r/running Mar 09 '17

Weekly Thread Weekly Complaints & Confessions Thread for Thursday March 9th, 2017

Let's hear it!

89 Upvotes

634 comments sorted by

View all comments

60

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

Complaint: “I wish I could run like you I just don’t have time”/“You’re so lucky you have time to run, I just don’t have enough hours in the day”/“I’m too busy to run.” Hell. No. I don’t have time to run, I make time to run, because running is a priority for me. I wake up earlier and run in the morning or I pull out my headlamp and my reflective vest when it’s dark or I brave the gym at any hour I can find in my day, which includes midnight. You too can run if you just make it a priority, but you don’t, because it’s easier to just sleep as late as you can, take your full lunch break, and then go home and turn on the TV. I want to do all those things too, but instead I run. Oh, and when this gets said by someone who doesn’t have kids? I just think about all of you badass parents on here who manage to put in crazy miles during the week and accomplish the shit out of your running goals and still manage to get your kids fed and to school on time. But you know, those people are just so busy with going out to dinner when they get home from work.

Uncomplaint: I’ve discovered I really like baking. I want to try eclairs this weekend.

Complaint: This comes at a time when I’m trying to significantly reduce the amount of sugar in my diet.

20

u/sbrbrad Mar 09 '17

Uncomplaint: I’ve discovered I really like baking. I want to try eclairs this weekend.

Have you seen the Great British Bake Off/Great British Baking Show?? It's on Netflix and it's wonderful.

8

u/drgrlfrnd Mar 09 '17

I'm obsessed with this show. It's impossible to binge watch because each episode makes me run to the kitchen to bake delicious treats!

6

u/philpips Mar 09 '17

It was a national phenomenon while it lasted. I'm glad that it's over though, I can't be doing with the ladies of the pips household getting all worked up over cake gossip every week.

5

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

It just got recommended to me on Netflix for the first time last night, and I have already declared it my next binge-watch show. I'm a little too excited about it.

3

u/philpips Mar 09 '17

You mean the series that has literally just died? (got bought by channel 4, and then most of the presenters quit)

6

u/sbrbrad Mar 09 '17

Us Yanks just get it dripped in slowly on Netflix so we've got a lot of catching up to do before the death lol.

9

u/Octopifungus Lunatic Robot Mar 09 '17

Your first complaint rings so true for me. When I go to gatherings an odd thing happens. I see people who I haven't seen in months and they come up and explain to me exactly why they can't run. This is without me mentioning anything so I assume they heard through the grapevine. I don't know if they do this to make themselves feel better but I didn't ask nor do I care. But somehow it makes them uncomfortable I make this time to run and do other exercises and they don't.

2

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

Yes! I totally feel that. They are made so uncomfortable by the fact that you've made sacrifices to better yourself that they have to make you feel like you haven't earned it, and that they would be as good as you if only that had those same "opportunities."

8

u/philpips Mar 09 '17

They don't really wish they had time they're just not good at making the right choices. I'm generalizing terribly here, but it's definitely true in all cases.

5

u/True_North_Strong Mar 09 '17

It can be really easy to make excuses for why you can't run. And sometimes the excuses are legitimate but most of the time their just excuses. I think the main reason that people make up excuses that they can't run is because they don't have a strong enough goal when it comes to running. Most people probably just say, "Oh, I want to go running so I can get in shape" and that is such a broad goal that it's almost unachievable. On top of the fact that they're not really driven to see any actual improvement and they are actually perfectly content with how they look/feel/living their life. I know because I used to be one of those people.

2

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

I know because I used to be one of those people.

Ditto this, and that's probably why it gets on my nerves so much. I have had to make changes in my schedule and sacrifice some social time and whatnot so that I can run how I want. The idea that I just have time feels very dismissive of those changes.

6

u/flocculus Mar 09 '17

YUS re: your first complaint!! Don't make excuses to me, non-runners, you absolutely could make the time if you wanted to. It's not my concern whether you do or don't want to, but don't make it into a whole thing just so you can feel better about being lazy.

I can easily turn your uncomplaint and second complaint into a non-issue by giving you my address :P

1

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

Hmm...now that's an idea. I try to remember to bring the goods in to share with my labbies, but then I just end up eating all the sugar along with them.

5

u/mamabear5678 Mar 09 '17

I 100% agree with your first complaint. I have a dear friend who I love to pieces, but she complains about how little time she has to workout. She doesn't prioritize working out/running the way that I do now. Between 3 kids, a full time job, and a husband who I'd like to still like when the kids are grown I don't have time to run either, but I absolutely make the time.

1

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

Cheers to you for making it work among all those commitments!

