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My Running Pet Peeves

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Oct 4, 2022 | List, Opinion, Personal, Reflection

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

When I started thinking about my running pet peeves, my first though was: “what tin the world is a pet peeve?” Well, according to the Oxford Dictionary, it is “something that a particular person finds especially annoying.” Merriam Webster defines it as “a frequent subject of complaint.” While the term it is rooted in the XIV Century word “Peevish,” the term as we know it today originated around 1919. I haven’t finished the first paragraph and I already went on a tangent.

We all have pet peeves in our lives and running in no exception. We are all annoyed by certain behaviors by certain runners at certain times in certain situations that we happen to find particularly irritating. And, since pet peeves are by definition, individual, here are mine. Maybe we share some of them.

I am not trying to be mean or condescending here. But, since I am talking about what annoys me, please forgive my tone.

There is a reason why this is listed #1 in my list (Photo: Matheus Bertelli, Pexels)

1. Runners with loudspeakers: I don’t understand why in the age of light weight headphones, Bluetooth air pods and bone conduction headphones we must put up with runners carrying loudspeakers. How can anyone assume I want to listen to his/her music while I run? This is regardless of my liking or not of their choice of music. Do you like to run with music? Great! Keep it to yourself.

2. 5K Marathons: Marathon is a fixed distance, not a multitudinous foot race. A marathon is 42,195 meters as measured in the metric system or 26.2 miles if you prefer the imperial system. If referring to things by fractions of a unit (half marathon, quarter pounder) is appealing to you, I suggest expressing the distance as a tad above 1/9th marathon, 5/42nds of a marathon or 11.85% of a marathon. Other than that, it is just a plain and simple 5K.

3. The Full Marathon: Because of the booming popularity of the half marathon distance, talking about “the full marathon” has become a thing now. The entirety of a unit should not be preceded by the qualifying full, as it is implicit unless stated otherwise. A full marathon is just a marathon. Yes, petty, I know, but it does bug me.

4. Finish line shoppers: With your race entry you get to take part on the post-race spread as well as access to whatever the race sponsors have to offer. This doesn’t mean supermarket day. All runners that also paid and should have access to what’s offered. We’ve all seen runners with cases of hydration products, boxes of cookies and entire pizzas. Come on!!!

5. Oversharing on social media: Sure, you’re proud of your race result, or you want to receive accolades for your PR, or long run while preparing for your marathon. Yet, we don’t need to know about your half mile on the treadmill, or the two-mile brisk dog walk around your neighborhood. Unless these are true personal accomplishments, of course.

6. Running fast on recovery days: Our body doesn’t get stronger when we complete a long run, or when we nail a hard speed workout. Quite the contrary, it weakens. It is when the body repairs from that effort that it gets fitter and stronger. You won’t see the benefits of today’s hard workout for at least 14-21 days. So, make sure you recover on recovery days. Hence the name.

Is this really appropriate when you have over 40,000 runners around you?

7. Racing in bulky costumes: I dislike the clowning of the bulky costumes. As if running a marathon wasn\’t tough enough, certain runners make a mockery of it by doing this stuff. Sure, you can have fun dressed as Superman, a caveman or Pheidippides. The problem is with the bulky ones that restrict movement or view. Organizations like the London Marathon unfortunately encourage this behavior. When someone gets seriously hurt, it will stop being funny and by then, it will be too late.

8. Skipping runs because your watch ran out of battery: The watch is not the director of your running life; it is only the record keeper. The fact you missed recording one session is not going to diminish your health, your fitness returns or your ego. Hit the road and make sure you don’t run out of battery the next time.

9. Ruining other runner’s race photos: We all love race pictures, and they are ubiquitous these days. You want to look good for the photographers, and that is great. But must you go out of your way, cross the racecourse cutting runners, or jumping in between a runner and a photographer so you can have an extra pic?

10. Rude Runners: Do I need to explain?

What are your running pet peeves?

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On Running with Music

by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Jul 12, 2022 | Article, Opinion, Personal, Reflection

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

The latest issue of Runner’s World magazine (Issue 4/2022) had a special report titled “Music Makes You a Better Runner”. They ran 17 articles on the subject and, and to be honest, the whole thing was disappointing. Underwhelming. Most articles dealt with anecdotal stories on music saving runners, or helping them overcome obstacles, or getting them hooked on the sport. Sure, they are nice tales, but, for my taste, the overall report lacked substance.

The latest edition of RW has a special report on music making you a better runner. I was not impressed by it.

RW touched on building a play list, the history of music devices from the Walkman (1983) until today’s GPS watches, apps where to listen to music, podcasts and, as you may expect, a list of the best gadgets currently on the market to enhance your running-with-music experience.

In the 20 pages of their special report, they only dedicated 24 column-inches (3.5% of the space) to studies on the benefits (or lack of them) of listening to music while you run. And those mentions are buried in an article about building the right playlist.

Even though running with music is not my thing, I’ve done it at times, and I certainly am not opposed to it. What bothers me is that a magazine like Runner’s World uses 20 pages on the subject and there is not a single mention of the opposite point of view. There must be someone out there who doesn’t think running with music is the best thing since sliced bread. Based on these series of stories, the only conclusion to take is: “I better start listening to music if I want to become a better runner”, and that is categorically untrue.

With my rant over, this is my personal take on running with music:

1 – It is a personal choice: We must respect every runner’s personal decision to listen to music or not. I run how I want, and they run how they want. There is not a single right way to do it. Now, understand that purposefully impairing one of your senses because of the music could put you and others in danger, so, read #2.

2 – You are not alone out there: If you are the one running with music, it is your responsibility to realize you are not alone out there, so you must be aware of your surroundings to keep yourself and other runners safe. You shouldn’t expect the outside world to be on the lookout for you and your safety just because decided to wear headphones.

3 – Don’t miss out on a marathon start: We’ve all seen runners with bulky, noise-cancelling headphones during our races. Nowdays it is all about tiny air pods. What I can’t seem to fathom is runners missing out on the energy, the camaraderie and the experience of starting lines such as New York, Berlin, Chicago or Boston, because they are immersed in their music. Seems to me like they wish they could be alone somewhere else. I always recommend that runners absorb the experience and then, once they are in a rhythm, use music if they need it.

4 – Learn to enjoy your own company: Give running musicless a try and at least figure out if you can enjoy it. Don’t just assume it is impossible for you to run if you don’t have something blaring in your ears. Who knows, maybe you will enjoy time with yourself, with your thoughts, listening to the pounding of your shoes or just watching the time and the landscape pass by. This way, when you do listen to music, it could be even more powerful.

5 – Do not carry the phone in your hand: It is a bad habit that could lead to injury, because clutching something in your hand will mess up your arm swing, and thus, your counterbalance. Nope, Runner’s World didn’t even mention this critical issue. I recently wrote a blog post about it. You can read it by clicking here.

One more thing: If you need a song equivalent to a shot of adrenaline in your heart, I invite you to check Everdream, by Nightwish. It was my go-to song during the brief time I finished my long runs with music.

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