Bad running experiences

I started running in April training for a 5K which I completed in June. The run was abroad and I made the mistake of flying very early the day before, plus drinking a glass of wine and not eating much the night before. We then had a two hour train journey on the morning of the race. By the time I got there I felt extremely ill and only just about managed to get myself into reasonable mental and physical shape to start the race in time. I completed the course in 36 mins (was aiming for 30) but it nearly killed me trying to get around the course, I can hardly remember it now.

When I got back home I found it impossible to motivate myself to run again until last week when I went out with my son for a short run. I only manged 1 mile instead of 4 which I was doing before, which after that break is probably understandable. On the way home on the run a woman pointed at me and shouted to all her friends that were with her "Look at that woman's fat belly and all her cellulite" I just laughed as I went past but I wanted to punch her :-) I shall be wearing baggier clothes to run in in future!

I expect I'm not the only person that this has happened to, but it does feel like it sometimes. Has anyone else had similar experiences?

Comments

  • I've not had the experience, but console yourself with the fact that you were the one doing the running! And wear what YOU are comfortable in.

    I too suffered a set-back after not running for a while - not quite as bad as starting out, but almost - but the good news is that after about 3 weeks I'm back to running 5k quite comfortably.

    Good luck!
  • Last night some huge fat bloke started laughing at me and singing the theme to the Athletics programme on BBC. I just ignored him but was soo tempted to say something back.

    Good this is, I came into work this morning and another girl in the office said she'd driven past when I was running and was very impressed I had the motivation to do it. Having a compliment more than made up for the aggro I got.

    So I choose to ignore the idiots who think they are fuuny and just be quietly smug that I am doing this for me, no matter what it looks like!!
  • NessieNessie ✭✭✭
    Try saying "Feel free to join me" as you pass, knowing that they probably haven't run a step in their lives (if they were runners they would be nicer people, like all of us on the Forum).

    Something like 95% of the population cannot run for a mile non-stop, so you are one of the elite. Stick your nose in the air and keep running!
  • Hey, you were the one running to get fit - She was the one hanging about on a street corner like some saddo!
    It really, really annoys me when women are horrible about other womens bodies. We get enough s**t off of men about porridgey bottoms and saggy boobs!
    Just forget about this nasty bitch - you are running to get fit. I doubt that she is seeking help to overcome her personality disorder!
    Dont give up the running for the sake of one insignificant piece of dirt.
  • Yeah, I'm with them! It really surprises me another woman would lower herself to dish out pathetic and humiliating insults like that. I have never had any hassle off women, only the occasional male... But don't let them get to you, they are so not worth it. Keep on running, sister!
  • Brixton Runner

    I was so upset to read what happened to you. How can people, especially other women, be so mean? What is going on in their heads that makes them want to criticise and ridicule other people and makes them think it's ok to do so?

    I hope you take heart from the support on this forum. We are all behind each other, and all want each other to succeed, reach our goals and do the very best that we can.

    Please don't let some ignorant fools stop you doing what you want to do in the way that you want to do it.

    With regard to your 5k, I sympathise. I sort of did the same thing prior to a 10k. Still, I thought to myself, I've learnt my lesson now, and I'm really glad I learnt that lesson prior to a 10k rather than the marathon.

    Keep up the excellent work, and let us know how your progress back up to your pre-race levels is going.

    Parsley.
  • Well, if that's how she has to behave to impress her friends, you're well out of that particular social circle, Brixton Runner! She's probably one of those damaged and dysfunctional souls who wonder why their relationships always turn violent and can't do any type of behaviour apart from belligerent. You're above that. Throw a scrap of pity in her direction, and keep running. You're not out there to impress the likes of her.

    I've been quite fortunate in the heckling department - plenty of comments, some good banter, but nothing that's been intended to wound (unless "get yer knees up" has some sort of hidden meaning around here). On Wednesday, a couple of teenage boys who were throwing windfall cherries viciously at one another across a patch of grass (don't ask me why!) even stopped while I ran past and gave me such a lovely pair of grins that I thought I must have forgotten to put my t-shirt on.
  • Hi Brixton runner,

    Sorry to hear about that incident - but you
    probably represent a threat to her own
    slobby lifestyle.
    Don't let one silly cow change anything about your running; what you wear etc.
    Thats giving the whole incident more importance than it merits.
    I had a group of yobs taking the piss a few weeks ago although it was fairly good natured : as Nessie says I
    simply invited the most mouthy to join me and got great satisfaction from the
    w*nker sign I shot him as I left them behind.

    Chris
  • Thanks everyone so much for your stories and your support they really cheered me up :-) I went running this evening and completed 2 miles without dying or being heckled so feel that I have got my confidence back again. Hopefully I'm now back on track for the Olympic marathon gold medal in a couple of years time.....OK, I'm joking.

    This forum/thread is great, you all made a real difference today. Thanks very much.
  • Brixton Runner

    I've been running since Medievil times, and have often enjoyed the light hearted heckling of those who cannot run. For a while, I took to stopping and challenging them to an immediate race, 100 to 1 for a £1 stake. Several youngsters took the challenge, including one carrying a cigarette. I was never beaten. I eventually stopped this when I reached a higher plain of consciousness, just after a lad who was clearly a salad-dodger got quite close to winning on night.

