So you had a bad race

Part of racing is the inevitable “bad race.” You train hard for months for your goal race only to face the disappointment of a time slower than expected, a DNF (did not finish), or some other perceived failure. The disappointment can be overwhelming but take heart, the bad race experience points to the fact that you are an athlete that cares and is attempting to reach your potential. Any athlete in the quest to reach their potential will face challenges of bad races or workouts on their way to breakthroughs! With that in mind, it is still important to learn coping strategies to process a bad race so it becomes just another story in the journey and not a gremlin blocking your path to success.

Let Yourself Feel

You don’t have to be optimistic or ignore your feelings. Feel sad, grieve the missed goal you worked for, cry. Allowing yourself to feel your feelings helps you to process them and move through them to acceptance. Be patient with yourself to take the time you need to feel them but be aware of the tendency to dwell on them in an unhelpful way.

Look at the Positives

Racing can create tunnel vision where we structure our lives and training around one race or day and rely on it to be the defining factor of our experience. I encourage athletes to zoom out of thinking about just the race result and look at the positives they gained from the training they put in. Maybe you met new friends at a training group or finally figured out a fueling strategy that works for you. Another way to look at the positives with the race itself is to list off all the things that did go right, things you learned, and if it fulfilled your “Why” of competing.

Have Perspective

A bad race does not define you or accurately reflect your training or potential. It is easy to take a bad race and internalize it to mean negative things about ourselves and our abilities. It can start with a simple thought like, “I had bad training” and that thought can spiral down the dark hole to “I am a bad athlete that should just quit.” A bad race is a reflection only of the day not of your potential, your fitness, or your value.

Remember bad races happen they are the stepping stones to your unlimited potential!