10 Replies to “Flies Stink and an Epic Length Post on the Benefits of Bad Races”
Two weeks ago I reverted to my high school self and actually cried after my crappy race. It was horrible and embarrassing, but I actually just embarrassed myself more with the crying. I don’t think anyone cared except me and I was making it way too big of a deal. Hopefully not too many people noticed… No matter how long I’ve been running and how many races I’ve done, I still beat myself up.
I don’t like to make excuses, but sometimes they are legit. Looking back on this, one of the main reasons I know I felt like garbage was because it was my PMS week. Yeah, I know I sound like a whiny girl saying that, but there is some science to it. Our estrogen and progesterone levels are really high at this time, which is not conducive to running fast. Plus we all know we’re a little crazy/emotional during this time too. My head was not in the race at all except for some negative thoughts.
Just a week later (this past Saturday), I raced again and felt 100 times better. I even ran my fastest 5K in over 6 years.
nothing like aunt flow crashing the party, stacking the race against u from the start, and THEN making dealing with the subpar performance infinity worse. so i think u deserve a little bit of leeway on the ‘suck it up until u are alone’ card. seriously, sometimes being a girl just aint fair!
BUT, that’s why i was soooo happy about ur race on sat, i knew how much u’d wanted a fast 5k and so deserved one…sweet redemption! take that wacky hormone levels of last week and shove it. 😉
You are TOO FUNNY!! Urgh worst race experience was a 5k in which I spent the last mile hopping along with serious runners GI issues! I couldn’t even sprint the finishing straight, and I just hobbled past the finish making a beeline for the Porta Potties! 😛 BAD TIMES!!
emma, if anyone can feel for u, it’s this girl!! GI issues are the bane of my existence and i kno the dash/shuffle to the porta potty dance oh too well. 😛
LOVE this post. Such good reminders. I wouldn’t say I have had a truly terrible race experience but this past half I was really feeling great the first half and then BAM the second half I was just READY to be finished. My mind totally shut down which is so unlike me. usually I am like yeah…just push through it. you got this. that day I just did not have mental energy to want to “push through” anything. Agree…some days just are not your day. But thats okay…there will be another race!
“there will be another race!” <—- sums it up perfectly! it's tough when u happen to put so much of ur focus on 'one big race' and it can seem like doomsday if it goes awry, but that's just how it goes sometimes and we have to remember that we will get another shot eventually. 🙂 thanks julia…u my friend always state it just right!
Two weeks ago I reverted to my high school self and actually cried after my crappy race. It was horrible and embarrassing, but I actually just embarrassed myself more with the crying. I don’t think anyone cared except me and I was making it way too big of a deal. Hopefully not too many people noticed… No matter how long I’ve been running and how many races I’ve done, I still beat myself up.
I don’t like to make excuses, but sometimes they are legit. Looking back on this, one of the main reasons I know I felt like garbage was because it was my PMS week. Yeah, I know I sound like a whiny girl saying that, but there is some science to it. Our estrogen and progesterone levels are really high at this time, which is not conducive to running fast. Plus we all know we’re a little crazy/emotional during this time too. My head was not in the race at all except for some negative thoughts.
Just a week later (this past Saturday), I raced again and felt 100 times better. I even ran my fastest 5K in over 6 years.
nothing like aunt flow crashing the party, stacking the race against u from the start, and THEN making dealing with the subpar performance infinity worse. so i think u deserve a little bit of leeway on the ‘suck it up until u are alone’ card. seriously, sometimes being a girl just aint fair!
BUT, that’s why i was soooo happy about ur race on sat, i knew how much u’d wanted a fast 5k and so deserved one…sweet redemption! take that wacky hormone levels of last week and shove it. 😉
You are TOO FUNNY!! Urgh worst race experience was a 5k in which I spent the last mile hopping along with serious runners GI issues! I couldn’t even sprint the finishing straight, and I just hobbled past the finish making a beeline for the Porta Potties! 😛 BAD TIMES!!
emma, if anyone can feel for u, it’s this girl!! GI issues are the bane of my existence and i kno the dash/shuffle to the porta potty dance oh too well. 😛
LOVE this post. Such good reminders. I wouldn’t say I have had a truly terrible race experience but this past half I was really feeling great the first half and then BAM the second half I was just READY to be finished. My mind totally shut down which is so unlike me. usually I am like yeah…just push through it. you got this. that day I just did not have mental energy to want to “push through” anything. Agree…some days just are not your day. But thats okay…there will be another race!
“there will be another race!” <—- sums it up perfectly! it's tough when u happen to put so much of ur focus on 'one big race' and it can seem like doomsday if it goes awry, but that's just how it goes sometimes and we have to remember that we will get another shot eventually. 🙂 thanks julia…u my friend always state it just right!
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