look i didn't/don't expect a shoutout, but if you're going to give shoutouts to people who "doubled" both races, give me one perhaps.. since I literally tried to win both, and almost got it done. I mean these guys walked both races, props to them, I respect it and i'm happy for them. But I also risked injury to try and win both races. I pushed myself through some hell in the 2nd race to get that #2 spot.
stuff like this always happens with me in life.. i mean idgaf but, it's not like I don't notice. I didn't expect them to give a shoutout to anyone.. but once I saw it, it bothered me a little, not going to lie.
not sure if normal but, things like this stick in my mind .. and I remember them when i'm training/working towards something. I take little "slights", even if not intended, and I use them to grind harder. Always been something i've harnessed towards trying to work harder. I experienced alot of stuff like this growing up, with basketball, with dunking, with boxing, with computers. I've had several with racing so far & in the running community.
One example of a running community slight that i always remember is: everyone around me is in this "secret running group", i'm busting my ass, no invite. A year later or so, I get an invite. It's cool that I finally got an invite but, it's not like I didn't notice that people I had been training with, beating in races, etc etc, never mentioned it or invited me to it.
Whatever that "mental tick is" that I have, it's probably a good one in the context of pushing yourself to your limits.
Also FWIW, I try to get that stuff out of my head.. it just pops in randomly when i'm training etc, and helps me focus harder. It's not like I actively want to dwell on these things or go out and train angry, like I did with dunking. Man I had a ton of anger when I dunked, mostly due to the situation I was in with my grandpa. But the "haters" on yt/forums/inet etc definitely added more fuel to it. I'm pretty sure that's very obvious, given some of the videos I made. I try hard not to let any of that sink in with running.
But I guess when it comes down to it, I have some "scarring". With basketball, I had that piece of shit coach who told me straight up "we don't play black ball here". Took all of my hard work over many years, and just trashed it. With boxing, I had that gold medalist tell me "you have no heart" when I was in there sparring his pros who outweighed me by 20-30 lb with a fucked up hand (he didn't know it). Dude wouldn't even corner me and I started from 0, in one of his noob boxing classes, ended up sparring hard with his fighters and misc ATT fighters during afternoon sessions - so from 0 to that, no respect. With dunking I had a million haters, meanwhile there's guys out there doing similar stuff now on 9'9 rims getting mad love.
Maybe I just rub some people the wrong way.. I've always felt that to be the case. I'm usually driven and don't join any cliques, and don't conform too easily.
Anyway. I've never been an approval seeker. But I do notice when people ignore my hard work, which seems to happen alot.
Maybe people can just tell i'm a "threat"? I'm pretty friendly/supportive, but in competition *I* want to win.
I really want to dominate the racing scene down here. Need to stay healthy, stay focused, and get it done. I'll take the W's over recognition/shoutouts any day.
This is where my squad is.
pc
This is one of the most pertinent messages in your thread and it's all about jealousy. From them that is. People are quick to celebrate mediocrity. Quick to give the fatty a high five for "trying" while ignoring the competitive guy who puts in the serious work behind the scenes. People are fucked up and it's a mentality I hate. I love seeing people succeed whether they're just getting started or are 20 years in but give credit where credits due.
Yea it could be related to jealousy. There's some other things going on as well though. In the end, I think it all comes down to people's true intentions. If people do weird stuff, to me it means they have ulterior motives, whether they know it or not. They just aren't genuine, and eventually something triggers their disingenuousness, causing a disconnect.
One recent example I can think of, is someone I trained with when trying to get to sub5 in late November/December. We did several track sessions, talked alot on strava/FB/txt message etc. Then we did a few races. I hit sub5, he didn't. Dude basically ignored me after that. LMFAO. That's a weird one to me. I continued to be supportive for a quite while but dude just ignored all of it. lol. Another guy did that to me as well, also related to sub5. Very similar actually. But he's also a Trumper & i've made some "rude" trump comments, so I figured it was just related to that.
