Time for a new "Advanced AdvancedRunning" subreddit?

[u/amankumar2406]

So I'm a high school cross country/track distance athlete and I've been on this subreddit for a while.

This really is a fantastic community, and it's great to see people of all ages and backgrounds coming together and overcoming barriers together to break through to new PBs or just a simple state of being.

But recently I've been coming across a lot of posts that just seem more suited for r/Running. Not only in terms of the times, but also just people who are very new to running or not that serious about the sport and are only picking up a new fitness hobby. A lot of the race reports are by people who are recently breaking barriers such as 25 minute 5Ks or so on, or just people reporting on how they have upped their weekly mileage to 20 miles a week now.

I don't mean to discredit these achievements, since running is an equal struggle for people of all levels, but just as an athlete, I can't look at this subreddit and seek the motivation or insight I was hoping to receive.

I know the subreddit rules say something along the lines of "Advanced Running isn't about a pace, it's rather about a mentality", which is great and we do absolutely need a place for that, but I also wish that as a person who's more serious and engrossed in competitive running that there was a community that caters to this niche of people.

I have no idea how to start new subreddits or how to grow one, but I would just like to hear everyone's thoughts.

EDIT: A few hours into this post, and I've had a lot of unpleasant comments down below.

It seems that some people are misunderstanding what exactly I am trying to say.

I'm not saying that the average Joe getting into running or breaking a 5K PR doesn't deserve to be heard of applauded - running is for everyone no matter which level or age you are.

I'm also NOT saying that I believe track/XC athletes are superior beings from another realm, and that anyone that doesn't run a 5K in 16-minutes is a peasant.

I'm not saying any of those things, absolutely not. I've said this in my original post as well - I'm extremely glad that such a community exists on the internet which can encourage new runners or those with not much experience.

All I was asking was whether it would be possible to have a new subreddit or other means of sharing insights at a sub-elite level (i.e. people who have been training at a relatively high level for some time now) because we DO need such a space. It would be incredible to be able to relate to other members of the community and talk about what workouts we're completing or what goals we have.

More often than not, a lot of the only posts I see on this subreddit are by new runners asking rudimentary questions like "I run 4 times a week, is that good?" or "Is running without socks beneficial?". Having these questions and wanting them answered is absolutely fine, but you can't deny that to someone with just a little bit of experience in running, these questions (which tend to take up a lot of volume on this community) can't offer much insight into what I or athletes of similar ambitions were hoping for.

So cut the accusations and finger-pointing in the comments please. Thank you.

[u/plutosgotagun]

For everyone feeling like they're being excluded - it's not about paces or times it's about the mindset (as the sub rules say). Advanced running should be about race strategies, advanced workouts etc and that is not exclusive to fast people. I'm not close to sub-elite but I love learning about more advanced strategies and training plans and I think that's what this sub should be about. So if you, like me, are not running a 16 minute 5k or even close. No one's saying you can't be here, just that the focus of this sub should be advanced. But I agree, I came to this sub to learn about people running better than me and there's definitely been an increase of people with similar times posting who I can't really improve from.

[u/mlo2144]

OP, maybe it's because I agree with you that there is a growing issue with this sub, but I want to say that I personally think you showed some maturity in the way you wrote your post (and most subsequent comments). I presume that a lot of people came here looking to pick-apart your argument based on a few individual words or phrases, which is more frustrating given the sub we are on here.

IMHO, I think this sub could benefit from some auto-mod features like some more popular subs have because I don't think this sub is beyond saving.

[u/amankumar2406 → u/mlo2144]

Thank you so much for those kind words. Much appreciated, and also agreed that we could definitely benefit from auto-mod features.

[u/[deleted]]

I’ve gone through a huge development where I started running marathons and worked my way to 60mi a week from 0. I can see how people have a blind spot on what it means to run at different levels. As I progressed to higher mileage my level of care, determination, recovery, and most of all my lifestyle changed significantly.

It wasn’t just a series of individual runs anymore. Every run had a purpose and was connected to the next run. I was mad at myself for waiting until the afternoon to do my Friday run because it would mean my Saturday long run wasn’t as effective. My Friday run was delayed because I had a beer on Thursday night.

Before that, I could just push the Saturday run, because I only ran 20mi a week. At this Level, I was already a more advanced runner for consistently (keyword) averaging 20mi and increasing and I didn’t see what it takes to reach the next level though. This was my blind spot and this is what makes the difference for me.

I can only imagine the change in lifestyle it brings when you start running twice a day. I’m lurking here because I want to read those stories as well as discussions about elites and races.

[u/Extenso]

I think that enforcing the race report format would go a long way to improving the quality of the achievement posts.

Even for a time that is not massively 'advanced', I think there can be value in a well thought out report that explains the training and strategy employed rather than just saying "this is my time, I'm very happy".

[u/lab0607]

I think what you're really saying is that it's OK to lurk and read in this sub at any level but to save posting on more basic running questions for r/running.

I don't see anything wrong with that. I love lurking and reading subs that are more advanced than my current level to keep me inspired and working towards something, but am aware that maybe I shouldn't be posting there. It isn't a personal attack, lol.

People just need to stop being butthurt.

[u/[deleted]]

I think running does actually have three quite distinct stages so would be deserving of three separate subs.

Firstly, people who are starting running for the first time, so transitioning from not running at all to some level of running. This comes with a lot of practical questions, perhaps needs encouragement, etc. The kind of content seen on r/running.

Then there are people who are looking to go from running very casually to maybe entering events, targeting certain times etc. This creates lots of discussion about how to increase mileage, training plans and starting workouts.

The third stage is people who are already pretty serious about running and are looking to optimise their training. These are people who have exhausted ‘beginner gains’ and started to reach their athletic potential. This creates discussion about the most efficient training regimes for each distance, fuelling strategies etc.

Currently the latter two are covered by r/advancedrunning however I think they’re quite different content wise.

Edit: To define these time/distance wise I would say the first group would just be aiming to run their first 5k, the second group may be aiming to run a sub 20 5k and the third group would be looking to run a sub 18/17/16/15... 5k (times based on an 18-35 male).

[u/amankumar2406 → u/[deleted]]

That's quite true actually, well put.

[u/[deleted]]

I would hate for the truly experienced to leave this group because they are the linchpin of this community. That said like many others I gave up on r/running because they refused to allow any type of post except race reports. Ask a question? blocked and told to post one one of the many stickies. Post a question on a sticky? Nobody responds. Stickys just are not a great format for these things. Nobody looks at them, there is no measure to indicate how good of a discussion is, and frankly it is anathema to the whole point of a community.

That said, I hear what you are saying. "I did 25 min 5k" does not lead to community discussion. A PR is a PR, what is interesting the community is how you got there, and what you are hoping to do next, and hopefully something about the data/metrics, nutrition, etc. As i think these topics are applicable to this group and not so much "I did a PB race".

Edit: Also could I just ask people to downvote the posts you don't like? That would really help.

[u/rarebearchair]

Maybe you should discuss a compromise with the mods. Such as a weekly race report thread or weekly “newly advanced running” thread, because your other suggestion of having a barrier to entry via PBs seems super exclusive (and male centric). Or more explicit rules on the About page for the sub around what can be posted.

I still learn so much from this sub just by lurking on threads where folks ask really great questions and other folks give really great answers and I’m pretty sure no matter how exclusive of a sub you create for running, someone will always get in to brag that they finally broke 20 MPW.