This is a dash of training and a dash of my musings. A combined blog if you will. I was actually really inspired by the conference I went too to write this post.
First…training for this week.
| Monday: | 10.5 (treadmill…recovery from 18 on Sunday) 8:42 |
| Tuesday: | 11.1 Outdoors (8:40) |
| Wednesday: | 11.35 Treadmill |
| Thursday: | AM: 10.72 Treadmill easy (8:23) |
| PM: 6.14 Treadmill Progressive (7:18) | |
| Friday: | Elliptical (Precor 100i) |
| Saturday: | 10.14 Easy around Buffalo before Conference (8:17) |
| Sunday: | Off |
| Total: | 65 total |
All in all, it was a decently productive week for me. I got outside more than normal which was nice. I was actually out of town Friday mid-day until Saturday night at a conference. Sunday I am taking off for personal reasons but I’m not that concerned.
Going into next weekend (the Shamrock half marathon) I would love to tell you I’m as ready as I was for Plattsburgh half last April but I’m not. I don’t really intend to PR, but I would like to be under 1:30. (not to say PRing wouldn’t be great). I haven’t done any tempo runs as of late in the 6:XX range because I won’t do them on the treadmill and the weather isn’t inclusive to them here right now. I’m not running a six minute pace on slick roads…no thanks. That could be a cop out but it’s fine…my big goal is the Nike Women’s half in April anyways.
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Transitioning now, I wanted to talk about something that has kind of been on the forefront of my mine lately via blogging. It could be because I just went to a conference and spent hours submerged in the information of cyber bullying but I think it’s so relevant to the blogging world. Note: This is not targeted at any single blogger, it is just a casual observation I’ve made from reading blogs and then reading comments.
Passive Aggressive Commenting
Not cyber bullying as it occurs in high school and college (ie real life peers) but passive aggressive commenting on blogs ect. As of late, I’ve been seeing a lot of commentary and posts that are very snarky. From people that aren’t snarky or their blogs originally weren’t. It blows my mind because I’ll read a post, read that same persons commentary on other’s posts and I can’t take it seriously and I feel like I’m reading
Here is the thing, I post my training for others to read and look at but as of late I’ve noticed a lot of cliquing or passive aggressive commenting. Something that really bothers me in the RUN BLOG community is the need to compare yourself to everyone and anyone. The need to compare “oh I can’t run that mileage, that speed…blah blah blah”. If I were to compare myself to some of my local running idols, it wouldn’t do anything for me.
Now that I think about it, I see it more on dailymile more than anything. To put this point blank, I’m not a collegiate runner anymore, I’m not under direct supervision of anyone right now (READ: NO COACH) and you know what? I love it. I can run how I feel and I have no one to blame for poor runs (not that you can ever blame your roach really for YOUR poor races) but myself and poor training. I do plan to write another post soon about how blaming your coach for your poor race results is stupid.
What I’m going to say is this…my comments, emails, ect are always very honest to you. If I think what you are doing is awesome…I’ll tell you and you can know it’s genuine. If I think what you’re doing is idiotic, I’ll call you out on it or just not comment at all. It’s almost like many bloggers only comment because they want to see you fail or want to outdo you. (I’m not competing with you nor would I want too). I won’t say…oh good job when I don’t truly believe it or I’m not happy for you. I also try not to give advice unless someone asks for it and even then I get somewhat pissy when they ask for advice and don’t take it. You can only drag a horse to water for so long.
I do admit I’ve posted some things out of #rage but hey that’s life. I’m not an expert in running, athletics or life…I’m just a normal person who enjoys to run. Don’t compare yourself to me and I won’t compare myself to you. We probably aren’t training for the same races or events so our logs will always look different. Maybe you just want to stay in shape. GREAT. Maybe you are training for a marathon. GREAT. Maybe you are a collegiate runner with a coach. GREAT. I’m none of those people so will have different methods for my madness. In foodie language: “Our bodies are all different, and one persons diet might be another’s poison”…
Questions for you:
Best workout of the week?
What do you think about passive aggressive commenting?
I think what a lot of people don’t realize is that one person’s snark really can offend someone else, particularly online. Sometimes you really do have to outright say that something in your comment or post is snarky. Online we don’t get body language, facial expressions, etc- you just get words.
And that’s something to remember, even for me. Today I tweeted something like “Thankful for those churches who reminded me of daylight savings time, so I didn’t miss running when it’s cool out”… then deleted it bc I would hate for someone to read that and truly not “get it” (particularly with my career field, as someone from a church could find my twitter through my job which is producing nonprofit accounting software that a lot of churches use).
Usually if a post really bothers me, I will just stop reading that entry altogether. Eventually, I may stop reading that blog altogether. I’d rather end a blog reading relationship on a good note than keep reading into a trainwreck.
