‘Bad Races’ Articles at , Page 2

A Runner’s Selective Amnesia: Push out memories of the crappy runs to keep room for the epic ones

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Cait — 23 Comments ↓

Runners need to live in a constant state of selective amnesia. Namely, we need to push from our minds the runs that feel like we are dragging lead bricks behind us or the times when our legs decide to pretend they’ve never run a decent split on the track ever before.

We keep running EVEN through those crummy runs.

We push from our minds the miles that are more painful than they should be and let the recollections of these dark workouts and dismal races slip into the darkest of chasms within our grey matter. We do this so that we have the fortitude to lace up and go out for that next run. Selective amnesia, you see, is quite a prolific coping mechanism for a runner.

The memories and moments that we cherish are the workouts that click, when we feel totally in sync with our stride. We are running controlled, relaxed, smooth, and ON. We savor the days where we come back from a long run with a new ‘personal distance record’, ironically we will even remember the moments BEFORE that long run where we wonder if we’ll be able to do it. We let consciousness retain those dark, slivers of doubt because in the end we proved those doubts WRONG. We now have more proof that the whimpers and whispers of doubts are fallacies and lies, we CAN do much more than our brain wants us to believe.

Let the bad runs fade into the background and look forward to the better ones.

Runners, we will even keep aroundall those mundane and ‘normal’ miles run because they are constants. They may not be all that thrilling or exciting, but they are the bulk of our running history and we can’t thrive on just the epic highlights. These regular runs also define us in that without these recollections we’d really only be runners a handful of times in our lives…I mean those EPIC runs only come far and few between. We continue to run in the quest of them, but we don’t stop because we don’t hit a certain quote.

Keep on living in that realm of being able to decide that once a certain heinous run is done, that it never existed. Do that so you are brave enough to shower and then run again. Those really bad runs test us and help toughen us up, we NEED them in fact. But rather than letting the craptastical runs DEFINE us, we are entitled to let them slip away into oblivion.

Selective Amnesia.

1) Have you had times where you felt ‘off’ and like your run was much harder than it should be? Did you pretend that once some of those bad runs were done, that they didn’t really happen, OR, that they didn’t suck as much as they did so that you were ‘brave’ enough to get out there and run again tomorrow?

2) How do you cope with bad races? Do you try to learn something from them and then give yourself permission to ‘forget’ them?

3) What is one run you will NEVER let selective amnesia do away with?

5 Ways to Make Sure Your Race Doesn’t Suck

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Cait — 35 Comments ↓

Ah, the thrill of race day is what some runners live for. Take all that adrenaline and exited-nervousness and it’s a schmorgesborg of energy. With race day comes the (hopefully mostly) self-imposed pressure, expectations and hopes to run your best. You’ve got big goals you want to achieve and you hope that by the time you cross the finish line you’ve hit those. Here are 5 ways you can stack the odds in your favor to step away from the line satisfied.

1) Game Plan: You need to go into any race with a concrete idea of how you’re going to run and the goals you want to achieve. You don’t want to have to try and make decisions on the fly; in the middle of a race you don’t want to be wasting mental energy on wondering what to do. Plan how you’re going to run, the splits you want to hit, how you are going to react if someone surges or your competitors make a move. Go in knowing if YOU plan to make those moves and what you will do if someone covers them. With race plans you need a few because you don’t know what others may do; you don’t want to be surprised in the middle of a race and freeze-up. You also don’t want to mess up your entire race by poor pacing. When you’ve got your race plans it’s even better if you’re able to use mental visualization to ‘practice’ them.

2) Consider Conditions: If you’re running amidst a hurricane you should obviously be drafting off of people! Not funny, I know. But when you show up to a race you need to check the conditions and adjust your race plan if need be. If it’s really hot and humid you may have to chuck the times you had planned and race off of effort. If it’s really windy you may want to hold off on taking the lead until later so that you can tuck in and conserve energy. The race day weather and conditions don’t DEFINE the race and you can’t let less than ideal conditions be an excuse for you to still not put the effort in; it just means you may have to adjust your goals and plans.

