6 deadly words

Dot <dot.h@#att.net> wrote in message news:J8Quc.16315$_k3.391135@bgtnsc05-
news.ops.worldnet.att.net... Most people here don't
know what a

Quoted message said:

marathon is - other than some crowded race run in Boston.

Dot is right! I can't tell you the number of people who
will ask me upon hearing that I'm running a marathon,
"How long is this one?" The relative who uttered the "6
deadly words" may have been more misinformed than you
even realized. Do your own thing, and don't worry about
her. Michelle

Tim Downie said:

frank-in-toronto said:

Then those words came.

'Tis a sad fact of life that it is completely impossible
to impress non-runners with speed. They just don't
understand. I could tell some of

You can always tell them your weekly milage. When I mention
that I run 50 miles per week or more, I get many different
responses, but "I thought you were a runner" isn't one of
them. Most non-runners don't understand the amount or the
severity of training that goes into shorter distances. I
mean, why should a 5k runner run more than 5k a day, 3x/week
for a total of 10mpw ? They'd be genuinely surprised to hear
that some 800m-mile runners do 100mpw.

Even 30 miles per week sounds pretty impressive to a non-
runner. In other words, most of the rec.running crowd are
ringing up weekly milage totals that *will* impress our non-
running buddies. After all, 30mpw is 10k per working day,
and 10k, while lacking the "mount everest" appeal of the
marathon, but to be grinding it out as regularly and
casually as they tune into their favourite TV show comes
with some bragging rights.

It's hard to impress people with speed, because speed
doesn't really explain what it is that we do (and not all of
us are all that fast anyway). Talk about the training, the
way we *earn* those times, and most people will have some
respect for what we do, and will understand why those little
numbers are important to us.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

On Mon, 31 May 2004 23:18:10 -0400, [email hidden] (Miss Anne

Thrope) said:

Your first mistake was assuming you had her respect in the
first place. After all, she already knew you were a jogger.
Your second blunder was having self esteem. There's just no
place for that, when you're prancing down the street
dressed like spiderman.

goofy as this is, you made me laugh. ...thehick

Donovan Rebbechi said:

Dot dot.h@#att.net said:

frank-in-toronto said:

Then those words came.

Move to Alaska 🙂 Up here, you're judged by whether you've
run Mt. Marathon, which is only a 5k .... with 3k feet of
elevation gain then loss on an out/back course.

That's one hell of a grade -- you sure thats not a typo ?

Oops, it involves some rounding error: best estimate I can
find is 3,022 ft climb/descent in 3.25 mi rt. It does start
on the flats in town and not sure how far to base of
mountain. I've seen comments like it's 3000 ft up in 1 mile.

Here's some pics for you to judge for yourself
sewardak.orgmt marathon race.htmOpen ↗

adn.com3410484p 3440932c.htmlOpen ↗ adn.com3410487pOpen ↗
3440923c.html adn.com1351023pOpen ↗
1469897c.html

I think this year is 77th running, and may be 2nd only to
Boston in US.

Quoted message said:

That would be 900m gain / 2500m -- a grade of over 30%.

I think portions are about 50% and some are hand-over-hand.
Look in RW from about last spring (iirc) and there's an
article with pics.

From a section of a trail guide: "This paragraph desribes
the typical race route up the first short section of the
mountain. The next paragraph describes an easier route for
those not impaired by competitive adrenalin."

It would be quite an achievement to run

Quoted message said:

up that at any pace. The steepest I've run up is just over
20% (San Francisco) and that was already pretty crazy.
Sounds like fun anyway (though I wouldn't count on a 5k PR
on that course!)

Most of the mountain races start at about 20% slopes and
get steeper from there. When WMRT was held here last fall,
they had to design a course that was flat enough for their
specs by adding switchbacks to an existing course (*not*
Mt Marathon). Now that the world competition is over, it
looks like they reverted back to the Alaskan version of
mtn running 😉 Our local mtn runs range from 20-30% or
more on the steep pitches to make up for the couple of 5-
10% patches.

BTW, Mt Marathon is sufficiently popular, that entry is by
lottery if you haven't already run it or by auction -
auction prices reached the $700-$800 range 2 yrs ago.

Our mountain races get to the serious stuff without messing
around with the distance - and why I'll probably never be
good enough to run one 😉

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

frank-in-toronto said:

Donovan Rebbechi said:

frank-in-toronto said:

"I thought you were a runner"

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Do a marathon if you want to do one. Don't do one to
please people who really don't know better.

I want to. Just wasn't planning to do it this year.

Again, I don't make accommodations to others. You call the
shots. IMO altering your plans because of something someone
said is an accommodation.

I'm not going to tell you what I think you should do --
because I don't think you should listen to me either. Do
your own thing and don't be apologetic about it. Don't let
others define the game for you.