Also, the more competitive you are the less people like you in this scenario because "man I'm just a runner and it's just me against me you know" which is complete bullshit when it comes to any competitive event.
Some people really have that mentality, others use it as an excuse.
Also, I think some people spread that mentality, they are like evangelist PR people. It's all about PR'n, that's it! They really preach it. Shame on anyone who "races", goes out harder than they are "capable of". You can't "PR" like that, you're weird!
I think some of the "celebrating mediocrity" mentality is just one way people build bigger social circles. Easy to build a bigger circle if it's centered around "mediocrity". Probably not much success with "outliers", ie people who are more dedicated etc. Probably lots of good sociology/psychology related to that. One running group, no one from it ever talks to me. I used to train with them too, most of them don't even know it. Bought one of their group jerseys and did a few races with it. The organizer and most of the people involved have absolutely no idea I was ever involved. That was me "attempting" to fit in.. I tried. LMFAO.
But also ya, specific to that photo I linked.. Those guys don't look very dedicated to their health. Who knows, maybe they are, no idea, but I mean - I wouldn't bet on it. Maybe this is a turning point, if so, nice. If it's just some random "double" walked 5k, ie one every year, then this is probably a perfect example of the mentality you absolutely hate. HEH. In the end, it could motivate more people to get in better shape, especially people in "similar form". They should just be fair with it. I'd like to know how many more people doubled.. ie, was it just me & them? were their more? drop some stats. drop some more info. Apparently doubling is "cool" & should be "celebrated", according to that photo, so cover the spectrum, not just one end of it. Lame imho.
I love training by myself and seem to give off a don't come near me vibe when training but my wife cops this a lot. She's not as competitive as me but is far better than a lot of the people in the running/triathlon groups and they're always out there celebrating the people who did a 45min park run and forgetting about those who have busted themselves to really improve. It's the worst mentality.
I'm kinda the opposite, i'm very approachable when training (it seems). Unless i'm squatting with a knife/machete, hah. People have approached me many times, asking me what I do etc, in the end they most often don't like my answers because I usually try to stress how hard you have to push yourself, and even then, you're just getting started. lol.
it is a little odd tho. in the same respect, I have seen "fast" people completely ignore those busting their ass who aren't "fast", or as fast as them.
I personally think both ends of the spectrum suck.
I'm with you, I support people who work hard. I also support people who don't work as hard but, it's a different level of support. For those who are very dedicated, I don't look at simply the results or numbers, I look at how much effort they put into it. That's the real measurement to me. People don't have the same base to build upon, maybe even "talent", or work/life/family balance, etc. If someone works consistently hard with great passion for their goals, I love it.
Even if people take things less seriously, it's nice to be supportive. But, it's definitely a different level of support, and it should be stated when people cross that line, ie when people talk "shit" about elites. It's one of my "pet peeves", non-elites talking shit about elites. ie, someone discrediting someone like Galen Rupp, Mo Farah, or LEBRON etc. People have done it in person and I can get pretty aggressive with my rebuttals. I respect everyone, but sometimes you just need to let people know they haven't worked even 1% as hard as an elite athlete, and that disrespecting their hard work makes them look like a clown. :d
I think you'd really enjoy this podcast. It's Mark Twight (ex Gym Jones fame) and the early eps (3-8) are solid and cover a lot of ground that is especially relevant. Especially attitudes like "be nice in person and eat their souls during competition" which I find is the best kind of attitude. There's a great story from Michael Blevins who won a triathlon off a can of monster after driving half the night to get there. There is a deeper lesson in that story but it's pure gold anyway.
that's a solid quote hah. I think we can be genuinely nice in person, and even in competition (sportsmanship), but still ruthless about winning/getting to the top.
Also, as far as "it's just me vs me", it's so obvious that isn't the case, especially considering how happy people get when they place top3 in their age group, or even overall. If it truly was me vs me, top3 OA/AG wouldn't matter, but it does. :d
ok typed alot, dont even know what I typed anymore, so posting! jaja.
pc!!!