Are your family, friends, colleagues supportive of your running?

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  • I think that whatever your interest is, if you bore people with it (either your achievements, data etc) they'll switch off. image

    I've learnt the art of "mmm" ,"yes,"  "no","  "really!?" when No 1 Child goes off into the realms of astronomy or No 2 Child trots out his millionth factoid on Dr Who imageimage But they soon spot itimage image

    I keep a log of what I do, (running/training)  but just write it down and if I share any of it, then it's on here, with other like-minded imageimage.  I don't bother discussing it with anyone else, as I know it would be pretty meaningless to most people!  If they ask, then I'm happy to discuss it in general, but not in minute detail - well, I've learnt not to when I see their faces glazing overimage.

    That said, I also get comments about food, but mainly because people assume that you can live the life of Riley/Reilly re food - eating what and when you like - because running "runs it off".

    The difficulty with something like running is the level of commitment - you may not (she says, warily) need that level of commitment if your interest is making macrame pot holders, nor will it hurt as much!!

  • PS the only time it becomes a real issue for me is re childcare.  I'm a single parent, so have to take that into account when training/racing etc as I don't have a bank of "babysitters" available and I've had to pull out of a few races due to family members offering to "babysit" then changing their plans at the last minute, leaving me well and truly stuck (and not best pleased either). 

    I've got a golden bond place in the GSR this year and would like my two to be there, to see me, particularly as we have connections to the charity.  However, having asked around, there's no-one in the family who's willing to come down, hang around with them on the day so that they can scream at me as I whizz past (as ifimage).  I'd like them to be there, but they're just a bit too young to be left on their own.

  • Nam wrote (see)

    I suppose you can't chose your family but you can chose your partner, and I wouldn't go out with anyone who has a huge beer gut, doesn't move, smokes 2 packs a day and spends his evenings down the pub and thinks darts is a sport.  But... maybe that's why I'm single... image

    Lol Nam!

    I know someone who runs 50+ miles per week, obsessively nerdy about it, his OH is a take-out and couch potato queen, and now (unsurprisingly) he's single...

  • Siance wrote (see)

    I know someone who runs 50+ miles per week, obsessively nerdy about it, his OH is a take-out and couch potato queen, and now (unsurprisingly) he's single...

    Ooh he sounds just my type! Does he live oop north by any chance? image
  • mostly people are supportive of my running

    my mum always asks how far i went, my dad always moans that he needs to go for a run/bike ride image (i was really chuffed a while back when he said i made him feel bad, cos i do lots of exercise and he doesn't).  and my sis was telling her friends how i'd done 2 marathons (i did correct her, they were only halfs....) even though i think she does get a bit embarassed when i go out in skimpy clothes and run through the village where her friend lives (meh, i don't care)

    people at work are generally supportive too, asking if i've got any races soon or how far i'm going that weekend etc. (although i've had the 'overtraining' remarks when i've had a cold). i think it helps that i've always been a runner since i've worked there. i do think i annoyed my boss the other day though by saying i'd rather run in the rain than do telesales (well, who would rather do telesales??) image

     people do keep telling me i'm mad though image especially when i say i want to run a mara/run a very hilly route etc.

  • Jenny50Jenny50 ✭✭✭

    lol Nam- I don't think its down to me being nice.....too scared more likely!  My sis is bigger than me image(although I can run faster of course!) .

     I guess I'm quite good at refraining from boring people with techno stuff - mainly because I don't possess any techno stuff and work my routes and times out using gmaps and a wristwatch. However, any flicker of interest from ANYBODY at all gets me rabbiting on and on about running, triathlons etc image

    I teach at a college and its interesting how often I manage to get these themes into my lessons image. Nothing like a good old maths lesson to get them to work out how fast I ran to work etc..(all in the name of education of course!) . Although the students do seem more interested in my exploits than my colleaguesimage

  • CJBA- hope you find someone to watch the kids while you race, can you offer their services at a water station????

    I get a lot of admiration but usually accompanied by -'I wish I had time, I have injuries, ah yes but I've had 3 kids' etc etc etc. 

    As others have said I have to fit my runs in around my jobs, 3 kids & all the rest too & I'm sure most people only put us down to make themselves feel better. 