That girl’s drafting! 😉

3) Use Your Competition: Don’t ever be afraid of your competitors, embrace them because they will force you to step up your own game and race your best. Always be looking for that person faster than you, key off of them, sit behind them, focus on their back and don’t let a gap develop. Pick people off; if that back you’re focusing on is slowing down or you feel better then blow by that sucker and move onto the next person in front of you…always keep looking for that next person.

4) Avoid Mind Mutiny: There are SO many sub-topics here, for the sake of brevity I’ll give pointers here and direct you to other posts. Getting stuck in no-man’s land in a race stinks, but there are ways to salvage the race; don’t let feeling like it’s just you on the course be an excuse to give up…hey, the clock is always there! The middle of a race is the hardest, don’t let your mind check-out here…this, 99% of the time, leads to your pace slacking. Keep applying the pressure and focus. Do NOT focus on, “dang, this really hurts.” Duh, running hurts…that’s a reality, you knew that going in. So stop the self-defeatist thoughts and focus on what you CAN control (form, breathing, stride count, etc.) as a means of distraction.

5) Not Your Day, So What: Does that sound heinously tough love-esque? Well so be it…but the truth is we ALL have races where the legs just don’t show up that day. If the gun goes off and you feel like you’re pulling bricks, don’t automatically throw in the towel and give up. You NEED those mentally grueling races and workouts because getting through them makes you mentally tougher; then the days when your legs SO show up, you’ll be able to apply that toughness and you’ll be running faster. Overcoming the crappy runs are a huge mental test; give up too often and you set up a really bat habit that is tough to break out of. So if it’s not your day, yes, you may need to adjust your goals and plan but STILL put in the effort. Also, you’d be amazed at how your race can be salvaged even with ‘dead’ legs; that and miraculously your legs could show up mid-race…it’s happened.

So there you go…five ways to make sure that race you’ve been running your butt off for doesn’t suck. Of course there are many more…but I guess you’ll just have to keep reading (and running) to get more. 😉

1) What’s one way you make sure your races don’t suck? Or a tip you’d like to share?

2) What has been a time you had to adjust your plans due to weather conditions?

3) When has been a time that your legs really didn’t show up that day; how did you react and still put in the effort? Or, if you gave up, what did you learn from that experience and try to make sure you did better next time?

A Case of Missing Legs: When ‘dead legs’ show up to your starting line, you still have to claim them as yours

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Have you ever shown up to a race…CRACK…and from the first step the pair of legs you were running on felt completely and utterly foreign? Dead legs…strap in you’re in for a long race.

The funny, or maybe more correctly maddening, thing about running is that you can’t always predict how you’re going to be feeling on any particular day. You can erect the most scientific training plan in the world, taper like a genius, but still, come the day of the race there is the margin of the unknown. You do all you can to swing the favor of the running gods and them blessing you with the legs you worked your butt off for, that you earned, that you deserve to race on…but there are no guarantees.

Dead legs happen in races, in workouts, in random runs too. The ‘easy’ days after a hard workout you can kind of expect that the legs won’t be feeling so fresh, you anticipate some rougher miles; these days aren’t so much a case of dead legs due to chance but rather hard work of days’ past. What makes this case of dead legs bearable, almost sickly rewarding, is that you know the hard work of yesterday will eventually pay off.

But dead legs on a race are frustrating and can be incredibly defeating if you let them screw with your psyche. If that happens any chance of salvaging at least a respectable performance gets whittled down to near nil and you could bring a horrendous trudge to the finish line upon yourself.

While it certainly SUCKS to come to a big race, fully tapered, expecting a PR and wind up with legs you wouldn’t want to claim as your own it is fully possible to race respectable off of tired legs. You may not PR or race at you fitness level, true, but at the same time there are athletes that have raced phenomenally off of tired legs. Some runners haven’t tapered at all and others just mentally pushed themselves regardless of feeling the dead legs. It may come down to a more ‘survival mode’ race…

Latch on to anyone and everyone. If you feel your dead legs from the gun you would probably be wise NOT to play pace-setter if you can avoid it. Tuck in behind a runner or find a nice pack to work off of; you’d be surprised how sparing the mental energy of worrying about pace early on can leave you feeling much ‘fresher’ some miles later.

