Friday, September 12, 2025

The Runner's Commandments

 I found this on My First 5k and More... one of the new blogs I've been reading.  Darlene posted this in 2011 and I thought it was interesting. Some guy name Joe Kelly wrote them.  I don't know who he is, I googled the name and a baseball player popped up.  

The Runner's Commandments

1. Don’t be a whiner. Nobody likes a whiner, not even other whiners.

2. Walking out the door is often the toughest part of a run.

3. Don’t make running your life. Make it part of your life.

4. During group training runs, don’t let anyone run alone.

5. Keep promises, especially ones made to yourself.

6. When doing group runs, start on time no matter who’s missing.

7. The faster you are the less you should talk about your times.

8. Keep a quarter in your pocket. One day you’ll need to call for a ride. (I don't think this applies much anymore, I think most people run with their phones, and there are no payphones anywhere that I've seen.)

9. Don’t compare yourself to other runners.

10. All runners are equal, some are just faster than others.

11. Keep in mind that the later in the day it gets, the more likely it is that you won’t run.

12. For a change of pace, get driven out and then run back.

13. If it was easy, everybody would be a runner.

14. When standing in starting lines, remind yourself how fortunate you are to be there.

15. Getting out of shape is much easier than getting into shape.

16. A bad day of running still beats a good day at work.

17. Talk like a runner. “Singlets” are worn on warm days. “Tank tops” are worn to the beach.

18. Don’t talk about your running injuries. People don’t want to hear about your sore knee or black toe.

19. Don’t always run alone.

20. Don’t always run with people.

21. Approach running as if the quality of your life depended on it.

22. No matter how slow you run it is still faster than someone sitting on a couch.

23. Keep in mind that the harder you run during training, the luckier you’ll get during racing.

24. Races aren’t just for those who can run fast.

25. There are no shortcuts to running excellence.

26. The best runs sometimes come on days when you didn’t feel like running.

27. Be modest after a race, especially if you have reason to brag.

28. If you say, “Let’s run this race together,” then you must stay with that person no matter how slow.

29. Think twice before agreeing to run with someone during a race.

30. There is nothing boring about running. There are, however, boring people who run.

31. Look at hills as opportunities to pass people.

32. Distance running is like cod liver oil. At first it makes you feel awful, then it makes you feel better.

33. Never throw away the instructions to your running watch.

34. Don’t try to outrun dogs.

35. Don’t trust runners who show up at races claiming to be tired, out of share, or not feeling well.

36. Don’t wait for perfect weather. If you do, you won’t run very often.

37. When tempted to stop being a runner, make a list of the reasons you started.

38. Never run alongside very old or very young racers. They get all of the applause.

39. Without goals, training has no purpose.

40. During training runs, let the slowest runner in the group set the pace.

41. The first year in a new age group offers the best opportunity for trophies.

42. Go for broke, but be prepared to be broken.

43. Spend more time running on the roads than sitting on the couch.

44. Make progress in your training, but progress at your own rate.

45. “Winning” means different things to different people.

46. Unless you make your living as a runner, don’t take running too seriously.

47. Runners who never fail are runners who never try anything great.

48. Never tell a runner that he or she doesn’t look good in tights.

49. Never confuse the Ben-Gay tube with the toothpaste tube.

50. Never apologize for doing the best you can.

51. Preventing running injuries is easier than curing them.

52. Running is simple. Don’t make it complicated.

53. Running is always enjoyable. Sometimes, though, the joy doesn’t come until the end of the run.

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

An old truck, rubbed raw, and just plain lazy.

After finding a few new blogs to get me motivated to run, I have been running more often, not more miles.  I only ran 22 miles in August, but that was after about 10 days off during and just after my vacation.  I was going to run on Saturday and Sunday this last weekend, but I didn't.  That would have put me at 27 miles for the month.  

Sunday I was just lazy.  I did nothing.  I think I only got about 2500 steps on my Garmin, that's how lazy I was.  

On Saturday my sister, Nancy, came over.  She also brought a friend who is restoring my family's 1920s Ford Model A (he owns it now).  However, he is about to move and needs someone to store it for him for awhile, Nancy volunteered my garage.  It is running and really cool, so Nancy and I got to go for a drive in it.




After the guy left, and the truck was stored, we went for lunch and then a walk . . . a really long walk.  We went out to do 3 miles.  I thought one of the routes I recently found was only 3 miles, so we went that way.  I forgot that I turn off my Garmin and walk the rest of the way and our walk ended up being about 3.75 miles.  It was long and I definitely didn't wear the right clothes, I had a rub on my inner thigh from the jeans shorts I wore.  Oops. Plus, because we didn't realize how long we'd be, we almost missed our pedicure appt. We walked for just over an hour, which is pretty good time, about 16 and a 1/2 min/mile pace.

After that I didn't feel like running but told myself it was a long weekend, so I'd just run Sunday and Monday.  And then did nothing, literally nothing, on Sunday.  Monday dawned and I still didn't go run.  I decided that I was going to watch an episode of Bachelor in Paradise. (I don't actually like The Bachelor(ette), but I do like the Paradise version . . . or did until this year, it's terrible this year.)  Anyway, I decided if I was going to watch bad TV I should do it while riding my stationary bike.  So,an hour and 20 min later, I had ridden 18 miles.  It was not a vigorous ride, simply a "move your body instead of rot on the couch" ride.

I did run 2 miles today.  I've been telling myself to just go for 2 miles and that's it, it's really the only way I've been able to get out of my house and off my butt.

The Runner's Commandments

 I found this on My First 5k and More...  one of the new blogs I've been reading.  Darlene posted this in 2011 and I thought it was inte...