How do you deal with a bad performance? This is a topic I will keep covering over and over again.
Since 2004, I’ve averaged about fourteen different running events a year ranging from 5k to the grueling 26.2 marathon. My goal in the beginning was to accomplish running the LA marathon and after an embarrassing and painful debut in 2004, I felt compelled to start from scratch and run smaller events. To my surprise, I sucked at every distance. I thought that shear athleticism would equal fast times but quickly realized athleticism alone would not be enough. There were several races I ran where someone twenty or thirty years older than me would go zooming pass me and it was completely deflating. After running various events in 2004 and experiencing the highs and lows after various performances, my goal for 2005 was simply to improve my overall time, performance, and to build a better running foundation.
2005, I registered for all the same running events and I found success but not in every race and not by huge margins. I expected to jump from running a 5:59 in my first marathon to 4 hours in my second but I was only able to manage a 5:44. The year after, I clocked in 4:56, and the year after that 4:44. I quickly realized that improving my time would not come as quick as I wanted it. I had to learn to be patient and understand that you have to patient and realistic. At some point, I became obsessed with trying to improve and trying to run the next race no matter what it was just so I could yield a faster time but over training and little time off, led to injury after injury and my performances began to suffer. Sometimes you experience burnout when you don’t even realize it. You need to take some time of, relax, and try to get back to running for the enjoyment.
At today’s Keep LA running 5k in Playa Del Rey, I share some advice with a runner and I tried to build her spirit back up after what she considered to be a horrible performance. Her name was Catherine. I saw her warming up 30 minutes before the race and she looked focused and ready. When the gun went off, everyone shout out of the starting chute. Around the 2-mile mark, I could see her up ahead and her body language did not look good. Before I got to her, I saw Catherine stop. I kept going and after the race, I asked her what happened. She just broke into tears.
She fell apart around mile 2 and just did not have anything left in the tank and psychologically it broke her down. I told her she ran strong and she finished with a respectable time but she had such high expectations. Her previous two 5k’s she came in 3rd in her division. She put so much pressure on herself that the outcome fell short of what she hoped to accomplish but I pointed out to her that this 5k brought out all the fastest runners and though you expect to run well, sometimes other factors come up but you cannot continue to hang your head otherwise your performances will continue to suffer.
Considering it was her 3rd or 4th 5k, she has a lot to learn about improving finishing times as well as how to run the 5k to an exact science. She went out with the front of the pack, which was a six- minute pace. She went from 6 minutes at mile one to 8 minutes for the 2nd mile. A huge drop off because her normal comfort level was 7:30.
She was still gloomy but I was glad she was smiling when she walked away.
To some, this running thing is serious. I wouldn’t be writing these blogs if I didn’t think it was.
As long as you run with passion, the time really doesn’t matter.
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