Surge. If your dead legs are leaving you trudging mid-race, while it sounds totally counterintuitive, putting in a surge or picking up the pace for a short bit can sometimes bust you out of a funk. When you switch gears, as in change up the pace, you work different muscle fibers, and it can act as a little ‘reset’ button sometimes.

Counting sheep…errr, miles. Don’t focus on how much further you have to go, instead play mind games and break the race down into small, much more manageable distances. Say you’re only going to run one more mile…just make it to the next mile marker. If it’s on the track, even just promise to make it past one more lap, one more lap, etc.

Focus on controllables. The controllables are your form, your breathing, your stride…anything NOT related to how crummy you are feeling. This also includes zoning in on a spot on someone’s back who is running in front of you; look at that spot and refuse to let a gap open up between you and the spot.

Wait it out. Crazy, yes, but sometimes dead legs can ‘wear off’ over the course of a race or workout. Sometimes, especially if you didn’t do a real good warm-up, once you get into the race your legs can feel much better.

Bottom line, don’t chuck in the towel after the gun due to dead legs. Doing so, and doing so too often, is like giving your mind an excuse to give up…that is a bad habit you don’t want to get into, because once ingrained it’s SUPER hard to get out of. 😉
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Olympic Trials: Okay, can we give a HUGE shout out to one Ashton Eaton!! The man is a beast and just set a World Record in the Decathlon…crazier still is that he may be ‘getting used’ to setting World Records by now. 😉 Scratch that because I’m certain in the case of World Records they just get sweeter and sweeter every time.
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1) Dead legs, when was the last time you felt your missing legs deserved a slot on a milk carton?? How did you manage?

2) Are there times when your dead legs seem to go away? Can you share your theories on how to bust out of some legs putting up a riot or seeming to rebel?

3) Opening up the comments to Trials talk here…
Since I can barely manage the coordination of doing one sport where you just run in circles, I have utmost respect to athletes who become the ‘jack of all trades’ for track and field. 😉

Run Like a Kid: Retaining some of those childlike qualities could be the best thing for your running

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

I think we should all start running like children. Heck, I think in some aspects we all could benefit from being more like children in general…maybe that will be my excuse for acting like a six year old. Speaking of, who stole my box of Pop-Tarts, I don’t share those?!

If your goals are on a shoot star, grab hold and ride…errr, run! 😉

Children, the younger the are, the more unshaped they are by their surrounds. Before the world can mold you, beat out a few qualities, put some limits on what you should do, set boundaries and establish rules you’re a ‘raw’ version of humanity. Now not to say beating out a few nasty traits (hello screaming child throwing a tantrum in the middle of the store and let’s all be thankful our parents forced us into potty training!) isn’t called for, BUT there are some qualities I wish were better retained. How does this apply to the world of running?

Children have whimsy. I like looking at ‘little kid art’ sometimes because it typically just makes you smile. Whether it’s the bright colors or the way too perky happy, smiling suns, it has a way of lightening the mood and puuuuulling a smile out of you whether you want to or not. Running has some severe highs and lows; we need to accept that and brace ourselves for the inevitable rough patches. In order to not let those lows break you, or your drive to continue training and come back, you have to stay positive. This can really sound annoying when you’re in the midst of a low, when you have someone telling you to smile you sometimes want to scream, “Yea, and I just saw a unicorn sh##ing rainbows out my window too!” 😉 But have your vent and then, in all honesty, maybe crack open a picture book and look for that unicorn. You never know, children dream up crazy stuff…whatever can force a smile out of you and kick your butt out of the poor me rut and get you back on track and moving forward is a good thing.

Children don’t know limits. Kids, if you tell them it’s possible to jump off the roof and fly will blindly try to go where no man has gone before, make that small step and giant leap off the roof. They don’t over-analyze a goal to death and wonder if they can do it, they literally just go and try. In running, if you out-think yourself from a goal you never end up even trying. You could fall short, you could make it, even surpass it, but you’ll never know unless you try. There is also something to be said for the journey in the trying, regardless of the outcome. Heck, I’ve failed plenty of times but still think I’m better for it in many aspects.

