I was speaking with a reader a while back and we were talking about bloggers and running. As you probably know, running is everywhere on the blogs and it seems like everyone is running out the door for their next 8 miler.
She was telling me that she felt a tremendous amount of pressure to not only run, but to keep increasing her mileage.
I asked her why she felt this way and she said she felt like bloggers set the bar so high. If they were running 7 miles, she felt like she had to as well.
She also saw that some were increasing their workouts more and more and she questioned whether they were doing it for the sake of training or whether it was purely because they felt pressure to do more.
She said that she was pushing herself too hard and she wasn’t happy with her workouts anymore. Each workout became more of a scheduled chore than something fun and healthy for her body. And eventually something has to give. She got quite sick because her body was begging for rest.
For me it was an injury. Sometimes the only way our bodies can get us to rest is if we incur pain and physically cannot keep the same routine. My injury was very difficult and I realized that I too, felt pressure to maintain my previous activity levels.
I actually felt so much pressure that I had to stop reading running blogs for a while. When I couldn’t exercise, it was painful for me to read about others going on long runs or hitting new PR’s for a 5k. I felt low and I had to distract myself from the desire to run.
Being injured made me realize how much pressure I actually put on myself. I wondered what my readers would find interest in without my daily workouts. This is a health blog primarily, I thought, so certainly they will find their healthy activities elsewhere.
But what it made me realize is that the pressure we sometimes feel to ‘keep up with the Jones’’ is not put on us by anyone else but ourselves.
What I realized is that no one really cared whether I was still logging my planned 6 mile run or my Tuesday speed run. From what I saw, my readers didn’t up and leave. Actually, what I noticed is that readers showed an increased interest in my experience.
Injuries happen to everyone at some point and showing that I was vulnerable too made others feel like they could relate to me. I wasn’t some superhuman that could run and run and run.
I think when we feel any sort of pressure with respect to exercise or healthy eating we need to ask ourselves why we feel this way. I think it is easy to say ‘well so-and-so runs 19 miles a week and so should I’ and that is why I feel pressure.
But I think it is deeper than that.
I always think about the saying ‘no one can make you feel inferior without your consent’.
Ultimately we chose whether we are putting pressure on ourselves or whether we feel negativity surrounding our health.
The social comparison game is a dangerous trap that we all fall into now and then.
It is important to listen to our bodies and decide for ourselves what a healthy lifestyle will be for us.
And running might never be a part of it.
What works for me or what works for someone else, may not be a good fit for your life. And that is ok.
The key is to do what you love and what makes you happy. You will know it when you find it because you will look forward to doing that activity each week!
Do you ever feel pressure when reading other blogs to maintain a certain activity level? Do you ever feel like you can’t keep up and aren’t doing enough? Why do you think this is? Or on the other hand, are you able to not feel pressure from others and decide what is right for you? Do you have any suggestions for those who are falling into the social comparison trap?
Have you ever had to re-evaluate your exercise goals in the past because of over-training, injury, or loss of motivation?
As always, I look forward to your thought provoking comments.
![Angela_Signature Angela_Signature](/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/angela-signature-thumb71.png)
I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat, and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
~Yogi Berra
PS- Sun and highs of 26C/78F today…what crazy spring weather we are having!
What a timely entry. I have really felt this lately. I’ve been trying to ramp up my running again because it does seem like everyone I know runs and runs A LOT! However, I have two small children and sometimes I get NO sleep at night and have very little time before/after work to myself. So, I need to focus on healthy eating and getting workouts in when I can. No pressure. I LOVE to run, but I start hating it when it’s a chore. I couldn’t agree with you more.
I think it’s so interesting that you’ve brought this up. I sometimes feel totally out of place being on the blogging world. Thus, I have tried to build up different blogs which don’t set their focus around food and exercise solely. That is something which I like about your blog..it’s food and exercise based, but it’s not obsessive.
have you ever read www.thepioneerwoman.com ? I am obsessed.
