Thursday, May 17, 2012

A photo challenge to distract me.

Oh Maggie, if only you had waited a week i would have a different race to complain about.  (i would also be able to participate in the running in your bra challenge, which i fully intend on doing Sunday.  Talk about two birds with one stone!)


To date, the worst race i have ever run has been the 2011 Schaumburg turkey trot half marathon. (you all thought i was going to say Flying Pig, didn't you?  or perhaps Get Lucky?)
To read the full story of my complete mental breakdown on a race course, go HERE.


I can't pinpoint a reason why this race was so terrible.  In hindsight, i would actually KILL right now to run a race in freezing rain.  I'm not even joking!  I think the real killer for me in this race was myself.  I was mentally exhausted, and had been wanting a break from running, and i didn't give it to myself.  Instead, i kept pushing to make an unrealistic goal.  Half way through this race, i had a complete mental breakdown.  I didn't just start pouting, i started balling my eyes out, and had to sit on a rock for a minute and just cry.  In the rain.  It was a misery i had not experienced before, and could not cope with.  I hated running at that moment because i wasn't having fun anymore.  I eventually started running again and finished the race (after people kept asking me if i was hurt) and you can see in the picture that even though i am smiling, my face is red and puffy from my sob session.  I didn't run again after that for a month.  


Lesson learned - When your body demands a break, give it a break.  None of us are olympic athletes.  This isn't our job, it's our reward.  It should be fun.  It's also okay to cry - just don't wear mascara (ouch.) and make sure you eventually finish the race.  


Also, i am sorry for being lame this week and not visiting everyone's blog as often as normal.  I am in meltdown mode, and will be back to normal next week :)

8 comments:

  1. I love that you still look so cute in your worst race to date photo!

    It sucks that it took a race like that to learn that lesson :( But it's really hard once you get in to the running groove to stop and rest when you really crave it. You feel so guilty! I am happy you gave yourself time off after this.

    A run in the cold rain does sound nice!

    I am super absent this week too. Lots of unread blogs. So much work to do... ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Take care of yourself!!! Try to stay positive this weekend. Remember your reasons for running!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. after my half last Sept I haven't run much since. Except now I need to get back into the full on race mode. I need to begin to love this running stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have yet to run a long race (think half marathon) but I've quickly learned how much running is more like a mental exercise than anything else. So feeling burnt out can be more mental than physical, and giving yourself a break will probably do wonders :) Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with Kilax - you look totally adorable in that photo!

    Also, I agree that it's totally 100% okay to cry! I had that same breakdown after my 16-mile training run for my first (and only) marathon. After that day, I didn't want to run - or even talk or think about running - ever again. I was so done. Eventually I took some off-time and found my inspiration again.

    Take care of yourself, and hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My worst race also includes crying. Yay! Aren't you glad I picked this theme?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've run a couple of races where I thought "isn't this supposed to be fun? This is not fun." That is usually the sign of needing to take a break.

    ReplyDelete