Kids are brutally honest. I love asking kids for an opinion on things. While I do write posts on lying to yourself about how much your hard running workouts will actually be as an effective mental ‘trick’ to getting through the workout…there are times when we should try on our honesty pants. These times though, are usually AFTER the fact, once the work is done and you’re setting your sights forward. After a race, a workout, or even a run, there are things you can learn and apply forward. A bad race can be the best thing in the world if you learn you made a critical error; learn, don’t make it next time, and have a PR. If you have a stellar workout, look back not just at the workout itself but the training leading up to it, see if there is a pattern of WHY you rocked it. This is one reason why having a training log is a major training tool.

Kiddies live in the moment. A kid can fall flat on their face, scream that it hurts (please, I hope you weren’t the kid who cried over every bump and bruise…put on your big girl/boy Pull-Ups! Hehe), get up and run to the sandbox. Running is an action; once it’s over and you stop doing it, the running part is done and in the past. Good if you’re having a horrible run, a little sad if you just set a World-Record and wish you could live the moment again and again. The bottom line is we can’t get stuck in the past if it stops us from living in the now and looking forward. If you have a bad race (fall on your face), do your vent and learning session (scream), then put your big Pull-Ups on and gear up for next time…don’t dwell on something like that, know you’ll have another shot to try again.

So runners: be dreamers, be annoyingly positive when the unicorn is sh##ing on you during a low, be brutally honest when you’re not lying your way through a workout, admit there will be falls that hurt but in the end pick yourself up because there will be better times ahead too. 🙂
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Reminder: If you’re liking the art you see and would like prints of a certain piece check out my Etsy Store! If you don’t see the one you want there, contact me and I’ll get you squared away. 🙂
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1) What is one trait that children have but tend to lose touch with as they get older? How can that trait be applied to running and could it be of benefit?

2) What is a trait that you are SO glad the world beats out of kids?
True fact, I may be deemed a horrible runnerchick for saying this, but I do not love kids…I’m picky as heck when it comes to kids I like. But that usually has more to do with parents, and I’m not going to open that can of worms. BUT the kiddos I stamp approval of I really adore, so don’t come egg my house. I will say I’m not sad to see kids grow out of the pull your hair and punch you in the gut thing. 😉

3) What is one area that you need to start acting more like a kid when it comes to your running?

4) What are some of your favorite children’s books? Let’s be honest we all look at them for the pictures!

Don’t Try So Hard: Trying to Force Your Running Won’t Work…Relax

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Don’t force it. This applies not just to running but in other areas of life too. Trying too hard can hold you back, it is the self-imposed weight vest of extra pressure and stress.

Was stuck for a background inspiration for this one...wasn't liking attempt #1

Some pressure is a good thing; Type A neurotic runners tend to excel because they don’t settle and want to push themselves to reach for higher goals. But as with many gifts they can also be your greatest undoing if taken too far. Getting too wrapped up and focusing on what you AREN’T doing or achieving can lead to overlooking the positive gains you may have made.

You’re in the middle of a workout: it’s not going how you wanted, the splits are off from the start, your legs feel like lead, you keep looking down at your watch praying that it will bring you some good news but the times keep getting slower and slower. You tell yourself to push harder, go faster, to man up and hit the splits…why can’t you hit the bloody splits already?!

You tense up, your jaw is locked with clenched teeth, your shoulders are up to your ears…your stride is forced. You’re trying too hard.

Try #2 and still wasn't feeling it...

Take a breath, shake out your arms and relax. Unstrap the burden that is the watch, the weight vest your mind has strapped on your back and STOP obsessing on the flipping splits, what you’re NOT able to achieve, wondering WHY you suck so hard, and HOW you’ll never achieve anything if you can’t get your legs to act up and run the way you want.

In times like these, sometimes it’s best to just not know…as in stop timing your splits, run for effort. Times won’t come sometimes, that’s a reality of running and training, you’ll have off days, off races, off runs, off stretches. What you don’t need to add on top of that is the obsession of WHY you’re sucking so much, getting sucked into the negative spiral, the ruminating thoughts, the negatives circling your brain faster than you are on the track.