Quoted message said:

But this'll give me the goal and incentive I need to
develop my training plan.

Goals, incentives, and training plans do not require
entering marathons.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

In article <[email hidden]>,

bj said:

"onemarathon" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:cam_wilson-
[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

for example, when i went to register for my 5k race last
Friday (to run it on Saturday), i was directed to the
timing chip activation station. somebody asked me:
"which race?" After i answered, he replied: "you're just
doing the 5K?".... as though that was just not good
enough, whether i was a beginner or a pretty seasoned
runner (got five years under my belt now). hell, was i
not to be considered a runner just because i chose the
5K today? but i let it go quickly, not caring to explain
that i had just done a triathlon the week before, and
had completed a marathon before, a few halves, and many
10k's as well.

I wonder what he would have said to Khannouchi when he
checked in for the *5k* at the 2002 MCM -- not so long
after he had run record marathon time in Chicago???

He ran in that MCM-5k, and so did his wife. The start-
announcer also mentioned it. bj

it's still a race, and a very intense one, since it's run
at a much faster pace than any other middle or long
distance race.

yup.

Cam

Yup - it's true. Yup - it's nuts. I'm not sure it it's
really 'running', more mountaineering, but it's bloody
athletic!

Dave

--

Ask for my e-mail if needed

"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dot dot.h@#att.net said:

frank-in-toronto said:

Then those words came.

Move to Alaska 🙂 Up here, you're judged by whether
you've run Mt. Marathon, which is only a 5k .... with 3k
feet of elevation gain then loss on an out/back course.

That's one hell of a grade -- you sure thats not a typo ?
That would be

900m

Quoted message said:

gain / 2500m -- a grade of over 30%. It would be quite an
achievement to

run

Quoted message said:

up that at any pace. The steepest I've run up is just over
20% (San

Francisco)

Quoted message said:

and that was already pretty crazy. Sounds like fun anyway
(though I

wouldn't

Quoted message said:

count on a 5k PR on that course!)

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Mike Tennent said:

I get a variation of this. I'll occasionally race in an IM
singlet and I'll get the comment that this 5K or 10K "must
be easy for me."

Apparently, some people at school saw me training down the
track. Not sure what they saw because I only do aerobic
running, tempos (and that only once) and strides there. No
speed work. But anyway, a friend described a conversation
between some of the grad students where someone saw me on
the track and thought that that I ran very fast, then
someone else pointed out that I was a "marathon runner".

I also recall referring to a friend as a "marathon
runner" when I was young and ignorant (he did a sub 32
10k, but no marathon)

BTW, one thing they *do* understand is weekly milage. You
tell joe sixpack that you 60 miles per week (or even 30
miles per week) and they *will* be impressed. They may even
decide that you're a "marathon runner".

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Well said.
"Donovan Rebbechi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

frank-in-toronto said:

On Mon, 31 May 2004 22:44:48 +0000 (UTC), Donovan

Rebbechi said:

On 2004-05-31, frank-in-toronto
<[email hidden]> wrote:
> "I thought you were a runner"

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Do a marathon if you want to do one. Don't do one to
please people who really don't know better.

I want to. Just wasn't planning to do it this year.

Again, I don't make accommodations to others. You call the
shots. IMO altering your plans because of something
someone said is an accommodation.

I'm not going to tell you what I think you should do --
because I don't

think

Quoted message said:

you should listen to me either. Do your own thing and
don't be apologetic about it. Don't let others define the
game for you.

Quoted message said:

But this'll give me the goal and incentive I need to
develop my training plan.

Goals, incentives, and training plans do not require
entering marathons.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

Donovan Rebbechi said:

frank-in-toronto said:

On Mon, 31 May 2004 22:44:48 +0000 (UTC), Donovan

Rebbechi said:

On 2004-05-31, frank-in-toronto
<[email hidden]> wrote:
> "I thought you were a runner"

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Do a marathon if you want to do one. Don't do one to
please people who really don't know better.

I want to. Just wasn't planning to do it this year.

Again, I don't make accommodations to others. You call the
shots. IMO altering your plans because of something someone
said is an accommodation.

I really didn't have FIRM plans. and the off-the-cuff remark
gave me some push to review what I hoped to accomplish this
year. so I decided to do a marathon.

This thread has been good. It illustrated an important
point. some think it is kinda important to impress others
who know stuff (probably i agree) and useless to try to
impress those who don't know anything. and then, the
kicker... "tell them how many miles a week you train". i'll
use kilometers cause it sounds like more. i like that.

<snip>>

Quoted message said:

Goals, incentives, and training plans do not require
entering marathons.

of course not. you're right. that was just a throw-away
thought that came out half-baked. it didn't make any sense
on second read anyway. ...thehick