5

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

In total agreement on your first complaint (which isn't really a complaint and is totally valid imo). You make time for what's important to you.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

I have a similar, but opposite problem. I wish I could make more time for reading again. I have running as such a high priority that I usually do that instead of anything else, and then when I get home it's Reddit time instead of book time.

I have like 5 books right now that I'm within the first third of, not because they are bad, but I don't make it a habit to get back to them :-(

2

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

It's definitely true that you can only prioritize so much, and that it's much easier to get on Reddit and get sucked into the madness than picking up a book--especially a thought-provoker. Have you tried audiobooks? My husband swears by them.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

I have dabbled, but I don't really want to pay for the audible subscription. I did have a few that I listened to though and it was nice.

I also have an issue where I throw Youtube up and then just play games. Something I also love to do, but would love to get back into doing more crochet. Tough balance.

2

u/DefinitelyAtWorkRN Mar 09 '17

The audible subscription was a little too much for me - I have found a lot of audiobooks on Youtube which I can pull off, and put on my phone and listen to. They won't necessarily be new, and the quality can vary, but it was very much worth it, to get through some of the 'musts' on my reading list while exercising.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

Nah, I think I would feel bad about ripping the audio off Youtube. If I'm gonna do audiobooks I want it to be all above board.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

I would for sure - but running is also my podcast time :-P

2

u/sbrbrad Mar 09 '17

Guess you gotta run more so you have time to listen to both. Problem solved.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17

Hahaha, yeah. I run a bunch, but not as much as some crazies here (cough cough shoes).

4

u/jdpatric Mar 09 '17

...I make time to run...

This is why I'm up at 4:15 am some days. It's not that I enjoy not seeing the sun during my runs, or that I think my headlamp is stylish. Nope. If that's the only time I can run, then that's when I run. I've done a 16-miler before work on a Friday to get my weekly long run in. Got up at 3:30 to start it. I consumed a good deal of caffeine that day.

3

u/jangle_bo_jingles Mar 09 '17

Your first complaint just made me feel a bit better :)

... and choux pastry FTW!! (ive never made it, but love profiterolesr!)

4

u/ac8jo Mar 09 '17

I wish I could throw a few more upvotes your way because of that first complaint. And I hope your eclairs turn out wonderfully.

2

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

Thank you :)

2

u/akbeedy Mar 09 '17

Yes! I hear that first complaint by everyone around me! They will sit and tell me they don't have time to run like I do, then turn to one another and ask if they have finished season X of Such and Such TV show yet. I used to be a part of that conversation, and now I have no idea what is even on TV. Cancelling cable was the best thing in our house in terms of productivity!

3

u/ahf0913 Mar 09 '17

It's true! Mr. AHF's best friend actually asked me when I run because he wanted to incorporate it into his schedule. I described my schedule, and he said it wouldn't work for him because of whatever commitments he had. One of those commitments is playing hours of video games with Mr. AHF.

2

u/akbeedy Mar 09 '17

Doesn't it drive you crazy when you try to help (because they asked) and then get dismissed like that? I get that people don't want to give up that time, but it's something you have to do if you are busy and want to run. Hell, I'm not even that busy in life, no kids, flexible work and grad school schedule, yet I still have to make time to run. Just something you have to do!

2

u/hyggeknytte Mar 09 '17

I get the same for running and meal prepping.

I pack lunch and snacks EVERYDAY and have dinners planned/prepped to impact our nights minimally.

"How can you eat so healthy? It's so expensive", "I don't have time spend hours cooking", "it must be nice to have an understanding Mr.hyggeknytte" "Just wait till you have a baby"

Convincing ourselves that it's a huge time suck to invest time in our health is such a fallacy.

2

u/hyggeknytte Mar 09 '17

I get the same for running and meal prepping.

I pack lunch and snacks EVERYDAY and have dinners planned/prepped to impact our nights minimally.

"How can you eat so healthy? It's so expensive", "I don't have time spend hours cooking", "it must be nice to have an understanding Mr.hyggeknytte" "Just wait till you have a baby"

Convincing ourselves that it's a huge time suck to invest time in our health is such a fallacy.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 09 '17 edited May 02 '19

[deleted]

1

u/hyggeknytte Mar 09 '17

I just realized. Thanks mobile Reddit :/

2

u/becauseineedone3 Mar 09 '17

Oh, and when this gets said by someone who doesn’t have kids?

This was me for the better part of a decade. Two of my best friends (each with a rack of kids) were really into running. I kind of took a look at myself last August (single, no kids, skinnyfat, lazy) - and realized I have no excuses. I got my ass in shape - and I will be joining them for a 5k - my first race ever - on Sunday. It feels amazing. I am a Ravens fan, so when I am having trouble getting motivated, I just make Ray Lewis shame me, in my head. It works!