Running for effort will in the end give you positive gains in your fitness:even though the times aren’t there for whatever reason, your body is still being pushed, the muscles being stressed, and the effort is there. Make sure to take into account if there are other factors: outside conditions, increase in training volume, your easy days aren’t letting you recover, and if, so be proactive and address those issues. But if not, that’s okay too…one workout does not make the runner.

Try #3, stopped trying to make it over-complicated and stopped trying to force it so much...at least i liked it the best of the bunch.

Running relaxed can surprise you too, sometimes just shifting your mindset can effect the watch and you may end up hitting faster times. Instead of thinking about the negatives, go back to focusing on the basic elements:
* Your breathing
* Your form
* Counting your strides
* Visualize the smooth, relaxed runner you want to be
…the little things, anything but the clock.

Don’t try so hard, don’t force it.
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Tomorrow’s your last chance to enter my ‘The Runner’ water-bottle giveaway.

In case you missed it, you can be one of the first to snag the Arty Runnerchick shirts and join the ‘Get Chicking’ movement! 🙂
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1) Can you recall a time you kept trying harder and harder but were falling further and further behind?

2) How do you catch yourself from trying too hard and pushing it? How do you find the proper balance, and when you are forcing it how do you try and get back in check?

3) What are some positives you try to take away from negative or bad races/workouts/runs?

4) Are there other areas in life where sometimes you just can’t force it?
I get that a lot in art and writing, you can’t always force yourself out of a creative block.

The Highs and Lows of Running – Persevering, Shifting Focus, and Staying the Course

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Cait — 25 Comments ↓

Are you sick of hearing about the US Olympic Marathon Trials yet? Not completely over-saturated juuuust yet? Good. Sorry, bear with me because I’m a teenie bit obsessed. And if you keep reading I promise even if you’re not a total running nerd (like this girl) I think there are some things you can take away.

The highs and lows of running. I’ll tell you right now, there are about six runners (okay more if you count the ones who knew going in they weren’t necessarily ever going to make the Olympic team but just excited to be there…I mean that in itself is a huge deal!) riding some SERIOUS highs after yesterday’s race…but those numbers are heavily outweighed by the runners who came up short of their goals. The hardest place to come in is 4th…mentally you go through every single second of that race and try to figure out if there was ANYTHING you could have done differently to have changed the outcome.

Six runners are riding incredible highs. How many are experiencing some serious lows? This is not to be a pessimist, merely a realist. Running is a very tough sport, even the men’s winner Meb Keflezighi says, “When the camera’s not watching, when the newspapers are not there, we work very hard at what we do. It’s not easy … there are so many obstacles as distance runners that we face … We work very, very hard at what we do. When the opportunities come, you take them … If you believe and work hard and do the right thing, (then) God has a good plan for me.” (Even third place finisher Abdi Abdirahman has been overlooked in recent years despite being a top runner for years.)

Distance running takes an incredible amount of work and dedication. The majority of that will go unnoticed; if you never did it only you would know, save the eventual outcome if you continued not to do it. Even if you do every single thing right, you could wind up with an injury right before the big race, you could feel totally flat after the gun, or get to mile 16 and have to stop because of cramps. You NEVER know. This isn’t just for the marathon distance, but to a degree everyone who toes the line is an equal. The heavy favorite is not a lock-in and an ‘unknown’ is one race away from an underdog upset. Ask Billy Mills. Heck, ask Meb.

The DIFFERENCE though between the Meb Keflezighi’s and Joe You’ll-Never-Know is persistence in the face of this. The difference between Dathan Ritzenhein and Joe I’m-going-to-give-up is being able to turn those incredible heartbreaks into motivation to keep on going, “Maybe I’m forcing it. Everybody wants me to be a marathoner, and I want to be a marathoner, but right now maybe it’s not in the cards. Maybe it’s just not there. Maybe I’ve just got to turn my attention back to shorter distances.” [Article source] Yes at the Beijing Olympics he placed 9th but he also once held the American Record for the 5k and has immense talent in the 10k and half-marathon as well. “I’m going to turn my attention back to the 10k,” he knows his chance of still going to London are far from gone. It’s just that his focus has to shift.

