Quitting a marathon

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

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

One really should read "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson...

And don't miss my soon-to-be bestseller "Does a bear [censored] in the
woods?" by

I would have though a better title " Does Bill [censored] in his pants in the
woods?"

-Df

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

Quoted message said:

For me the blessed ideal distance is 50 miles. It is long enough to be
able to go down, make a recovery and come back again.

I agree and why I only do a single 100 a year. Other than I'm old and
need recover time.

The best 50 on the East Coast is Bull Run in April. A beautifil course,
phenominal aid stations and all kinds of stuff. You typically get a sign
up shirt and not cotton [censored] and another item at the finish. The finish
item is the real prize and worn as a badge on honor.

Quoted message said:

A hundred, nice to reflect on in the bath afterwards but can get
boring at the time.

Actually I love/hate the shower at the end. I smell so bad that a
buzzard will pass me by and long to chisel off the scum. As much as I
try to keep all rubbing parts lubricated there is always a place or two
that I miss and water with soap running over those chaffed areas smarts
like hell.

I don't think I ever get bored. I know at about 70 I start to get
anxious to finish but I don't consider that boredom. I'm often alone for
hours and hours, less the aid station people and I simply zone out and
enjoy the scenery. 2003 was different. Three of us ran about 60 miles
together and we had a blast. We went through a repertoire of jokes and
war stories that had us laughing like school yard kids. Apparently our
loud antics were almost unnerving to those running around us. It really
took our minds off the race and made the miles fly by. They let me set
the pace. We separated at 70 and only had to do the last 30 alone. They
each had PR's by an hour.

Quoted message said:

Any support station marshal will say the only question they are ever
asked at the last station is how far is it to the finish.

At the Vermont 100 they post a sign at each aid station telling you how
far to the next aid station and what mile you're at. Stops those
questions in a hurry. Knowing how far to the next also allows me to fill
my water bottle accordingly. If the next aid is 3.5 miles I don't need
to haul 24 Ozs. I don't know if it really makes a difference but I'd
like to think so. I get through these races by running from one aid
station the next until someone says, ok you can stop.

-DougF

Quoted message said:

I would have though a better title " Does Bill [censored] in his pants in the
woods?"

I'm working on a new book already, it's called "Does Doug [censored] in his Depends
while typing on the computer?".

Dot dot.h@#duh?att.net said:

We each also have the right to consider who we want to have as role
models. (yes, I'm a hero worshipper) It doesn't say anything negative
about the others, just that certain people's actions reflect things that
we think are worthy of emulating (in our own, humble, trudging manner).

Thanks for saying it so eloquently, Dot.

I offered an example of how a world class athlete handled a remarkably
similar situation and enhanced his reputation.

If PR has similarly gathered herself and finished, perhaps encouraging
her teammates who would be passing her, acknowledging what would have
been the encouragement of the spectators, etc. then her performance
would have also been worth emulating. But she didn't and I expressed
my disappointment.

In this little firestorm, I've been accused of calling her a coward
and saying she isn't mentally tough. Wrong.

All I said was that I lost a lot of respect for her for dropping out
and I stand by that.

In another similar situation a couple of years ago Dave Scott - "Mr.
Ironman" DNF'd at Hawaii. He simply wasn't having a good day. I'm sure
he wasn't expecting the criticism he got, but he got it big time.
No-one could believe that he'd simply drop out. He was the
personification of the Ironman - a legend. The MAN.

He tarnished his crown, as PR did hers. It didn't stop me from lining
up and getting his autograph and saying a few words to him at Lake
Placid. I'd probably stand in line and get PR's.

But the crown is tarnished.

I think it's time to wrap this up. I've said all I'm going to say and
will move on to other things.

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

Doug Freese said:

I wasn't trying to change your mind merely stating my view from a fellow
distance bro.

As if you could. <g>

At least we can disagree without name calling.
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You old fart!

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

Quoted message said:

At least we can disagree without name calling.

That's because you're both [censored].

"Tim" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I've run 2 marathons and at several times during both i thought of
quitting.Thankfully i didnt. I think i would have suffered far greater
by quitting than the temporary physical pain i endured during the
marathon. There is no greater feeling than finishing a marathon. No task
in life seems impossible to me anymore.
Tim

I quit a marathon.

In 2002 I attempted to run the Canadian International Marathon
with a broken shoulder from 10 days earlier. I hit the halfway point
in 1:26:10 and 30km in 2:02:33 (if I remember right) but the pain
was simply unbearable; probably more than you were feeling. I
don't think it was possible to finish my race and don't regret it at
all.

cheers,
--
David (in Hamilton, ON)
www.allfalldown.org
www.absolutelyaccurate.com

Mike Tennent said:

In this little firestorm, I've been accused of calling her a coward
and saying she isn't mentally tough. Wrong.

It's OK Mike, I think we've all been trolled. When I first entered this
thread, I'd forgotten that the poster marathoner52 is a troll (same guy as
dwjones, who often says nasty things about top athletes) I'll be more careful
in future about entering threads initiated by dwjones/marathoner52 and all
their sock puppets, and try harder to make a distinction between the comments
submitted by legitimate posters like yourself, and those made by potty-mouthed
trolls.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

Donovan Rebbechi said:

Mike Tennent said:

In this little firestorm, I've been accused of calling her a coward
and saying she isn't mentally tough. Wrong.

It's OK Mike, I think we've all been trolled. When I first entered this
thread, I'd forgotten that the poster marathoner52 is a troll (same guy as
dwjones, who often says nasty things about top athletes) I'll be more careful
in future about entering threads initiated by dwjones/marathoner52 and all
their sock puppets, and try harder to make a distinction between the comments
submitted by legitimate posters like yourself, and those made by potty-mouthed
trolls.

