RE: The 8 People Who Will Ruin Your Attempt to Lose Weight

I love Cracked.com. Obsessed is more like it. Ever since my best friend sent me a link to a random article, I've spent many nights wasting time reading through as many articles as I can. It's probably my favorite way to spend the time on the internet (and by spend the time, I mean waste time).

So today I read an article called "The 8 People Who Will Ruin Your Attempt To Lose Weight," and it really had me thinking about running, and how everything written there (save #1) can apply to people who are just starting to pick up running, or who have been runners for a long time. Go check out the article (but I warn you, you WILL get addicted to the website) and then read what I think about each point. Number one was kind of a joke post on Cracked, so I'll leave that off of here (which explains why the numbering is off.) Consider these "The 7 People Who Will Make Your Running Life Hell."

#8 - People who think they are doctors
This one absolutely applies to me, especially since I've been dealing with a knee injury for the past few months. My parents, bless their hearts, are kind of paranoid that I'm going to blow out my knee if I keep running on it. So now every time I go for a run, it's "you know, running causes knee damage. Stay in." Or as my dad said when I told him I had developed tendinitis, "My buddy at work says that you should only do 10% more a week. Did you know that?" Only a handful of times have I heard them ask, "Well what did your physical therapist say to do?" People who think they are doctors will tell you any kind of running advice they can remember, even if they haven't run a mile since High School.

#7 - People who are cartoonlishly supportive about body image
This point typically comes about when you announce to your family that you are starting a running regimen. I told my parents that I was going to start running, and I was immediately met with, "Why? You aren't fat." I've never been fat, and the decision to start running had more to do with the fact that I wanted to improve my overall health (and get a shiny finisher's medal!) than anything else.

#6 - People who take food too personally
This is exactly as it's posted on the Cracked site. Runners tend to try to eat healthy, since nothing could sabotage your race time like fuel of pizza and ice cream. At my previous job, the section next to mine would have ice cream cake for every birthday/anniversary in the section. In 3 months, I had more than 7 cake offers. I was half marathon training at the time, but all that food didn't help.

#5 - People who never think it's good enough
This point is the number one point that I think any runner experiences when it comes to other people. Case in point: When I started running, I went to my college gym, got on the treadmill, and ran for as long as I could. I was logging anywhere from 15-25 miles a week, and ran a half marathon a few months later. My time was slow, but it was as fast as I could go. In the 3 half marathons since, I've always gone as fast as I could go. When I told my friends and dad the time, their reaction was the same. "That's a long time to be out running. Don't you need to run under an hour and a half to be competitive?" I'm not running to win the NYC Marathon - breaking 2 hours in a half marathon would be a dream come true. When people judge you solely on your times, not your effort, all the fun gets sucked out of running.

#4 - Overly spontaneous people
When you're training for a race, especially something like a half marathon or a marathon, these people will ruin you. I know you shouldn't make training your entire life, but there is a certain amount of discipline you should have to complete all your long training runs. My friend decided to throw a party at the spur of the moment....the night before my half marathon.

#3 - Family members who are not on a diet
Race training is a team effort, especially if you live with someone. It's difficult to devote so much of your time and effort to train for something if you don't have the full support of the people you live with. Replace "diet" in this sentence with "training program" and you see where the issues can lie. Family members who hassle you about spending a long time out on runs can completely derail all your effort.

#2 - People who make fun of your stupid exercise routine
Running makes you look awesome. For all the mental and physical benefit running gives you, weight loss and toned muscles are just another benefit. Of course, getting to that point makes you look a little...stupid. Don't believe me? Check out some of the things that are for sale in your local running store. On a trip to Boston, I packed my fuel belt, hat and leggings, since we were going in the dead of winter. My friends saw me dressed up to go running and nearly died laughing.

So there you have it. The 7 People Who Will Make Your Running Life Hell. What do you think? Is there another kind of person who could dash your running hopes?