Who Am I?

I am an avid runner and have been running since I was 15 years old. I began running low to medium distances while on my high school track team, running the 800 meter and 1600 meter races (I was a sub 5 miler and a 2 minute 800 runner). In addition to the track team, I also joined the cross country team. After high school I still wanted to run and decided to start doing road races. I have probably ran a couple hundred 5k races (16.29 PR)along with many 10k's as well. In 2009 I decided to step up my game and try to tackle my first marathon. I will be honest; the only reason I did this was because my father ran a few and I wanted to show him that I could do what he did. I trained poorly for my first one and regret it. If you are going to run a race, train like you want to win. I still continue to run marathons and other distances as well, and every race is a chance for me to better myself.
I started this blog to hopefully communicate with other runners and to shed any knowledge I may have about the sport that can help other runners. I believe running is the best sport and can be a great stress reliever. I encourage all runners to spread the word of our sport and show people why running is so good and why the community of runners has such great people. You can follow me on twitter @byrne1324 or find me on facebook- Shaun Byrne

Friday, December 19, 2014

Freak Out Friday: Pussification of America


Growing up, anytime I would ever bitch about walking to schoolor the bus stop my parents would come back with the classic line “when I was your age I used to walk to school in 3 ft. of snow and it was all up hill.” Apparently the older generations love to use this line, because I have heard several other people say the exact same line. Here is the funny thing, I know where my parents grew up and where they went to school and I can assure you they didn’t have to walk that far and the hills were the same ones I walked as a kid. I guess they were just telling me that bogus story to make me stop complaining and to keep me from being that kid who was, excuse my language here but a pussy.

Which brings me to my rant of the day “The pussification of America”. Yesterday while I was driving home from work I got stuck behind a school bus. The bus made, and I am not kidding about twenty stops. Kids were being dropped off at their front door. Needless to say I was ready to flip out, then I thought it wouldn’t look right a grown man standing over little kids calling them pussy’s. When I was a kid we had 1 bus stop. The stop was about five blocks away, not too far but far enough that we complained. We complained mainly because the walk home was all up hill. Everyday about five of us would walk to the bus stop and instead of taking the normal route, we would cut through yards, and get chased by dogs. It was a blast now that I look back on it. I couldn’t imagine getting picked up at my house.

After school I came home did my homework and by the time I was finished people were showing up to play a game of release. We played every day outside. Some of things we did I look back on and ask how am I still alive. Like the time we thought fitting ten us into a kiddie swimming pool and using it as a sled to go down my back yard hill. Summer was spent waking up and not returning until after dark. From bikes, to skateboards, and sports we were playing something. We all owned some sort of gaming system too, but you played that after you came in. Today you are lucky to walk down the street and see a kid outside playing. PlayStation and X Box have taken over that. It’s sad when a ten year old is more excited to play Call of Duty instead of playing an active sport. We went from our parents who were the steel mill generation, tough as nails to the pussy’s who are afraid of sun light.

Forget telling a kid or she is bad, you may hurt their feelings. Do you know how many times I heard how bad I was from a teacher? I was never hit by a teacher, but I bet you I sure as hell deserved it a few times. Kids don’t get cut from sports anymore. You don’t have to try out for anything. Everything is just handed to them and they are lead to believe that life is easy. News flash we are doing more damage than good. Kids need to know that life is hard and sometimes if you aren’t good enough you don’t get something. Sometimes a kid needs to hear they are a dip shit. Maybe it will knock some sense into them and they will act right. Am I the only person that wonders why depression seems to be on the rise? Could it be because now that these kids are older and realized they have to work hard for things and life isn’t all games and candy, they can’t take the pressure?

I would like to sit here and tell you that it is just the children who need to be depussified as I like to call it. However adults are just to blame as well. Every holiday seems to piss off the next person. People are offended by this decoration and that sign. Who gives a shit!!!!!!! When the fuck did everyone’s opinion matter. If you don’t like something ignore it. It blows my mind that so many people want their way to be the right way, and when they don’t get it they cry like a bitch. We went from united we stand to my way or bust. The past few days have shown me just how bad we have got. The movie “The Interview” has been the topic of recent debate. Now I am not saying this movie might be in bad taste, but come on there is tons of movies that make fun of other countries and leaders. I understand nothing like this has ever happened where hackers were involved and threats were being made, but to just pull the movie and give in to the assholes behind it makes us look bad. I am willing to bet censorship will be a huge topic shortly. This week was a sad day for the arts. I feel like we were a country that use to stand up and fight and now we lay down and roll over. We are too worried about making everyone happy instead of doing what is right. Every year I look at things and every year I think we are moving farther and farther away from when everyone wasn’t a pussy.

4 comments:

  1. Oh. My. God. Exactly what I think. I am amazed by how much we are now over-cautious and how it impacts our daily life. Great post, I really like to read it!

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  2. Thanks, glad someone agrees with me

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  3. Good post! We live in a culture now where so many think only about themselves and their opinions and have little respect for others. BTW - My teachers didn't hesitate to smack me when I acted up but they were nuns and then military school so they could get away with it.

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  4. Very true, there is little respect for others

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