Improving your Running Experience via Social Media – Proceed at your own Risk!

A number of years ago I was pursuing my MBA via a major online educational institution. It was my first online learning experience and we were required to interact online with other students as “participation” in group discussions was a critical component of our overall grade. While I needed to participate for my grade, I also truly wanted to learn via these discussions. Unfortunately, I soon learned that half of my fellow students were clueless and had no idea what they were “talking” about. Discussions with some of these strangers became a complete waste of my time! I had to come up with a better way. So, as I continued to pursue my MBA, as each class would begin, I would review the backgrounds of my classmates and I became very selective with who I was going to choose to get into discussions with. I know that may sound bad and you might think I have some sort of elitist attitude but I truly do not believe I do - I wanted to learn and I know you can learn from folks of all backgrounds and levels of intelligence, but I didn’t have time to be led astray - I had to be selective.

I would like to suggest, as runners, that we all need to be selective as well, especially with our use of social media today.

I have joined a number of Facebook groups that promote running and it has been a great way to “meet” others that share my passion. I have enjoyed interacting on these sites, sharing my opinions and experiences, learning from others and hopefully helping others in their pursuits. To be perfectly honest, it has also been the way I have connected with most of my online clients.

However, lately, and at the risk of disproving my previous claim that I am not an elitist, I am shaking my head more and more often at how ridiculous and flat out wrong some people are with the advice they are giving!! Quite frankly it is scary and as a result, I find myself spending less time online.

Recently one of my runners reached out to me: “Coach, you need to get back out on that forum, there is some bad information being shared!” So last night I started browsing and I see a post that just absolutely set me back!

A newbie preparing for a marathon asked a common question about fueling during long training runs.

Some of the initial responses were excellent – some giving their “opinions” on different energy gels, flavors, how often, etc. Their intentions were good – they were trying to help by sharing their experiences. But then along comes this “expert” who had me scratching my head in disbelief! The guy tells the forum, “the sole purpose of the long training run is to get your body use to burning fat for fuel and you shouldn't consume anything on a run”! Seriously, that was it – the sole purpose of the long run! The only reason! The long run has nothing to do with building endurance and developing running efficiency. It has nothing to do with training yourself for the mental challenge. Nope, not according to this guy! It has no purpose at all other than teaching your body how to burn fat. Oh, and then he attempted to further justify why you shouldn’t consume anything during a run - "as the process of digestion will require energy, and all your energy stores need to be used for your legs, you don’t want to waste any of it on the act of digestion."

I honestly was in disbelief. And then some other guy jumps in, calls this guy “coach” and thanks him for another great “gem of advice” from him!

Was the first guy really a coach and the 2nd guy truly thanking him or were the two of them just toying and messing with the newbie and the others on the forum?

Although it was late, I sent a screen shot to my daughter – my daughter who is a Registered Dietitian with a Master in Sports Nutrition, and is a private consultant specializing in supporting female runners. She’s also an expert contributor for Runners World and Livestrong. We had a good laugh. However, someone, somewhere, is reading this guy’s post and may embark on a disastrous journey!

That unfortunately, is not a laughing matter.

So then I did some Facebook trolling.

The “coach” is a photographer and it was pretty easy to figure out his political affiliation and religious beliefs. However, in over 2 years he has only one single post related to running – a screen shot from a 3 mile run with a pace that was not all that impressive! One post! One post in over 2 years! What type of runner is this guy? What type of experience does he have? Why is someone calling him “coach” and where the heck is he coming from telling people the “only” purpose of the long run is to teach your body to burn fat??

Seriously, this is scary stuff! Have you ever heard of Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid Massacre in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978? There is a good chance some poor fool has now changed their fall marathon training plans - maybe they are going to embark on all their long runs on an empty stomach in an attempt to teach themselves how to burn fat! Or maybe they are fine with burning carbs so they will just cut out their long runs since they don't need to train their bodies to burn fat!! In either case, good luck with hitting your time goal now!

So what is the point of this rant of mine?

If you are an experienced runner, please keep helping the new runners coming along. There is so much information out there and new runners need help filtering the good from the bad. But as you give advice, be clear if you are providing proven facts or simply sharing your opinions.

And if you are a new runner – be careful who you believe. If you are communicating with someone online, do a little research for yourself before you just believe everything they profess. How experienced are they? How long have they been running? How competitive are they?

And if you are looking for a coach, know that there are different levels of coaching and for different disciplines of running. Coaching at the college level is much different than coaching recreational runners. And coaching marathoners trying to qualify for Boston is different than coaching a runner trying to complete their first distance event. Some of the most talented runners aren’t necessarily the best at coaching and likewise, some of the smartest and most credentialed coaches may lack the ability to communicate and motivate their runners.

Know what you are looking for in a coach or adviser and then be selective in who you invest your time learning from. Research their background and seek out some references and while online, proceed at your own risk!

And long may you run!