Michelle
I haven’t felt pressure to run more distances, but seeing others amazings PRs inspires me to be faster. I find reading blogs help me stick to my training plan as it holds myself accountable. However, I am really wary of my knee joint problems from past swimming days so I know better than to increase my mileage too much, it’s almost a good thing as it keeps me in check to be reasonable.
I am really bad about comparing myself to others. However, I tend to only be motivated by people I respect rather than feeling jealous of them. Reading about celebrity workouts does sometimes make me feel like I’m not doing enough. But, I try to stay at my own pace, set my own goals and congratulate myself for the effort I make in the gym each week. I’ve discovered that trying to be like others is the best way to lose yourself, so I just try to be my best self everyday to keep my heart, mind and spirit strong.
As much as I love reading running blogs and connecting with people who have similar interests, I do find myself getting caught up in comparisons. Since when did 5 miles become a short run? And why can’t I run first thing in the morning? Probably the hardest thing is comparing attitudes about running- for me its a struggle to get out the door everyday whereas some bloggers seem to jump out of bed and bang out 10 miles before breakfast!
At the end of the day I think it’s important that however far you run, you are doing it for yourself. If you get more happiness out of a 2 mile walk than a painful 5 mile run, then who is to say that the 5 miles is better for you? Exercise is more than just physical fitness, it’s about feeling good about yourself. Thanks for bringing me back to earth Angela ; )
YES! I sometimes feel like such a lazy butt compared to you guys! I have to be careful with my workouts because I can’t lose any weight. I am about 106 lbs. and it took me 2 years to finally gain that weight! (Celiac’s Disease caused me to suddenly drop to 79 lbs. a few years ago) Reading all of these blogs has made me want to give running a try. I love yoga and pilates, but don’t get to go to classes since I am always traveling. Exercising does make me happy though. So, I am still going to give running a show. We’ll see… I’m not going to push myself over my limit. Hopefully that limit won’t be the end of the driveway! hahaha
Awesome post Angela, so very well said!!!
I like to run but I have always said that I have no further inspirations than to run about 5K. I do 5K races for fun and that is purely it. Running is something I enjoy and when it stops becoming a joy to do then it is no longer fun for me. I experienced runner’s knee and since then I run a lot less and have started focusing more in strength training to help get myself stonger to run without injury! Running is now just part of my workouts not just the only part of my workouts!
wow this post hit the nail on the head!! i think there are alot of bloggers who run alot, which is great for them, everyone suits differnt excersise and likes doing different amounts….but it is so easy to read their blogs and feel sort of inadequate in terms of running abilities…like i started running in january, anve ive never tracked a run, but i know i usually run for 20 mins a day or 40 minutes on longer runs which ive built up slowly, and for some time there i started feeling like i waasnt doing enough and that i should be aiming for a long run, increasing every week. but then i realised and reminded myself that im in recovery from an ed, i started running to keep healthy AND because it makes me feel good as well as giving me lots of time to think and clear my head, i didnt start so i could do lots of races and complete 10-milers regurlarly or to let it become an unhealthy obsession, which can easily happen, espeically because i havent reached full recovery yet. I think we all need to realise everyone is differnt and at the end of the day, like you said, the only one who really cares about what we do and how much we do is ourselves. so why not do what WE enjoy and what works for us. theres no point making ourselves miserable over it.
great post :)
This is such a great post. There is so much pressure both as a blogger and a reader to set goals and maintain personal standards… it’s easy to blow these out of control and end up with a really warped sense of what is “healthy.” I had an injury, due to overexercising, which basically left me immobile for a few months and I couldn’t exercise at all. I was really angry and frustrated a lot, but I learned more about how to work within my body’s limits.
I’ve felt a bit of that pressure brought upon by food blogs to workout EVERYDAY. It’s not necessarily the running but moreso the pressure to discover that new, exciting workout and “tell everyone about it.” Remember when yoga got REALLY popular on the blogs? Or Shredding? Or even, completely unrelated to food or exercise, the pressure to do ‘fun stuff’ so that it can be written about on the blog. So what if we have boring days. We shouldn’t beat ourselves up about that. I know my lifestyle best, and I know what my body can take. It’s just convincing myself that it’s okay to be confident even on an ‘off’ day.
