Those Bragging RUNNERS! UGH!

"The WIN is WITHIN" Gatorade

 

 

At what point do non-runners think us runners are braggadocios or pretentious?

Are WE?

Are YOU?

 

Oh sure, we have overheard that person at the local 5K race going on and on about the sub 7 minute mile he was going to run while not once asking about anyone else. Or perhaps, you have watched the half naked runner doing strides right before a cold winter race.

 

We have made the mistake of sparking up a conversation with a runner only to find ourselves listening to his training, pace and PR's.

 

We go on FACEBOOK and see people posting their runs and work outs every other day.

 

And some of you even see people posting their BLOGS all the time like we REALLY want to see all that!  

 

Andy and I used to actually post our runs on Facebook with our NIKE+ app, but then a family member made fun of us so we quit. It gets a little awkward when you find out people think your bragging.

Most of the time people that are bragging do not really care if you think that they are. They wouldn't notice if you said something.

 

There was a guy who posted this on Facebook last week:

 

 "anyone else silently competitive in the gym?
"Oh I see you, 45 year old treadmill man, running sub 9 minute miles. I shall now run 8 1/2s and feel silently superior."

 

I had to comment....My comment went something like this.. "Watch who you are calling an OLD MAN...I just finished my run in sub 7's."

 

(Turning 40 last year I am a little hyper sensitive to the "OLD" word being tagged to 40's.)

BUT...I got caught up in the competition of his post so much that I found myself boasting. I left my comment up for about an hour until it ate away at me. Finally, I felt like such a punk that I deleted it. "Jeff" is actually a very gifted runner. He is fast and has always been fast. He is however very competitive like most of us runners.

 

We are Runners. We are Competitive. We Work Hard for PR"S, medals and bragging rights.

 

Yes, I am competitive. I do challenge myself up against the person next to me on the TM. On the track I use the runner in front of me as a tool to go faster trying desperately to pass them.

 

Ultimately the WIN is from WITHIN.

Ultimately TRUE discipline is in verbally not competing rather keeping your victories off billboards.

Some of my favorite people are those that sneak out their successes.

Over the summer I ran with a group out at Pontiac lake. I was scared to death to run with these ultra runners. They didn't just run absurd distances they ran them fast and on trails.

And yet deep within the woods they encouraged one another. They waited for one another. No one went on and on about their pace or distance. I actually heard them talk more about their failures then their victories. They even laughed about them.  It was one of my favorite training runs.

 

Runners are a unique bunch. We are really a gang of our own. Most will not understand us. They will even think we are bragging when we are not.

It is our LOVE for running. Running is like an addiction. We think about it all the time. We want everyone to run with us. Most runners are very deep and spiritual. Not necessarily Godly but spiritual. 

We Think too much therefore we RUN.

We Eat too much therefore we RUN.

We are too Emotional therefore we RUN.

We RUN that is what we do.

 

We believe the RUN makes us healthier.

We believe the RUN makes us athletes.

We believe the RUN makes us brilliant.

We believe the RUN makes us NICE.

 

We Believe the RUN makes us__________________.

 

Now I BELEIVE all that only to add that I KNOW that GOD gets ALL the GLORY. It is nothing in me or that I can do that HE has not ALLOWED me to do.

 

This is the key element to the WIN IS WITHIN. God Gets the Glory All Day LONG. I have NOTHING. I came from NOTHING and I will LEAVE this earth with NOTHING. There will be a day no one will know my name much less my fastest marathon time. But maybe just maybe someone will remember that I loved the LORD with all my heart and HE gave me the legs to lead others to HIM.

That keeps me Humble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I am really good at compartmentalizing my stresses. But as of late it is peaked. I have been in the RED ZONE.

I met Danielle for 8 miles at INDIAN SPRINGS Metropark. When we arrived the weather was cold but the trail was clear. Within a couple miles the winds clobbered us. My ear started to hurt from the snowy blasts out of the woods.

Danielle gave me my birthday present before we headed into the trail. She bought me running socks, my favorite HONEY Stingers waffles, a running neck scarf and she sprinkled chocolates in the bag.

Had it not been for the neck/head scarf I just might have curled up and died. Maybe that's a bit extreme. It was just so cold. I was sore from yesterdays speed work so it felt like I was running at a turtles crawl. The snow was beautiful to look at as it came at us sideways slapping the side of our face about off!

Yeah, we were really pretty. We had snot dripping down our noses. Our eyelashes had ice literally hanging from them. The more my eyes teared up from the wind the more they froze together. We would look at each other and laugh.

I don't know how we made the whole 8 miles. Probably because by the time we could have turned around we were past the loop so we had no short cuts or cheater trail.

I would not have finished had Danielle not been with me. The POWER of a GREAT running partner.

 

RUNDOWN:

Distance: 8miles

Time 1hour 12 minutes 

What a WEIRDO!! Loved that scarf neck thing!

!

 

 

 

 

Do you have a favorite story about Bragging?

How do You define A Bragger??

 

 

Anita