Source
I’d like to pull our attention back to 36-year old Meb for a moment. Going into the race if you read some of the articles or even worse message boards, there were some pretty cruel nay-sayers. Now, I love Nike as much as the next person, but if you happened to take a look at the shoes Meb was rocking on Saturday they were hardly a brand you’d associate with elite runners.

Meb was being sponsored by Sketchers. That kind of says it all. Though, he held onto the belief in his ability as well did his coach for 18 years, Bob Larsen. Meb is open that had it not been for his coach’s belief his own may have wavered.

The highs and lows of running. Even the strongest athlete faces times where they are unsure if they can or should keep going. In those moments of doubts it helps to cling to the memories of the highs and find a person who still believes in you. A coach or friend who understands what running gives to you and that if you gave it up you’d probably look back with a regret.

This applies to all runners, not just the elites. You don’t have to be vying for an Olympic team or Gold Medal to contemplate hanging up your shoes. There are highs and lows of every level.

The sting of a bad race. The gash of a string of bad races or seasons…or years.

Injuries. Getting through an injury is just as much a mental test as a physical. Dathan Ritzenhein was out of running for 6 months last year, some of that time he couldn’t even cross-train. But he kept going and was THIS close to pulling off the incredible. Actually he still DID pull off something incredible and there is no reason to ignore that. Alberto Salazar, Dathan’s coach, looks back and says, “Even if he had just made the team by the skin of his teeth, what’s he going to do in London? In the 10K, he has a chance to do some great stuff.”

Maybe you don’t even compete but have been out with an injury for an incredible amount of time and think it may just be worth it to not even try to get back.

Pressure. Stress. Loss. Highs. Lows. All runners have them. Sometimes you do need to take a step back and think about WHY you do it. Reassess and shift your mental focus. True, you just might not wind up meeting a goal you’ve been chasing for years, but in the end it comes down to what your life would be like without all of those miles. Would you rather be that person? If so, that’s okay, but if you know if your heart you’d miss it and harbor regrets, then keep going.

Run without regrets. And if you’re not able to run yet…cross-train, visualize the goals that lay ahead, and take it one day and then the next. Your goals may have to change and evolve but you can keep moving forward.

Source
Cherish the highs because they are far and few between…not pessimism but realism.

Our sport is made of highs and lows. Being a runner means having the strength to keep going after the lows.

1) What’s one of your running highs?
I enjoy setting a PR. 🙂

2) What was a low? Or stretch of lows?
Does it sound too cliched to say being hit by the car and riding the sofa for months and months wondering if I’ll be able to walk again? 😉

3) Why do you keep running?
For the sake of my own sanity. Obsessive Compulsive Runner out.

Beauty in the Flaws and Success in the Failures

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Cait — 10 Comments ↓

My aunt’s an artist and she has a saying, “Accidental art.” It’s not so much a saying as a phrase for life; if you make a mistake take a look at it again and you just might see that this ‘accident’ made it better.

There was a Native American tribe that used to purposefully hide a flaw in every piece of art, pottery, and weavings they did because they knew that humans weren’t perfect and nothing ever is…nor should it be.

Certainly not perfect...

Though, as a bit of a perfectionist, I don’t always remember this. I get so furious when a detail isn’t EXACTLY how I envisioned it in my mind and could waste hours trying to get it just right. Sometimes I need to just let go and reiterate, “Accidental art.”

Still not perfect.

The same goes for training and racing; you can’t always predict how things will go. No matter how much you may plan, envision, strategize, calculate and dream you can’t completely control the outcome. That can be frustrating but it’s a part of our sport and it can be suprisitingly euphoric too.

An athlete at the top of their game could come into a race and just feel horrible, for them it would be additedly depressing; though for the upset underdog who had the race of his life it could be a pincale of their career.

How can we take these supposed failures and make this ‘accidental art’? LEARN FROM THEM.