I definitely appreciate this post. I graduated from college last year, where I had developed an eating disorder. In addition to that, I definitely put a ton of pressure on myself to exercise because “everyone” that I knew at school was always at the gym, too.
Since graduating, I think that I have used food/fitness blogs to compare my healthy eating and exercise habits. I will be honest when I say that I still feel guilt when I don’t exercise and that I beat myself up over a “not healthy” eating day. Because I read numerous blogs, the little splurges and rest days that people have don’t really register because, with all of the blogs combined, someone is always busting out a killer workout or eating a huge salad. I find that I compare myself with the best of the best on any given day, which leads to impossible expectations! Whew – thanks for the reality check.
wow i’m relieved to see that i’m not the only one feeling like that. for me, when i see all the delicious food that all these bloggers are eating and the little dessert that some of them have each day, i think “well if i want to be able to eat like them and eat as much as they do, then i have to run as much as they do too.” so i have started running more and my hip hurts from it, but i keep pushing myself to increase my mileage and run more because i want to be able to eat like these girls! in the long run it’s probably not too healthy for me. and sometimes when my body is telling me to give it a rest day and then i read that a blogger ran 9 miles today, i feel so guilty and like i have to exercise because they did. i need to learn that our bodies are all different and i can’t possibly be expected to keep up the same exercise routine as anybody else.
Oh my goodness! This post made my day, it is SO true. I found myself feeling worse and worse about my running ability reading other runners blogs. What was meant to be a way to track my running journey ended up making me feel SO bad about myself. I felt/still feel like less of a runner because I can’t keep up with some of those other runners who are so speedy and never get hurt.
Actually I ran my first marathon yesterday and haven’t wanted to blog about it because I feel ashamed of my time, because it wasn’t nearly as speedy as all the other marathoner blogs I read. I realized that is ridiculous. So I’m going to post about my marathon and link to your post, because it is true and amazing. So thanks, you really lifted my spirits today.
One more thing, I spent three weeks before the maraton injured because I pushed to hard on all my runs to try and keep up with other runners!
I definitely experience this sometimes. Except for me, I can’t understand how everyone is so FAST. I will never be able to run an 8 min/mile for 10 miles. And to be honest, I’m OKAY with that. To think back to last year at this time when I couldn’t even run for 2 minutes, I am PROUD that I can run my “measly” 10 min/mile for 4 miles. The only person I have to compete with is ME.
I do feel the pressure every time I’m at the gym and want to quit after 20 minutes I think “Well ____ did this much, so the least I can do is my regular 40 minutes.” For me its a positive thing though, I dont increase, it just makes me not quit early, so I end up feeling great at the end…
This post really means a lot to me, I find myself falling into that trap far too often, especially when it comes to running. I’ve come to enjoy running and I’m so proud of myself for sticking with it long enough to do so but I do feel pressure to run more, run faster, run longer. Thank you for the fitness perspective, it’s helpful to check-in and make sure that I’m keeping active in ways that satisfy me and keep me content in body and mind. Take care! :)
I have experienced this too! Not just with exercise, but also with the way I eat. I felt like I had to make myself eat “breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner” or else I was doing it “wrong”. It became a big cause of stress and I finally realized I just needed to do what was right for me, and not pay attention to what everyone else was doing. I feel much better now :) Thanks for this post!
Great post, Angela!
I have a food and fitness blog and it used to be hard for me to see that I workout much less than some other bloggers because it’s my career! I’m more short and sweet when it comes to the gym and seeing people do 10 miles AND a full strength workout was tough.
I learned after reading for awhile that everyone is different and although I don’t necessarily put in as much time, it works for me so I’m sticking with it. Everything you said was spot on!
I find that it works both ways with me. Some days, looking at how clean others eat and their daily runs inspires me. Other days it makes me feel like crap, and all it inspires is a dive into a tub of ben and jerrys! :D