It's an analogy. Yes, programming is more mental and less physical than running. Yes, analogies are and can be terrible. But you're overreacting, even if we

It's an analogy. Yes, programming is more mental and less physical than running. Yes, analogies are and can be terrible. But you're overreacting, even if we take your stance that she's somehow trivialized an entire field that she happens to think worthwhile enough to try and get into herself. No apologies are warranted. If they were, equating competitive running with walking to the grocery store would be at least as inappropriate. Regardless of whether or not that's what you mean to do, that's what you start with when you open up with your "dilution". Though it's not my place to say, if you're as worked up as your text would portray, I'd suggest you're doing yourself a disservice. All over an offhand quote that got the wrong adjectives on the flavor of effort and skill involved with programming, by someone new to the field, who I'd suspect was merely trying to compare it to more familiar territory.