Today, I would like to discuss a disease I have developed over the course of the last five years: Runner’s Jealousy.
I’m not talking about the running comparison trap, where I want to be super fast and run a million races like some crazy people out there. It’s more of a…you’re running; therefore, I should be running too sort of thing. Basically, anytime I see someone running–and I am not–I am overcome with jealousy. Why? Because running always seems like a good idea when I’m not doing it.
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Runner’s Jealousy hits me in the following instances:
- I see people running outside and whatever I’m doing at the moment automatically sucks in comparison.
- I hear someone is signing up for a race and immediately want to sign up too—sorry, Matt.
- Someone tells me they went for a run, and I wish I had gone for a run as well.
I guess you could say I have a problem. 1. I’m a creeper who stares at runners passing by and 2. I can’t let people do races without me. It sounds like I’m obsessed with running, but believe me, I’m not. Way more often than I’d like to admit, I don’t like running—I mean..hello? I’m lazy. Seeing other people doing it, however, makes it 10x more appealing.
Perhaps I should turn my creepy Runner’s Jealousy into some sort of motivation? Aka I should hang out near a common running path or something—that way I’ll want to run all the time. Seems like a good idea to me.
Do you suffer from Runner’s Jealousy? Am I crazy here?
You’re not crazy. I get runner’s jealousy once in a while. I tend it get when I haven’t had good runs lately and then see someone cruising on a run. All runners are different and I just try to focus on what I’m doing.
Good thoughts and thanks for sharing.
Glad I’m not the only one then!
Yeah, you’re definitely not the only one. After I hear “in shape” people telling me about their recent workouts, I immediately want to leave their presence and go do a hard core workout. It’s not necessarily running jealousy, although I do like the idea of running. haha.
Haha yes, the “idea” of running. That’s a good way to put it.