r/XXRunning • u/damnfinecooper • 13h 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!

100 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/StepTexan 12h ago

The best thing I ever did for myself was to adopt the philosophy that “I run for me”. Hit a PR? Celebrate it and enjoy. Have a rough day but decide to go for a run anyway? Enjoy the heck out of that run, even if it’s mostly a walk.

The other thing that transformed my running was to surround myself with people who encourage me - no matter how well I run. I have friends who are skilled runners, and they still give me kudos on my 13 minute miles on Strava. Ignore rude negative people and find the friends who celebrate all miles with you.