Fear of Feedback

First off, Happy Star Wars Day! May the 4th be With you...

Second, if you don't like Star Wars, Welcome to Star Wars Geel Awareness day!

I have run and trained with Roger for over a year, and weight training for almost 2 years. I call him my trainer/ Evil Running dictator, because he helps me with training, and never lets me get too comfy with my running, and pushes me to do better, and faster. The Evil dictator, comes in when he makes me run 3 miles in the rain and does not let me skip long runs, even after I offer ice cream.



No, this was not the "Let's not run today" Ice cream. This was the "We are running a marathon tomorrow" ice cream.


He gives me feedback on my races, based on my Garmin or Map My Run charts and numbers. And although some days it's hard to hear, his advice has helped me improve my speed. Like any human being, hearing criticism is not always easy, but I have learned to listen to it, digest it and work on improving.

However, Roger does not like it when I give him feedback. I don't know if he thinks that I am so new to running that I have nothing to offer, or because he is a college professor, he thinks he just knows everything. But he has also dearly paid for not listening to my advice. Right before the RnR DC, I told him to put on the body glide on his nipples, and on his toes...his response "I don't need it, it's ONLY a half marathon, and my socks and top are wick away".... Yeah.... ok.... bloody nippies and giant blood blister later, he is finally willing to at least go over the pre-race check list with me. (TMI, but this is a running blog!)

I was listening to the Another Mother Runner Podcast, in which the coach reviews with Sarah a race performance review for her Boston Marathon. I found it very interesting, and got me thinking... Would we be willing to take real, honest and raw advice from a coach or other runners? It sounds really scary to me. To have somebody tell me what I did wrong sounds terrifying! is it because I prefer nice and friendly feedback? Is it my human nature? I don't know. I listen to feedback from Roger, I process it and either put it to practice. But he loves me (on the days we are not fighting about who is going to make dinner), and I take his advice in a positive way.

But I have come to learn that this blogging community is awesome, supportive and they keep me real... So, consciously making a decision to be fearless on advice and feedback.

How about you? Does advice from other runners scare you? Would you want real/raw advice from random people on your blog?

And for the first time I'm linking up with Deb from Deb Runs, for the Wednesday Work Link up.