Are runners masochistic

gashinshotan
gashinshotan Posts: 749 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
When I'm running hills and get to an especially high incline I actually look forward to it.... why would any sane person look forward to pain?! I watched some videos of racers and marathoners - you can tell they're in pain but they center much of their lives around it..... are runners really undercover masochists?

Replies

  • ukgirly01
    ukgirly01 Posts: 523 Member
    Yes! But I still love it
  • rudegyal_b
    rudegyal_b Posts: 593 Member
    especially high incline <3
  • mimaduck83
    mimaduck83 Posts: 175 Member
    YES!! The whole pleasure/pain theory? So true.
  • mangledspoon
    mangledspoon Posts: 31 Member
    lol, I love to run but I'm an easy runner... I tend to avoid hills and don't push myself too hard. Mainly 'coz most of the time I'm recovering from an injury or building mileage back up after an injury lately!!!
  • sryan8408
    sryan8408 Posts: 244
    My friend told me about a book he read, having to do with the inside of a runner's mind, and one tip when I started running was just tell yourself that you like the pain. And before I hurt my knee, I was able to run for 20 minutes straight and that was a record for me. Running is all about the mind.
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
    yes, i love running, even the pain oof pushing through, i crave it! its probably the most dull exercise you could think of but id choose running over any class out there anyday!
  • Stripycat
    Stripycat Posts: 58 Member
    I think we must be.

    I now quite like hills, but mainly cos of the "wheeeeeeee!" feeling and the lightheaded happy rush I get when i come down them.
  • emergencytennis
    emergencytennis Posts: 864 Member
    Endorphins rule.
  • crux
    crux Posts: 454 Member
    I do get a grim thrill from hills, mind you you have to love them arround where I live or you may as well give up. But I run for the pleasure of the fresh air on my face, the freeness of it, the awesome seanary and the high of satisfaction when you are done.
  • jmvh59
    jmvh59 Posts: 97
    I'm not so sure we're all masochistic. I had barely run further than the one mile per year required by the presidential physical fitness test in school when I joined the Marine Corps. We did so much running in boot camp. I remember wishing i would just die so I would not have to go on. I hated running. At some point, it stopped bothering me.

    I wouldn't say I love running, but I definitely prefer it over every other cardiovascular exercise out there. I have become an exercise accessory minimalist of late. I intend to lose weight and get in shape without lifting a weight (other than the couple dumbbells I already own) or setting foot in a gym. There are so many great calisthenic exercises for building strength and endurance. My attitude towards weight training may change in the future, but at this point, it's just not for me.
  • gailosborne
    gailosborne Posts: 435
    I like running up hills knowing there was a time I would have struggled to walk up them. =)
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    My initial reaction to the question is No.

    I find a lot of diferent reasons to run, and sometimes I have to go over them in my mind when I'm starting a run. But the biggest is each run presents and opportunity to make myself better physicly. You need to over come a certain amount of discomfort to do that. There is discomfort, and then there is PAIN. If something is painful I don't do it, unless I have to. I don't HAVE to run.

    I run because I care enough about myself to improve myself, I don't think a masochist goes through pain to do that.
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