There was a time I could run a 5K in less than 18 minutes. I was reminded of this fact recently as I dragged myself across the finish line of the first 5K I've run in a few years.
My time: 33 minutes and change.
Races like 5Ks, 10ks and marathons are great motivational goals and measuring sticks for overall fitness and health. A good time in a race reinforces those goals and gives you confidence, a sense of accomplishment and a desire to keep running.
But what about a bad race?
"Far more can be learned from failed attempts than successes," says running coach Jenny Hadfield, co-author of Running for Mortals. Bad races allow runners to learn from adversity.
"You have to walk through the emotions of the event—anger, sadness, disappointment—and in doing so begin to unveil the true lessons."
A bad race can teach you about strategic mistakes. Amateur runners often overtrain going into a race and are worn out on race day. We can underestimate the impact of weather. Or we can eat and drink too much or too little, Hadfield says.
In my case, I think trained too little and expected too much. This is my first race after nearly a year of limited running. I prepared—running for three months leading up to the race. But my training was sporadic.
Noted runner Brian Clarke recently posed this question in relation to race stamina: "Can you cover the race distance without stopping?"
That alone should have been a sign that my expectations were too high. In preparation, I could easily run two miles, though never at a pace I was happy with. But mile three was killing me.
Now I know I have to get further in my training before my next event.
A bad race can also reveal more than strategic error; it can tell you something about who you are, Hadfield says. "Bad days open the door to improvement and it is how you respond that creates the character of the athlete."
I'm older and I'm slower than the days when I could break 18 minutes in a 5K. My body is thicker and more prone to pain. But I knew that going into my bad race. My character, though, is stronger.
Two days after my bad race I was back out on the track. My unofficial 5k time: 29 minutes. I'll take that, learn from it and sign up for the next race.
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