workout but, by the end of those 40 mins and for the rest of the day I feel on top of the world... its the one thing that helps to motivate me to get back on it everyday.
I suspect its the same thing with most endurance type sports which include running. Most people don't actually like the idea of it but the feeling of well-being makes them keep on doing it.
I like running, and I don't even wear shoes, from nike or any other maker.
The wet sand on the beach at low tide is the ultimate running surface.
And getting away from streets and cars and noise and barking dogs and most of the rest of our idiot primate species is a major mental refreshment, as well as a physical improvment.
I highly recommend it...
p.s. I enjoy sitting too, but like most engineers my work already has me sitting WAY too much. And the authors complaint about corporate "big run" is then followed up with how they start each weekend at a corporate coffee corps. Sad lack of awareness, really.
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I wouldn't say that I "like" running, either. I got into running because I was experiencing a mental health crisis, and I needed something besides drugs and alcohol to deal with feelings that were otherwise impossible for me to cope with.
Suddenly, as a guy who has shouted "what are you running from?" at Bay to Breakers celebrants, what had been a joke became a dark and profound awareness. It turns out, I was asking myself that question. Running, paradoxically, helped give me the emotional resilience to face what I was running from head on.
There are very few things in this world that cost you nothing, are equally available to everyone, and can automatically, reliably and immediately improve your subjective experience.
This is a brilliant joke, and I love it. But the flip side is that almost everyone I know that ever got into running has Been Through Some Shit, is aware that running is annoying, not very fun, and kind of cringe, and Does Not Care, because whatever it is, running helps.
All of which is to say — you can think of run clubs as support groups, for everyone who has found themselves with a good reason to run, to be seen by other people who Know. For many runners I know, it's impossible to hate them anymore than they used to hate themselves. So, bring on the jokes.
I always feel euphoric when I get back - it's a much better way to wake up than slamming coffee (although I do that too). And it improves my kids' mood and focus in the morning. I get a few minutes to chat with my kids on the cooldown walking home. They are able to improve their stamina, which makes them better athletes (they really love sports).
It's one of the highlights of my day, and my kids seem to enjoy it enough put down their iDevices for a few minutes in the morning. Sometimes it can be a bit unpleasant getting started, but that feeling usually passes within a minute or two. We could do some other activity instead - but I can't think of much that beats running when it comes to benefit vs simplicity and time commitment.
Just wanted to add a positive perspective on running. And I'm a cyclist, not a runner.
I stopped running years ago when I took up weight training and I didn’t miss it at all.
Last year my wife wanted to do some Spartan races so started training, I joined her for a few training runs and due to the controlled, slower pace she was running at set by the training schedule/app I loved those runs.
Turns out I was running too fast and hating every minute. I now run once or twice a week at a slowish pace, it’s been great. Speaking to “proper runners” since starting back up this is apparently very common, most people who hate running are simply going faster than they should.
Anything that gets you outside, run/sit/ride/tennis club is a good thing so well done them for organising something.
The other things that make a big difference: eating enough (you need more calories to lift more) and getting enough sleep as well as rest between workouts.
Like every other exercise, it's a question of building a habit.
Weights becomes fun when you see the progress in your physique and in the weight you can lift going up and feel in that things that were hard are now easier.
As someone else suggested, a trainer can really help as can doing a a simple compound lift based programme like Strong Lifts 5x5 as it’s simple and you make good gains pretty quickly.
But I've got to say... I find it a bit distasteful how Americans increasingly seem to be more united by their dislikes than their interests.
Recently there was a frontpage HN news post about "stoop coffee" [1] - and that felt like a much more chill and constructive approach to doing nothing with other people.
[1] https://supernuclear.substack.com/p/stoop-coffee-how-a-simpl...
This is all why I have come to the conclusion that no matter what my thoughts are about something I should mostly keep them to myself if I’m unwilling to do things related to those thoughts. This has helped me find a lot of time I spent disliking things and discussing those dislikes and now I spend that time either trying to fix what I dislike or focus on something I do like.
Also that stoop coffee post is a great post.
Deleted Comment
Used their service some, but I 3D printed a phone holder for the handlebars. Now instead of sitting in a chair watching videos and scrolling HN, I do it with an elevated heart rate for 30 minutes.
Sure it's not the "right" way to exercise, but I've lost weight (in combination with an improved diet), have more energy and I feel less guilty about screentime.
https://matt.might.net/articles/hacking-strength/
I replied, "taking them at all is the hurdle. Don't worry about not getting 5% of your multivitamin, because you're still getting the other 95%."
Starting something is the biggest hurdle.
I suspect its the same thing with most endurance type sports which include running. Most people don't actually like the idea of it but the feeling of well-being makes them keep on doing it.
The wet sand on the beach at low tide is the ultimate running surface.
And getting away from streets and cars and noise and barking dogs and most of the rest of our idiot primate species is a major mental refreshment, as well as a physical improvment.
I highly recommend it...
p.s. I enjoy sitting too, but like most engineers my work already has me sitting WAY too much. And the authors complaint about corporate "big run" is then followed up with how they start each weekend at a corporate coffee corps. Sad lack of awareness, really.