Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Bests and Worsts

Jill, for her Monday Brain Exchange, posted about her best and worst races of 2010. I have been thinking a lot about my WORST races, because my string of 5k failures of the last couple months have probably been my worst. So it is nice to remember the BEST:

I have two - the Chisago Lakes Sprint Tri and Twin Cities Marathon. The tri was great because I had been so sure that I would never learn to swim and never do a triathlon, and I did it. I had a smile on my face the whole race. Twin Cities was another race where I just smiled just about the whole time. Even though it wasn't a PR race, I ran strong and had a good race.

When I started thinking about my worst races, I at first didn't even think about my DNF at the Madison Marathon in May (where I dropped out at mile 11). It only occurred to me as I was writing this post that maybe that should be my worst race. But I don't think so. While that was definitely not a happy experience, going through it helped change my attitude about running and racing in a good way.

Thanks for the topic Jill! It was fun to think back on some great races.

13 comments:

Teamarcia said...

Every time I read Chisago I think it's a Chicago typo.
Hope you're staying warm!

Andrew Opala said...

is there a bad race?

every race is better than sitting on the couch no?

Marlene said...

I think looking back on the "bad" ones can be therapeutic... especially if we learned something from them. But yeah, remembering the good ones is more fun for sure. :D

Jess said...

Those "bad" ones usually do some sort of valuable character building, don't they? I kinda hate them for that -- it's like conceeding to your mom about something she was right about.

LMC said...

Good for you to have variety in your selections for your best races! That's cool. I'm pretty sure that I will never do a Tri. I can't swim and don't even like the idea of it. Hope you're looking forward to more good races in 2011!

Christine said...

I really like your positive attitude and the fact you have no bad race!! Good for you!!

DRog said...

You have had a great year, lots of different training, and several different races, and lots of fun. It sets up for a great 11'!

Julie said...

I was smiling most of Twin Cities too:) Great race for sure! I have had a few of those sucky races...they make us appreciate the good ones!

I hope everything is well for you, take care Heather!

RunMommyRun said...

I think there are no "best" and "worse" races....(well, okay technically there ARE)...instead there are learning moments. :)

You had a great year!

Katie A. said...

You are one of the most positive peeps I know, so keep it up! Glad you aren't dwelling on things that we cannot change.
Have a good week! Hope all is going well with the new biz!

B.o.B. said...

Great post and good idea to think about past races. It's funny the ones that we think are our worst aren't neccessarily our slowest.

Anonymous said...

Some of my worst races are the ones I learned the best lessons from...so you might be onto something...just because it is a bad race doesnt make it the worst! Good outlook!

dawn @ running the dawn said...

i don't think i have a "worst" race from this year either. i definitely have had bad races in the past, but they always get my rear in gear for the next one. so i like to think of them as catalysts, rather than bad :)