A bad race could be the ‘best’ thing that ever happened to you if you take away something from it and never repeat a mistake again. You go out too fast in the first race of the season and die a horrible death; championships roll around and you run negative splits and run your best race.

You come to the track and the workout is not going at all how it was planned. You could chuck the watch and get through it knowing that the effort is there, you might adjust the workout (if it was long intervals but you’re flat try doing some speedy 200’s) and aim to get a different kind of benefit. Finally you could just get through it and know it’s more a test of your mental grit. Later try to find out if there could be a reason you felt so crummy (check your recovery, easy runs, nutrition, sleeping, etc.) and see if you could correct that.

Thankfully there is always another workout around the corner and if you ‘messed up’ one you get another chance to redo it. The beauty of workouts are they are just practice for races; if you’re going to make a mistake make it there and learn from it.

However, in the end sometimes you just plain feel like junk and that’s just the legs you were dealt with for the day. It’s that margin of unknown in our sport. While we feel safe and in control with the black and white numbers and times that come with running, we have to acknowledge that our bodies will forever throw at us the element of surprise.

You can choose to wallow in the failures or instead look at it again and make some ‘accidental art.’

1) Are you a perfectionist? In some things or all? How do you try to ‘let go’ of details that aren’t so important?
I’m a perfectionist in things I decide I really care about…sadly for my chemistry classes the same can’t be said there. 😛

2) How do you handle bad workouts or races?

3) Last thing you can admit to failing epically at?
I promised myself I’d organize my mountain of ‘stuff’…I’m not winning there. I can’t say I love all my failures…but sometimes we need to cut ourselves some slack and keep moving on. 😛

Flies Stink and an Epic Length Post on the Benefits of Bad Races

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Cait — 10 Comments ↓

Flies, what are their deal? They are attracted to all things refuse, decaying and dirty then at the same time feel like it’s okay to roll around in said filth and THEN come schmoozing up on me and my food? How wrong and to coin an annoying blonde haired child, “How rude?” (Stephanie was always my least favorite Tanner.)

I know we’ve all heard urban legend that the second a fly lands on anything it throws up, and so I ask, is that true? If so then I’m covered in sh** on top of being annoyed.

There are other ‘flies’ in life, the flies at the office would have to be those people that buzz around eavesdropping and then spread any juicy tidbits they pick up. Pretty much the same people would be flies at high school, only those flies are a hybrid with mosquitoes because they are out for blood. High school is a blood sport.

Being ticketed for a broken taillight could be a life ‘fly’ because unless you get tipped off by a friendly person watching you from the back, how are you to know? Ooooh, this is fun, so I’m going to keep going. Okay, how about going on a first date, you’re walking along on the beach thinking you’re all cool and romantic and BAM seagull poop lands right on your shoulder? True story, happened to my friend who shall remain nameless only a few weeks ago…so sad, he just started dating again and look what happened. 😛

I guess nothing to do but deal with those flies and swat them away the best that we can. Bad races and horrible workouts are obvious flies. Necessary evils that come with the territory. Heck, bad days in general, but when it comes to running and working out we ALL have those fly days…sadly sometimes fly weeks. Fly slumps. Been there, let’s not look back through those scrapbooks.

BUT, fly races can be good things:

*The Learning Tool: After you finish, mop up those tears, or wash out that mouth, and think. Could there be a reason that you had a less than stellar performance? Did you go out too fast in the beginning or make another obvious racing tactic blunder? Did you go too hard, too close to the big day? Did you not really prepare the way you should for the race? Are you overly tired? Races are like check-ins and if something’s not working then find a way to fix it.

*You Underestimated: Did you go in with an off race plan or maybe no race plan at all? Racing on the fly can be sort of liberating, but you still want to go in with at least some clear goal or tactic. If you knew certain people were in the race, or if you are on a cross team and you were hoping to beat a certain team, did you underestimate your competition? On the flip side, did you underestimate yourself? Did you hold back too long, maybe you should have surged on a certain lap, closed a gap sooner, made a decisive move? Planning mistakes happen, again, use them as a learning experience and be better prepared for next time.

