RESPONSE TO COMMENTS

Well, if nothing else, my last post generated some well thought out comments. Rather than reply with a long comment, I thought I’d make this into its own post.

Andrew (and Bart), good arguments. They almost sound like they came right out of a textbook. To make my arguments more valid, I suppose I could have avoided the use of “dipshits” and explained the benefits of learning to listen to your body. For t-shirt guy, I could have listed the pros (less bulky) and cons (body wastes energy trying to stay warm, etc.) of a t-shirt in those conditions. But as Duncan said, that wouldn’t have been as “fun.”

Susan, like I said, I don’t care if you carry all those devices with you. I just hate seeing a HRM or GPS take the place of listening to your body – whether you’re running 5-minute pace, 10-minute pace or coming in last at 14:16 pace.

Eric, yes I criticize fellow runners, who probably don’t blog. In the blogging community I’m talking about generating discussions, asking questions, etc. A few days ago, Duncan questioned Mike’s build-up to his next marathon and Mike took the time to explain it so we could all learn. That’s half the stuff that makes blogs interesting and I’d like to see more of it.

As far as “good job” comments being “good for everyone,” I disagree. Not every run, every workout, every race, etc is worthy of a good job. Sometimes you need to be told “That sucked. What the hell happened? How are you going to fix it?” I’ll pick on Duncan, since he started this whole thing. I don’t know him personally, but I highly doubt he wanted people to stop by after his last 2:45 and say “good job.”

Massoman and Rob, I guess a lot of it comes down to why you read someone’s blog. Are you inspired or motivated by that person? Do you like their writing style? Do you have some sort of cyberspace connection? Are you hoping to learn from their training? Do you just want to be part of some community? Maybe it’s just because they have a cute profile photo. Who knows?

I tend to agree that it’s frustrating if you’re trying to communicate with someone and you don’t get a response. I recently left a comment on a blog wondering why the guy does nearly all of his training at his goal marathon pace. I never heard back. Anyway, if you like someone’s blog that shouldn’t cause you to stop reading and “move on to someone that deserves your time.”

Rob, I’m not an expert on anything either, especially running – but I like to discuss it. The Blogging community is interesting. As I said, we can all learn from one another. For example, I highly doubt I’d be running my current mileage if it weren’t for guys like Mike, Duncan, Eric, Andrew, etc. Reading how people you “know” actually feel during the process has helped tremendously.

Dallen and Eric probably hit the nail on the head; “a nice guy trying to be mean – who probably couldn’t keep it up if he wanted to.”

Yvonne, GERONIMO!!! Good advice though. In the end, that’s all we can be.

Bear, that’s for the support. I think the nerve had more to do with criticizing in-general, rather than criticizing gadget-wearing-weekend-warriors; taking the easy shots at people that I know nothing about, etc.

As for your other questions, that’s just the kind of criticism we don’t want around here. Just kidding – I couldn’t resist. Rather than interrupt the flow of this incredibly educational post regarding Blogging PC, I’ll answer your questions in another post.