Cheers,

Thank you, Donovan.

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

In article <[email hidden]>,

Sam said:

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

Quoted message said:

I've run 2 marathons and at several times during both i thought of
quitting.Thankfully i didnt. I think i would have suffered far greater
by quitting than the temporary physical pain i endured during the
marathon. There is no greater feeling than finishing a marathon. No task
in life seems impossible to me anymore.
Tim

You obviously do not have kids!

I think there could be great reasons to quit. Any injury for instance that
would cause one to become incapacitated for a period of time. Or if it is
very hot and continuing could lead to a serious health issue. Then it would
be stupid, IMHO, to put yourself in harm's way.

The talk about DNF'ing a race puts me in mind of the race I wish I
had quit -- it was my first one, and only 6 km. But I'd been running
in those shoes too long, and with the stress of a) continuing to
run in those shoes b) being at race effort and c) trying to race up
a major hill, wound up turning an annoyance in to a couple of weeks
of not being able to run.

Quoted message said:

I see little glory in walking the last 4 miles in an hour to finish a
marathon--and I have come close to doing just that.

Last 10 km of a marathon walked in 90 minutes. No glory indeed. It
was just the most convenient way to get back to the gear I'd stashed
at the starting line.

Both are really 'should not have started' examples. I know better now.

--
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

Quoted message said:

Thank you, Donovan.

BJ?

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

Quoted message said:

It's OK Mike, I think we've all been trolled.

But wasn´t that rather obvious from the very beginning?:-)

Quoted message said:

(...) I'll be more careful
in future about entering threads initiated by dwjones/marathoner52 and all
their sock puppets, and try harder to make a distinction between the comments
submitted by legitimate posters like yourself, and those made by potty-mouthed
trolls.

Why, I think we should sometimes be grateful for the
trolls for sparking off a not uninteresting and un-
entertaining discussion *between legitimate posters*;
in all probability this discussion wouldn´t have seen
the light of day and, IMHO, this newsgroup would´ve
been poorer.

In fact, while the best defense against troll will
probably remain: "Don´t notice and don´t respond!",
the best *revenge* may well be: "Reclaim the thread!"

Anders

Mike Tennent <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I think it's time to wrap this up. I've said all I'm going to say and
will move on to other things.

Together everybody: "Quitter! Mike is a quitter!":-)

Anders

Dot <dot.h@#duh?att.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

There is a special emotion attached to finishing the Olympic marathon
course this year - and only this year.

OTOH many national Olympic Committees (and Athletic Federations)
saw the Athens marathon as just another title marathon to which
there was no point in sending any runners who wouldn´t finish
in the top twelve (or whatever).

The runners who´d met the qualification criteria set by the IOC
but weren´t nominated were wrong to think that participating and
finishing in Athens is somehow special, while the runners who were
nominated and didn´t finish were wrong to think that Athens wasn´t
all that special...

Quoted message said:

But my philosophy tends to agree with you, "pain is temporary, quitting
is forever".

I´m a "Live to fight another day" or "Cut your losses while you
still can" man myself:-)

Anders

Quoted message said:

In fact, while the best defense against troll will
probably remain: "Don´t notice and don´t respond!",

Like you can. Even the 'ol [censored] Doogie can't resist responding to me
occasionally.

(Anders Lustig) said:

Mike Tennent <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I think it's time to wrap this up. I've said all I'm going to say and
will move on to other things.

Together everybody: "Quitter! Mike is a quitter!":-)

Anders

What?!?

I said I was moving, didn't I?

<G>

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

Anders Lustig said:

Dot <dot.h@#duh?att.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

There is a special emotion attached to finishing the Olympic marathon
course this year - and only this year.

OTOH many national Olympic Committees (and Athletic Federations)
saw the Athens marathon as just another title marathon to which
there was no point in sending any runners who wouldn´t finish
in the top twelve (or whatever).

yep. Bureaucracies are emotionless, and don't know what it's like to be
the gladiator striving in the arena, etc (sorry, it's late on a long day
😉.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But my philosophy tends to agree with you, "pain is temporary, quitting
is forever".

I´m a "Live to fight another day" or "Cut your losses while you
still can" man myself:-)

But if you've got a 3 mi bushwack back to camp through dwarf birch /
willow thickets in heavy Helly Hansens (for those not familiar with
Hellys, they're industrial strength rain gear, that's standard issue up
here for field work) in the pouring rain with field packs after 10 hr of
field work, quitting isn't really an option. Ditto on trail runs not
near roads. But I'll have to confess to backing down from one study area
this year - just wasn't worth the risk of falling down the slope (closer
to vertical than to 45 deg on really rotten rock).

😉 One of my favorite ads - for 5.10 trail running shoes (which I've
never seen in real life, hence NFI) on the back of Trail Runner mag:
http://home.att.net/~akrunning/Bear510/index.html

Dot

--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Tennent said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As I mentioned in another thread, divers blow a dive and have to go
right back up on the platform. A gymnast blows a routine and can't
simply walk off the floor and quit.

Well, Paul Hamm quit after he missed that vault in the all-around,
didn't he?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Tennent said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As I mentioned in another thread, divers blow a dive and have to go
right back up on the platform. A gymnast blows a routine and can't
simply walk off the floor and quit.

Well, Paul Hamm quit after he missed that vault in the all-around,
didn't he?

--Harold Buck

"I used to rock and roll all night,
and party every day.
Then it was every other day. . . ."
-Homer J. Simpson