By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

Wouldn’t be impressive if we could PR in every race, of every distance, in every season? Sure, it would be remarkable. But it is not possible, so let’s accept it cannot be done and move on, focus on what we can actually achieve and go for it next time, hopefully when conditions are optimal.

A bad race is part of our running life. An inferior performance is inevitable even if in the best of circumstances. There will always be parameters we can’t control, such as weather, wardrobe malfunctions or health setbacks, among many others. So, what to do when we don’t have an ideal performance despite the arduous work, effort, sweat, money and emotion we have invested into a race? We evaluate and we move on.

Frustration after a bad race is normal and healthy (Photo Gideon Tanki, Pexels)

Imagine if Eliud Kipchoge had given up after finishing 26 seconds late on the Breaking2 Project back in May 2017? After all the hoopla and the money invested by Nike, he failed in completing the task. He would have missed out on the success of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, where he ran 1:59:40 in Vienna in October 2019. Had he not moved on, he wouldn’t have set up marathon world records in Berlin in 2018 and 2022, cementing his position as the greatest marathon runner of all time.

As the fall racing season gets into gear, be prepared. So, when it is our turn to fail, either miserably or just by running short of our time goal, you’ll know what to do. Invest in finding the courage, the drive and the motivation to continue pursuing your physical limits. You do so by:

Accepting it is normal to be frustrated: You worked hard for a goal, and you did not get it. That is infuriating. So, be frustrated, sure, but don’t bottle up your emotions. Not setting up a PR, having to walk part of the course or not getting onto the podium are all valid reasons to be upset, but not to feel like a miserable loser. Most likely this race was not the payday you needed to keep your family afloat. So, keep the perspective. Let the misery through your system and move on.

Debrief the race: Just after finishing a bad race, when you are hanging out with your friends at the finish line, may not be the best time to recreate the race and figure out what went wrong. Give it some time for all the memories to settle in and your body to recover. Then, do some introspection, talking it over with you coach or running buddies to see if you can pinpoint the issues that lead to the failure.

This is not your last race: There are 5K races every weekend, half marathons throughout the year and there are not many towns and cities these days that don’t have a marathon. So, fortified with what you learned in your debacle, set your sight on a race to redeem yourself, train hard and apply the lessons learned. Sounds promising already.

No need to think this is the end of your running career. You can redeem yourself on the next race (Photo: Cottonbro, Pexels)

Ask yourself the tough questions: Figure out what the main reason why you did not perform as expected. Asking the right questions should lead you to the answer you need. Did you bonk because you did not consume enough calories? Did you get dehydrated? Did you start too fast? Did you start too slow? Did you start too far back and had to weave around slower runners? Were you overdressed or underdressed for the weather? Did your experience stomach issues? Did you party last night? Did you eat and/or sleep properly the night before?

Learn a lesson: What you get when you did not obtain what you were looking for originally, is experience. Success doesn’t come just from achieving your goal every single time. It come from showing up, working hard, doing your best and failing. Sometimes, learning from a failure may be more beneficial to your future running self than completing one goal, one race.

Register for your redemption race, ASAP: Identify the race where you are planning to redeem yourself. Register for it and start working on it right away. The sooner you register, the faster you’ll apply everything you just learned.

Bad races are inevitable. Rebounding from them is mandatory.