  • You know how children get classified as "the brainy one" etc? Well my brother was the sporty one, and I wasn't. image

    So when I got challenged to run a 10k everyone was really surprised - I just don't look the type. When we ran the 10k, he did it in ~40 minutes on all of 4 training sessions, I worked for nearly a year and took over an hour. He'd finished by the time I came through where he and mum were and he was really worried I wouldn't make it, as apparently I looked like a ghost! He wanted to jump the barrier and run the last 2k with me to make sure I finished! Very pleased he didn't - I'd probably have found the energy to deck him eventually image

    H is mildly uninterested, but gets that it's something I do. He's more concerned that I'll fall over and break something. image

  • ToomaiToomai ✭✭✭

    My 3-year old son asks "Daddy, why are you going running?" To which the reply is so that I can get fit and lose weight. It's then "but daddy, why do you want to get fit?" So that I can be healthier and maybe live longer...."but daddy, why do you want to live longer?"....So that I can be with you and mummy for longer....."but daddy why do you want to be with us?"......because I must enjoy answering your incessant bluddy questions, son!!!!!

  • lol been there and done that, aren't they great kids of that age stretching your Knowledge and ability to put in to words that they will understand sometime complex subject matter and most of all your Patience image
  • Mrs DD is in general supportive of my running / triathlon obsession, she and the kids virtually never attend a race but know that If I don't run I'm going to be grumpy! They all seem to accept that at times I'm going to be tired and need a midday nap! (mainly cos to beat the heat in Dubai we run at 0400!). Both my kids want to race with me, the eldest in particular so I guess i'm going to have competition.

    Mrs DD hates the very idea of running but is into swimming / yoga etc and loves that we get to go on family holidays to far flung places because I'm racing. Were off to Boston in April and Mrs DD & the DD kids are far more excited about the idea than me.

    Most of my work colleagues are cyclists and part time runners so its never a issue at work, though in general I never talk about running at home or at work, people get bored very quickly! I save the running talk for club nights and down the pub afterwards. I suspect its very hard for a sedentary person to understand the joys of running and at times i wonder what it is that gets me up at 0400 to run. But the feeling when you finish sets up the whole day.

    My kids will say to anyone eating unhealthly " thats not a good choice' quite embarassing at times! Am trying to educate them to accept that  the odd bag of chips isnt going to kill you! Mind you I have been known to have a smoke when I hit the 4th pint, fortunately I very rarely drink 4 pints!

    The secret in my opinion to keeping your family onside is too do as much of your training as possible outside of family time, hence I run in my lunch hour, before the kids get up or after they have gone to bed.

  • Nam wrote (see)
     it's only because peeps like LadyFe are too nice to turn around and tell her sister "YOU really DON'T need that piece of cake luv!  You barely fit through the door, look hideous, can't get up the stairs without puffing, are in line for diabetes and heart attacks - and don't come to me moaning when you're in hospital, and quite frankly are an appalling example to your children."


    Anybody else willing to admit that they think these things when they see a hulking, fat munter stocking up on doughnuts and lard in Tesco? image

    Or would that just be me again? imageimage

  • Jenny50Jenny50 ✭✭✭

    Now if I admitted to having thoughts like that Nam would no longer think I was 'nice'!image

  • Nope, I'd be in that category too LB.  Mind you, at the start of 2005 I was about 3.5 stone heavier than nowadays and they do say the reformed 'addicts' (in this case food) are the worst.

    Tend not to discuss running with friends other than in passing - can't go out as there's a race/LSR next day - that kind of thing.  Similar with work colleagues - it rarely comes up.

    My brothers are all smokers and 'bad' eaters who do no formal exercise - though their jobs give a bit of activity.  We don't speak that often and I doubt running ever comes up beyond a polite question which is given a glib reply.

    Parents are a bit different.  Dad hasn't ever expressed an opinion either way.  Mother used to make comments about it being dangerous/bad for you/over doing it etc but thats worn off.

    Youngest daughter is four and to her its perfectly normal - its what daddy does.  Eldest runs with me twice a week now.  She's only 10 and not a natural athlete but she works hard and I hope she'll keep it up.