Exactly Amy and I am glad we chatted about this before. I feel like its much better for everyone to delete blogs versus making snark comments.
I can’t say I’ve noticed passive-aggressive commenting on running blogs, but then again my powers of observation are nil. If I’m going to be snarky I’ll just be agressive, never mind the passive. At least everyone knows where they stand with me 😛
I won’t run on slick roads either – I bailed on a half this morning for several reasons, but mostly because the roads were iced over. Over 500 people ran it though so now I’m kicking myself (sometimes literally). How much of your sub-1:30 pace is natural, would you say? I know it’s a dumb question, but I can’t recall if you were always that fast, or if there has been a gradual decrease in your pace. I’m trying to find out the ‘secrets of successful sub 1:30 runners.’ Most people seem to have a background in sport from an early age though – I guess then you have a strong fitness base but also the self-discipline required to train properly and push through pain barriers. I wonder if childhood computer-gaming fatsos like me have an inherent disadvantage or if that’s just a convenient excuse for me :/
xxx
No I have not always been under 1:30 and really only have twice. I can’t tell you what made me faster those days either actually- I just felt extremely good and it’s like the stars aligned for me. My first half was 1:42, 2 years ago and I’ve been anywhere between 1:27 and 1:37 since then.
I definitely appreciate knowing I have honest people commenting on my blog posts– a lot of my real-life friends follow me and I know they’d be honest with me and say “you’re being an idiot” if I needed to hear it. I need people to keep me accountable, but I totally agree with you– there’s a way to do that without being snarky or bitchy.
I honestly don’t realize how much I take our good weather for granted until I see how often you have to run on the treadmill. I know you are probably used to it but I still think that it takes a lot of fortitude. I’m always impressed.
VA Beach has some of the most optimal weather for running. I don’t mind the treadmill, it’s a whole different mind state I think LOL.
I love the honesty in this post! As Amy said, I think it’s easy for things to be misinterpreted due online since we can’t see body language. However, we must always remember the Golden Rule. I think that has been lost, which is saddening.
I also think it’s important to do our best to not compare ourselves to others. It is so easy to do, but we have to remember that we are all unique! My fast may be someone else’s slow (just like my slow may be someone else’s fast). Yet the important thing is we are all getting out there and being active! The running community is known for being supportive – and I hope that never goes away!
And yes, I’m beyond ready for spring. The icy roads and snow can go far, far away.
So glad that you posted this, first of all great week of training, you have set yourself up for a great race this coming weekend.
Secondly, the passive aggressive bullshit is getting me all fired up lately. I know we talked about this on our run and some last night/today as well via Text. It is unnecessary and doesn’t help any of the involved parties. It doesn’t help the person you are commenting on, and being snarky and critical on peoples workouts and/or life isn’t going to make yours any better.
I think we are both so fired up and it is excellent. Ha. Exactly though on commenting on someone elses workout snarky..who is it going to help?
I love Amy’s comment on this, but then I go and write whatever I want and figure that I people don’t like it they’ll just drop off the follow list – so I guess I don’t really censor myself. I also think it’s a natural human state to be constantly in comparison mode. I know I do it. But wherever I can, I use it as inspiration. I’m not as fast as you, but I’m aiming in that direction! I love that you’re faster and have higher mileage because 1. that’s awesome and 2. it means maybe one day I can too (or not, if my body says no, but we can dream :-)).
Passive aggressive commenting is something I haven’t seen much of – or maybe I just miss the sentiment.
And good luck with the race! I hope you enjoy it; St Patty’s day here is usually gorgeous weather-wise. I hope it’s warming up a little for you.
I have always really appreciated that you’re honest in your comments. If you don’t like something someone says, there’s no point in commenting. I feel like a lot of times it’s so people will track back to their own blog. I’ve stopped commenting on some blogs not because I disagree, necessarily, but because I don’t have anything useful to add. If I can’t relate to a paleo recipe, I’m not going to talk about how amazing it looks. I know that has nothing to do with running, but I think your policy is a good one. Cyber bullying is such a big problem these days; some people take comments extremely seriously and if it is hurtful, it will send them into a tailspin.
As for your half, I’m really excited to see how you do! I am sure you will have no problem going under 1:30 and after reading your response to Jess’s comment, I’d love to hear how you got your time down from a 1:42 to a sub-1:30 since that’s kind of the direction I’m looking to head in!
It almost always is. I hate when people post and comment BS. But the other thing is, that a lot of runners are very comparative and I will post “oh great job” when in reality they are rooting for failure. Sad, yes but obvious.
