A year into this pandemic–a little over ten months from when it really hit in the US–I’m still struggling to find my voice. It’s complicated. Or maybe not. This is going to be a top of my head entry, so let it free flow.
I am beginning to think that more and more social media and its many derivations are demon-possessing the lot of us, and the issues are just compounded during this time of social isolation.
For the past decade or more I have thought, occasionally out loud, that I sure do miss the the 1980s and 1990s. From popular culture, to lifestyle, and social interaction those days seemed much better than recent years. Remember Y2K, when everyone freaked out for months that the computers would default, which turned out to be something of a joke and a hoax? Nevertheless, since then things have spiraled downward. Sure we are more connected than 25 or 30 years ago, but are also more divided. Unrecognizably so. That’s the big picture stuff, if you think about politics and our social milieu. What about running–which is the focus of this blog–are we doing any better? I’ll say yes and no.
YES WE ARE DOING BETTER
Our level of knowledge and ability to share is ahead of 25 years ago. I was in on some of the first waves of running social media. In the mid-90s we had Track and Field List Serve to for hard cores to discuss the sport and 1-800 dial-ins to catch up on the European meets. They might show Pre, Oslo, and Zurich on a weekend special but not much more than those. If you had cable Marty Liquori had his weekly show to cover some road race highlights, and you’d get the occasional network broadcast of major track meets or road races.
Otherwise, some local papers would cover some of the events and of course the running magazines like Running Times and Runners World (the latter was the butt of jokes going back to even before 1980, even though it did often have some good articles and profiles).
There was a mixed bag on training guides, Higdon was the standard for newbies and Daniels came out with his first edition in 1998. Lydiard had been out for decades, and there were many other good ones and sometimes out on a run with friends you might kick around some of the ideas from these books.
Running isn’t all that complicated and the basic theory hasn’t changed a whole lot in 50 years. However, runners have improved since then (men’s 10K record has dropped some 40 or 50 seconds, marathon by almost 5 minutes) and depth is so much greater. And a lot of that has been accomplished through tweaks in training more speed for more of the year, better understanding of biomechanics and ancillary training to be stronger and more explosive, nutrition, and of course in the past few years shoe technology. One of the biggest changes is in online media and the ability to have up-to-date information at their fingertips, and then be able to share that information instantly. So we know more and have greater ability to share, and overall that’s where the sport has improved from top elite performance down to the more grass-roots local level, including high school and college running. So kudos to everyone involved in those aspects.
NO WE ARE DOING WORSE
The Early Days
Now this is where I start to feel lost. I really think social media is messing with our heads and fucking us over. On the positive side of that at least with running we are not fighting with misinformation and division. I think the issue is more subtle but it is also isolating if not divisive, although not on a tribal level of my side vs. yours. It’s more personal and down to the individual, almost each and every one of us level. At least of those who participate and play the game.
Let me just say that I’m huge admirer of the likes of Jerry Schumacher, coach of the Bowerman Track Club, who is said to disdain social media and all of its trappings. Me? I’ve been wrapped up in forums and what not since the late 1990s.
However, back in those days we just had a few forums and there were no rules, or we made them up as we went. Participation was not high at most sites and finding your niche was not all that hard. I found the Competitive Runners Forum on Runners World online, and we soon branched off onto our own. I still on occasion run into and poster from those days. Then things got bigger and little more rough and tumble with Letsrun and CoolRunning kind of taking the lead, and you would re-invent or adapt to the new medium.
Blogs became more popular in the early 2000s, so just maybe I’m still stuck in that 1997-2006 era. We were sort of the pioneers, and this was all new. It was sort of fun days except that it took an hour download any videos and live feeds were unavailable for most of us. But we could connect and exchange ideas, both in shorthand quips or barbs on a message board or in more thoughtful long posts, sometimes rants. And blogs were for more even detailed introspections or reports.
Modern Social Media
As with our online social interactions, Facebook along with other platforms like youtube (initially slow to catch on, now the rage), Instgram, and Strava have completely transformed how we interact. We still exchange ideas and experiences, but now it’s quick little soundbytes and remarks and everyone wants to see the little red “like” buttons pop up. It goes from pros and Olympians down to your local 20 or 25 minute 5K runner, and it is more about look at me and what I did today!
I left high school behind nearly 45 years ago, and never missed it much, but the past 10 or 12 have sometimes felt like going back every time I get onto a social media site. In the running, it is becoming less about what really what you do (maybe unless it’s setting a world or national record, or qualifying for the Olympic Trials or Boston Marathon), in exchange for more about getting those likes because for maybe 30 seconds you might feel good. Social media is a perpetual popularity contest and that mindset has spilled over to online forums.
Current or ex pro runners and amateurs with some media and advertising savvy now make a living or a chunk of it by the number of followers they have and number of likes they get.
I for one don’t really want to play this game at any level–yeah it’s nice to have a handful or two friends give a thumbs up or way to go–and I do not want this to be a driving force.
A handful of my high school friends and I have been having biweekly Zoom talks since last spring–one of the best things that has happened for me in this pandemic–and one thought that with my background as a master running competitor I could create a youtube presence and have a big following and make money.
Not in my DNA. I don’t think I can do that.
I still like to write, to get some thoughts out there and to exchange ideas, but the space and platforms for that are highly limited in this era. I play the game but lightly. Likes be damned. However, the loss is that the interactivity of communication in recent decades has gone in favor of the like button.
And I don’t like it.
rrunnin234 