It's time for another "Fast Friday" and for Number 10, today I have something a little different.
I'm seeing a lot of people posting this week in the lead up for a few big events. I know there is more but in my world The Chicago Marathon, The Ironman World Championships in Hawaii and the next attempt to break 2 hours in the marathon, are all lining up to take place this weekend. I've actually tried to get to the Ironman World Champs as an age grouper a few times and never made it, so this time of year brings with it a little bit of FOMO(fear of missing out).
The thing you need to understand though is that Running FOMO is a process, which usually includes 5 stages:
Denial. This is the first step in Running FOMO. "They're probably not actually having that much fun racing on a tropical Island?"
The Stalk. The second step shows you exactly what you're missing out on. You trawl through Instagram, Facebook, etc, desperately trying to find more pictures of exactly whats going on. Trying to find some way to still be involved.
Paranoia. This is where you start to convince yourself you're wasting time not running or racing, or experiencing something as awesome as what your friends are.
Anger. "Why is it so difficult to qualify for the race. Why is is so far away...Maybe if you had have training harder, you'd also be racing."
Acceptance> And then you get to the final stage. There is nothing you can do about it, so you might as well find out how to stream the event and relax.
Running FOMO is not really going to be a productive way for you to spend your time and will most likely not help you become a better running. In my opinion there are probably two positive ways to deal with your Running FOMO:
About the Author
Hey I'm Vince, an Aussie living in New Zealand, trying my best to make the most of the time I have. I work as a Software Engineer but love to run and all aspects of it, including geeking out on the latest science to help get the most out of my body.
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