I haven’t really done anything but try and run smartly. I never attempted to cut down any of my half marathon times (nor did I race a half marathon) during any college seasons. I didn’t follow a set training plan, it was just a product of continuing to run. It is just kind of something to keep me busy/motivated during the off season of college.
Hopefully the tundra starts to thaw so you can run outside some more! 😉
In real life, I can be sarcastic at times, but only around people who know me really well–and recognize the sarcasm. I definitely err on the side of caution when communicating via text, tweet, blog comment, etc. because I never know if others will know I’m kidding or being sarcastic.
It has started to thaw thank goodness. I’m a very dry sarcastic person to begin with so keep that with blogging. I don’t compare myself to other bloggers though because really…what is me comparing myself going to do? I either support you or I don’t and if I don’t…I’m not reading your blog to begin with.
You used #rage in this post. I’m in love.
That is not snarky.
I like your reference to the typical “do what’s best for YOU and your body/LISTEN to your body” advice….so freaking sick of that nonsense. Its one thing if you actually do do what’s best for you but most of the people saying that DON’T…so it’s just spouting hypocrisy. Anyways, I really appreciate how honest and genuine you are with your blog. You don’t pull any punches and you just say exactly what you’re thinking no matter what end of the spectrum its on. It’s nice to have some rawness out here in blogland. So many blogs these days just come across as overly phony and fake.
Too many are phony and take. I’ve found the majority are competive…who am I to be competitive with anyone…point blank you are either supportive or you aren’t. If you aren’t supportive don’t pretend and don’t waste your time reading and thinking of a wise ass comment LOL.
I honestly love that you’re honest in your comments. Honestly, people in my real life don’t EVER call me out on my bullshit – not my friends, not my parents even. I have no idea why, but I NEED someone to check me on that stuff. I think everyone does, really. However there’s a fine line between being real and being snarky – I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a rude comment on my blog but I’ve seen pretty rude stuff on others’ and it usually has to do with comparison and insecurity. Not attractive. And it’s especially not attractive if that’s not usually how the blogger writes or seems in real life….it just throws you for a loop like “wtf??” ah well. people will be who they will be. And you’re right, what works for you doesn’t work for everyone – like with running, someone will always be slower than you, and someone will always be faster than you. I used to compare myself to my best friend all the time and hated that she was faster than me (by like two minutes in a half marathon so not even that much), and then realized we’re just totally different runners. She’s a little faster but she can’t run more than 25-30 miles a week without getting hurt. I’m a little slower but I can put out 50-60 miles a week and can run longer. It’s not like one is better than another, we’re just different. People need to stop gettting snarky and defensive about something that’s DIFFERENT gah.
I personally haven’t come in contact with those type of comments, but I have seen them on other blogs. alot. it drives me crazy. I don’t read blogs to put myself or others down, I do it to get inspiration. I won’t be running 100 miles a week, making a new craft/outfit/house remodeling project, going on fancy trips. im just me.
seems life is too short to pick on eachother
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–I always come back to your blog not only for content but because you’re honesty and sincerity. As you said so many people comment for wrong reasons and always compare themselves. I fell victim to always comparing myself to people and it destroyed me mentally and physically.
My mileage sucks these days, my pace is slow but ya know what–I am still running. I still consider myself a runner. I still lace the shoes up. Be it 3 miles at a 10min pace. It’s miles in the bank and I’ll always take that over nothing. Off my soapbox now.
Great job running this week and taking advantage of the outside! I also agree with cdog’s comment about the weather. I don’t appreciate how I can make it outside at least on Sundays to run when you are couped up on a treadmill. Being from upsate NY I should definitely be more appreciative of the sunshine here!
As for the comparison and snarkyness I definitely think it’s unnecessary. I don’t bother comparing myself to any one but myself because frankly I run because I enjoy it, I’m not trying to beat any one : )
Well shit – now I can’t snark on here anymore… I’ll adjust! Right on though – I have been noticing a lot of what you are pointing out here.. It’s a bit frustrating! Keep on writing what needs to be said
I’m glad you have noticed too! It is certainly something that annoys me a bit!
I really like your thoughts on this matter, all of the commenting on daily mile is why I have few friends. I don’t want comparisons to what I do or what others do. I love when I get a comment from you with such encouragement because I know you mean it. It is a terrible thing with human nature that we compare ourselves and are constantly trying to best another person. I think it takes the fun out of fitness. And that’s when things get unhealthy.
Exactly and especially on sites posting workouts. I don’t know-it frustrates me more than anything and I’m positive you know exactly who I’m talking about…
I’ve seen this happen plenty of times on Daily Mile. For the most part I ignore it, but sometimes it just gets me and I can’t stand it. There’s just a bunch of unnecessary competition between fitness bloggers, I think because everyone is hoping to be sponsored. Ridiculous.