*The Off-Taper: When you taper for a race that means you intentionally cut back mileage, the days leading up are easier. Tapering is a tricky science, all about finding the right balance between doing enough so that you are sharp and ready to go and not doing too much. Look and see if maybe your tapering was a little off. Tapering usually leaves people feeling like they have way too much excess energy and sometimes we have to force ourselves to not do any more than we should. On the flip side, you don’t want to do nothing or take out all fast running, which will leave you feeling sluggish and slow.

You got problems if THIS guy is beating you...

*Overdistance, Underdistance: Was this race ‘your’ race? I mean if you’re a miler and you go run a marathon, you may need to go in knowing that, “Hey, this race is going to be more of a challenge for me than the person who genetically is predisposed to running longer, marathon type distances.” The same for the marathoner running a mile race; it’s great to run a range of races but base the results off of you personally as a runner. If our marathoner runs a decent time FOR THEM in a mile race but comes in dead last, they need to be sure to keep things in perspective.

*Training Through: Did you train through this race? That means was this race not exactly ‘a really big race’ in your training program but instead one along the road to your ‘big goal’ race? This happens a lot for high school and college runners who have to go through league or prelim meets. You can’t rest up for everything because you’d never get in a solid block of training, so for many of the smaller meets you’ll go in without tapering and while you still may put forth your best effort, your legs have that extra workload in them and won’t be as fresh as when you eventually do taper for the big day. This is a big mental thing though because for some people these off races put doubts in their mind and they become afraid that come their ‘big goal’ race they will still feel flat. So you have to stay confident and know that come the big day you’ll be rested and ready.

*Something New: Trying something new on a race day isn’t something you should do. The pile of cheesy nachos an hour before the gun will bring you your own just desserts. In times like these, get through the race and let’s hope it’s a lesson learned.

*New Training: Anytime you go with or are transitioning to a new training method, program, or coach expect that to get results you’ll need to wait through the adjustment period. It takes a few months, yes months at least, to fully adjust to something new and see the results you want. Expect that, and if you really believe in the program stick it out and give it time. That said training philosophies and techniques are VERY personal and if something doesn’t click after an acceptable period of adjustment, reassess. Make sure anything you are doing you fully believe in, running and racing is mental, you have to believe in what you’re doing to make it work.

*Gut it Out: Making it to the finish line despite knowing that you’re having a bad race is one of the best ways to improve your mental fortitude. It’s a mind game. If you were to drop out and stop after each bad race, you run the risk of getting into a very bad habit. There are times when the smart thing to do is drop out, you don’t want to risk an injury, but I’d say for the majority of the time you should stick it out to the end. Why? It’s all mental, if you don’t force yourself to finish when it hurts and sucks too many times, you start to give yourself that ‘out’ and that ‘out’ becomes way too appealing any time a race or workout hurts…and running does hurt. 😉

*Test of Character: Lose as gracefully as you can, or if you don’t meet your goals give yourself an hour, maybe a day/night of wallow, but then get sane and productive.

*The Flies Gotcha: Look, sometimes there are just no reasons for bad races or bad days. The clouds align and they are stormy. To be honest, having exceptional races are a rarity, having good races you’d like to be the ‘almost’ majority, most of them are middle of the road or you at least hit some expectations, but there are plenty of fly races. Bad races and bad days come with the game. You do the most you can to swing the odds in your favor, but at the line it’s all in dem legs and dem legs can be moody like a menopausal woman.

1) What are other flies in life?

How about getting maybe 4 miles into a long run and already scoping out a place for a bathroom plot?

2) One good thing about bad races for you?

3) Worst bad race memory?

The one that instantly comes to mind was when I was running a 10k and through about 4 ½ miles stoked that I was underpace and on track to run a time I REALLY wanted. Crazy how much difference a lap or two can make, I CRAWLED in those last 5 laps. That race was one of the times I wanted to DNF soooo bad…but I didn’t. Haha…that last mile was horrendous!

4) Speaking of, did anyone race this weekend, how did it go? I’m hoping that this post didn’t reopen any fresh wounds. 😉