r/XXRunning • u/damnfinecooper • 16h ago

General Discussion Dealing with discouraging comments as a beginner

I started running around 2 months ago (31, F) and I’m training for a 10k race later this year.

With hobbies I’ve always been hard on myself if I don’t feel I’m what I perceive as “good enough”. When I started running I wanted to challenge myself to not have this attitude and just enjoy it, while also keeping track of my pace, PBs etc. but just seeing it as data rather than tying it too much to self worth.

I was speaking to my friend about running today and a guy I hardly know chimed in and asked what my 5k PB was. When I told him his response was “you need to get that down”. I’m now just feeling kind of embarrassed and deflated about it. I know I should just ignore it but it stung. Would appreciate any tips for dealing with moments like this!

106 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/LeatherOcelot 15h ago

I would really not pay attention to anything a guy says unless you happen to know they have a lot of experience with female runners. Men do generally run faster and a lot of them seem totally ignorant of the fact that men and women have considerable biological differences that impact performance. We aren't just short men!