    The missus has changed with her opinions.  At first she assumed it was "another one of your obsessions" that I'd get all worked up about for 6 weeks then forget - and she made that clear.  When I stuck to it she became more supportive but it was something I did alone so she kept out of it.  When she wasn't supportive of my 1st marathon I explained my dissapointment and for my second she was fantastic.  She now runs occassionally herself and has done a 10k.  Its still something I largely do alone, and whilst I give her a 30 second precis of each run when I get in I'm not sure if she is really listening or not!  Overall though, she still thinks I get a bit obsessive about running and weight at times but is tolerant of what I do and proud of the results - in health terms - and never complains that there's a race or long run. So I guess I'm very lucky.

  • my wife wasnt supportive at all until she tried running for herself. Now she tells me her route before going out the door, and when i go out she actually ASKS what route i will be taking..... !!!

    Every conversation i have with my dad about running somehow reverts back to how good he was as a good runner as a kid and superfit as a milkman.. blah, blah, blah... the general theme from my parents is that i have more important things to do with my time, such as DIY.

    My sister is pretty supportive...

    collegues... i dont think they really know the extent of my running. dont really say much. I have a few friends that run, they are quite complimentary.
  • JWrunJWrun ✭✭✭
    Most people are yes, my dad is funny about it though, seems to encourage less training than more, dunno if its a concerned thing or what, he's very very proud but some of his comments are funny and a bit daft, tends to laugh when i say i'll do another mara or my future aspirations, but will come and watch with tears in his eyes! Bless him!
  • My mum is supportive although I found out after the half Ironman that she didn't think I had a chance of finishing...thanks mum!

    My OH sometimes comes to races, depending on the travelling and how long he's going to be sat on his own for. He did get up at 7am yesterday to come with me to a triathlon so I can't complain! Also, when I finished my first marathon he'd bought me a bunch of flowers and presented them to me as I crossed the finish line

  • Kicked-It wrote (see)
    I've been threatened with violecne if I start another sentence that includes the word "run..."...
    Are those some kind of purple spots? image
  • Nice one steve.  Well spotted.
  • I'm not exactly surprised that any activity which requires commitment and considerable amounts of time and energy sometimes generates friction between couples/families.

    My partner is not a runner, though she has her own hobbies and interests, and sometimes she gets frustrated because I have to arrange one of our days off around my interest. I think she also gets concerned when I'm injured or otherwise not running well (not that I'm Usain Bolt at the best of times) that it impacts on my mood. So sometimes she can be down on running because it's something that frustrates me. If you see what I mean. I think that's all pretty normal and understandable though.

    I hear ladyfe on the parental concern. My mum supported my dad's running habit for years, especially by cooking separate meals for him on various weird and wonderful special diets, so she usually expresses concern (to the OH generally) when I'm in training for something. And then she is placated to hear that I'm eating normally, not underweight etc. etc. She associates running with obsessive behaviour and eating disorders I think. To an extent I think she has a point, though she's wide of the mark in my case.

    All that said, there is much general supportiveness and turning out to cheer. So I can't complain.... and I do try to be thoughtful...

  • WilkieWilkie ✭✭✭

    My OH is a runner too - more dedicated and obessive than me image

    Most of my friends run too, to some extent.

    My family are only vaguely interested - if they ask at all it's just out of politeness I think, but that doesn't bother me.  Why should they be otherwise - when it's not something they're interested in?  They don't make any negative comments.

    Same with my colleagues - they're not really interested, but not negative.

  • mention running and we are people from a different planet.

    family extends sympathy, not able to see you go through those hues and cries, and preferably have you not run at all.

    friends and acquantances express sheer jealously as to how come you can run while they can t. 

    guess we are safe amoung runners while ALL others come appriciate us on the race day. 

  • My hubby doesn't 'get' running either except when he leaves his car at the pub, gets a taxi home and I run into town to pick it up in the morning! And the slighly more toned bottom running gives me!

    My dad is v keen cyclist so he is only one who understands my so called 'obsession' but he lives miles away. My work colleagues just say 'people die running marathons / half marathons'. Oh well. I like it  and it makes me feel  good.

  • No one at my work knows I run - which is kind of funny as one of the girls in the office is a member of the local club and a little while back asked me on their behalf if we would sponsor a 10k race they were putting (among other things, I manage a small promotions and sponsorship budget). I think she was quite surprised when I said yes.

    wife is generally supportive - just has always thought I do too much.

    daughter doesn't really think about it either way

    son sometimes accompanies me on his bike

    .. i haven't raced for three years and my kids have long since forgotten that when they were small I used to race nearly every weekend.
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