    Re-frame the situation - these people do not exercise. Each day, they grow weaker, whilst you grow stronger. They do not have the ability and determination that you do.

    Go take a look around a cardiac HDU unit - seriously - that's where a lot of your hecklers are heading. Inside, your heart is growing stronger each day.

    How many people do you know who talk about "when I was fit" or "I was going to run the marathon but I have weak knees", or "you know that jogging is bad for you, don't you"? Aren't you just so glad that you are not one of them? Isn't it just so worth the pain for the pleasure of actually doing something with your life?

    I have personally explored the outer limits of endurance, and seen strong men crumble. I know that everything is in the control of the mind - absolutely everything. Even emotions. You can choose to be inspired and motivated by these sad people - it really is in your control.

    Another option would be to beat the **** out of the next person who heckles you, which I guess could also work.

    Keep running my fellow athelete.

    Gavin
  • I cannot believe that someone could be so rude. I can't stand people like that. They are just jealous that you are out trying to do something about your cellulite and fat belly whereas they probably do no exercise at all. Keep wearing your running clothes!

    I am a beginner and since I started all I get is: 'the gym is bad for you, you know', 'running is bad for you, you know'. Yeah - and sitting on my behind eating crappy food, smoking, drinking and watching TV is good for me then? No, of course not.
    I know which is better for me.

    My point is that they are jealous. They wish they had the motivation to stick to something like exercising for more than a week before giving up. It's meant to demotivate you into stopping and being just like them - unfit and fat. They can be more comfortable with you then.
    I have a couple of good friends who admire me for getting up at 6.30am every morning before work and make no bones about the fact that they wouldn't do it themselves, even though they hate being fat and unfit. Fair enough, at leat they're honest.
    Power to them, power to me and power to you! Keep going!
  • I had a mother-in-law who was wonderful at the put you downs...

    She was 5'10 and weighed over 25 stone... so whenever I, at 5'1 and 10 stone, said I wanted to lose weight... you could guarantee she'd send over LOADS of cream cakes, real butter, potatoes, crisps etc.

    It amounted to the same thing... she didnt have the ability to control her eating.. so she was determined to make sure I didnt control mine.

  • At the end of the day its only jealousy and irrespective of right or wrong minorities (and we runners are a minority) will always be the subject of abuse - that is, sadly, the nature of mass mentality.

    However, we all run for our own very personal reasons, look at most peoples reasons for running (click on the name tags heading each message) and you will see most of us run to feel good about ourselves, and it matters not a jot what others may think.

    The best thing in these scenarios is complete stone wall - eyes straight ahead - no reaction - hecklers thrive on reaction and when there is none they quickly lose interest.
  • Obesity is becoming a serious problem in this country !

    They ( and by they I mean the media ) are trying to turn us all into morons !

    Running gives me a freedom away from all of that cr*p
  • I've also had shouts of "fatso" and jeers - mainly from groups of young men drinking and smoking out of car windows.

    Not easy to deal with as a woman - you don't want to provoke the ignorant *****ers - but something like that can completely ruin your run (and the runs over the next few days as you wonder if they'll reappear ...).

    I try to keep my head up and remind myself that they'll probably drink and smoke themselves into an early grave ...

    Good luck!
    WiseOwl
  • My friends and I were heckled by a gang of 20something women as they sped past in a Ford Puma!!!!

    We laughed all the way home!!

  • Joanne, where did you run? I would pay good money to be heckled by a gang of 20 something women in a Ford Puma!

    Gavin
  • Brixton Runner - the other thing is (in addition to what everyone else has said) what you have to think about is what kind of person (woman in particular) is it who stands on a street corner, heckling someone who is attempting to be healthy in the name of getting a reaction..? I'll tell you, a very sad and uneducated person. Oh being unfit and fat and jealous is fine to make fun of others but clearly this woman and her friends don't even have two brain cells to rub together. They obviously don't know that exercise is good for you and with appropriate footwear, so is running!

    Nessie said "Something like 95% of the population cannot run for a mile non-stop, so you are one of the elite. Stick your nose in the air and keep running!" Actually, according to a book I read sometime ago I think it's also a fact that 95% of the population can't even WALK for a mile non-stop let alone run!!!!

    Brixton Runner - one of my problems about joining a gym was I didn't want to become one of the pretentious idiots who just go there to look beautiful and healthy (I'm FAR from that) but anyway what made me feel quite smug was sometime ago a girl from work was saying how she thought I was mad and she never exercised and went running etc etc etc. Imagine my surprise to see her sweating it out in the spinning class whilst I was on the step machine --- so even those people who profess to keep their figure by always eating what they want and never exercising, you can bet your life they are lying and are secret exercisers somewhere along the line :o)
  • Thanks again to everyone for your support and stories. I was motivated to go out running again after the first messages of support: I ran 1 mile that evening. Since then I've done 3 x 2 mile runs over the last week so am back on track. Thank goodness. I feel dumb for letting such a small incident put me off...but hey I'm only human, well last time I looked I was anyway :-)

    You are all right about the woman who heckled me, she can't be a very happy person if she gets her kicks trying to make people like me feel small. So I'm happy that I'm not like her in the least.

    Thanks again guys!
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