5 Things No One Tells You About Running
Not initially, at least. Here are a few things I've discovered in my many years of running.
1. Technical clothing stinks. Yes, it wicks away moisture better than cotton and it generally makes you look more slim, but synthetic fibers hold in smells. They also don’t respond well to regular detergent. If you don’t wash your running clothes quickly, with special cleansers and often, the smell sets in and is “reactivated” next time you sweat.
2. Headphones are uncool in races. The USATF has relaxed its headphone ban in most of its sanctioned races, leaving it at the race director’s discretion unless it’s a championship race. The same safety issues remain, but enforcement proved too difficult so now we usually are free to move to music. However, the earlier ruling and vocal opposition and non-compliance from primarily mid-pack and back-of-the-pack runners created a division within race ranks. Fair or not, there’s an unspoken perception that frontrunners don’t need the assistance for motivation, only those who aren't as serious about running do. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
3. If you pace without paying, you are a bandit. Many of us station ourselves at key points of a long road race to help pace a friend or just lend moral support in the last few miles of a marathon. I’m talking about popular road races here. Ultras, particularly ones held in wildnerness, are a different animal. But unless you are wearing a number, you are an “undocumented runner” and using services that others must pay for. You also put the entire race in jeopardy if enough of you are on the course and authorities suspect the race exceeded its permit number.
4. You don’t have to qualify to run Boston. Each year the B.A.A. gives free marathon running bibs to New England track and running clubs in good standing. These organizations then reward volunteers, slower club members, sponsors, etc., with an opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. Another workaround is to run for charity. There also is a back-of-the-pack contingency of bona fide bandits who run in protest annually against B.A.A. rules. Many of these folks are fast and would easily qualify.
5. You might gain weight training for a marathon. Many people who had been losing weight find they hit a plateau, and others notice the number goes up once they are in the throes of marathon training. Yes, some of it is muscle mass, but some of it is also extra weight because you eat more when you run more. Your body seems to always be hungry and satiating that craving can be more easily justified: You’ll burn it off later. Also, your performance will suffer if you do not have the proper balance of carbs and proteins in your system before and after a long run. So restricting calories as you did before you decided to do a marathon may not work to your advantage here.
1. Technical clothing stinks. Yes, it wicks away moisture better than cotton and it generally makes you look more slim, but synthetic fibers hold in smells. They also don’t respond well to regular detergent. If you don’t wash your running clothes quickly, with special cleansers and often, the smell sets in and is “reactivated” next time you sweat.
2. Headphones are uncool in races. The USATF has relaxed its headphone ban in most of its sanctioned races, leaving it at the race director’s discretion unless it’s a championship race. The same safety issues remain, but enforcement proved too difficult so now we usually are free to move to music. However, the earlier ruling and vocal opposition and non-compliance from primarily mid-pack and back-of-the-pack runners created a division within race ranks. Fair or not, there’s an unspoken perception that frontrunners don’t need the assistance for motivation, only those who aren't as serious about running do. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)
3. If you pace without paying, you are a bandit. Many of us station ourselves at key points of a long road race to help pace a friend or just lend moral support in the last few miles of a marathon. I’m talking about popular road races here. Ultras, particularly ones held in wildnerness, are a different animal. But unless you are wearing a number, you are an “undocumented runner” and using services that others must pay for. You also put the entire race in jeopardy if enough of you are on the course and authorities suspect the race exceeded its permit number.
4. You don’t have to qualify to run Boston. Each year the B.A.A. gives free marathon running bibs to New England track and running clubs in good standing. These organizations then reward volunteers, slower club members, sponsors, etc., with an opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. Another workaround is to run for charity. There also is a back-of-the-pack contingency of bona fide bandits who run in protest annually against B.A.A. rules. Many of these folks are fast and would easily qualify.
5. You might gain weight training for a marathon. Many people who had been losing weight find they hit a plateau, and others notice the number goes up once they are in the throes of marathon training. Yes, some of it is muscle mass, but some of it is also extra weight because you eat more when you run more. Your body seems to always be hungry and satiating that craving can be more easily justified: You’ll burn it off later. Also, your performance will suffer if you do not have the proper balance of carbs and proteins in your system before and after a long run. So restricting calories as you did before you decided to do a marathon may not work to your advantage here.
