This Sunday I incurred my first DNF in a race. I quit at km15 of the Adidas Sundown Marathon. My knee hurt too much, I was getting stitches all over my abdomen and I was just not breathing right. At 1hour 51minutes, I walked off the course with Ribbit stubbornly in tow (despite feeling alright herself) and hailed a taxi back to the hotel. I ran an average pace of 7:12min/km and it was by far the worst run I have ever done. Even the first 10k was agonizing!
I had a huge internal battle from 10km onwards with myself on where was hurting, what was hurting and was it worth it to go with the increasing pain. It was a difficult decision to make to walk off the course and quit running. Quitting is mentally destroying for me and on the way back to the hotel I agonized over the decision. I am still agonizing over the decision today.
Runner’s World had an article that says when you have had a bad race to go over what went wrong and learn from your mistakes. So I have spent the past 36 hours trying to figure out what went wrong? The ultimate conclusion was really just that my heart wasn’t into it and therefore because of that I couldn’t focus. I went to the start of the race with a huge cloud over my head. I was still very worried about my injury. Having this injury put me out of running for a whole month, so I now have this chicken shit attitude for fear of injuring it again. I also ate dinner a bit too early and by the time the race started I was just way, way, way too hungry till the point where I could feel gastric juices flowing in my stomach. It is the most under prepared of all my races since I rarely allowed myself to go hungry to the starting line. My knee injury flared up again and by km5, I could feel the dull ache with each stride. Lastly, the weather was very, very unforgiving. It was very muggy, the heat was terrible and it was just so hot.
I guess ultimately I could continue giving excuses until the cow comes home but what remains is really that the heart was never into the race in the first place. Whatever it is, I am devastated until today and I’m still picking up the pieces.
I was really looking forward to running SCKLM but in light of recent developments, I am considering foregoing the race. I see no point if the heart isn’t there.
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11 comments:
Cheer up. There is no shame in not finishing it. In fact, you made the right choice. Just imagine what will happen if you continue on. As you mentioned, learn from mistakes and it will certainly make you a better runner and person. Look forward and stay positive.
I agree with Runnerz that there is no shame in not finishing and yes, it was the right thing to do. It takes a much stronger person to do what you did than to blindly push on. Remember that both body and mind are yours to keep for the rest of your life and you did right by listening to your body to prevent irrepairable damage. Rest, recover and soon you'll be pounding tarmac with your feet again! :)
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail."~ Confucius
Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely."
~ Henry Ford
Had you stubbornly trudged on in spite of the pain, u might have to miss out more races. It was a good decision to quit before serious damage and u shud pat yourself on the back for being able to make a sane judgment in the heat of battle. There is no reason to fret over a DNF, because I have accumulated even more DNF & DNS after running +20 years. There will be many more years of racing if you use your legs gently.
i fully understand how u felt. shit! well, u n lynn did the right thing by not punishing ur bodies further n risking future races. i agree that if ur heart is not into anything u wanna do, then u will not make it and it wont mean anything. so take a long n wise rest. u will be back stronger, i believe. dont be disheartened:)
well i was the one who typed but dont know why the "anonymous" came out. strange. am sure will see u in races to come when u fully recover.
Who are you anonymous? I still don't see your name. You were not signed in.
Sorry to hear this.
It's the common cycle of running: into running, going to the peak, dropped, injured, coming back stronger, down again, up a bit, keep running..... then you running wisely and wisely...
I DNF too at 2008 KLIM full. I had the same feeling as you. All hard works GONE! But i came back stronger after the incident.
Make sure you recover well, nothing more important than a healthy body. I'm sure you can do it. Be proud of your quitting, your are getting wiser in another sense. Cheers!
Thanks all for your encouragement and support!
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its me. feisty girl. i tried to sign in but couldnt. am computer idiot mah. u got it??:)
No need to get so upset about it, tough lady. Slowly learn lar.. ask someone to teach you. :)
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