...when you completely bomb a race?
What do you do when your pour your heart and soul into training and come up empty on race day? What do you do when you're in the shape of your life, but it doesn't show in the results? What do you do when, on the biggest stage of your career, you choke?
Do you give up? Do you sulk? Do you wallow in self-pity? Do you hang your head in defeat?
No. Hell no.
You race again. You rest, recover (physically and psychologically) and then you get after it. You don't let all that training go to waste. You don't let that disappointment consume you; you use it for fuel. You pour gasoline on the fire that's still burning -- faintly, smoldering, but still burning. You don't let that fire go out.
You're better than that failed race. You race again, and again, and again; until your feet are bleeding and you physically can't push your legs one...more...stride...
These races are validation and vindication. Validation for the miles and the trials you've suffered that didn't show on your disastrous day. Vindication for a poor effort, because you are better than your bad race.
So I had a disaster of a race at the Olympic Trials. No need to explain that any further. A few hours after the race, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything (once I got recovered) was to simply get out and compete again. To feel full of run instead of consumed by suffering.
In the month since then, I've run three races, all in the past three weeks. I started off with a 14:45 (4th place) at the Anthem 5k in Louisville, then a 15:22 solo effort at the Bockfest 5k in Cincinnati, and finally this morning a 30:19 (6th place) 10k at the Rodes City Run back in Louisville.
In two weeks I'm planning on running the Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville, to complete their so-called Triple Crown of Running, and then after that I'm eyeing the hometown Flying Pig Marathon. The ultimate goals for that are: 1) finish a marathon, 2) win at home, and 3) break the course record (2:20:25). After that, well, who knows...maybe some rest and recuperation? Maybe a summer of 5ks? Maybe some combination of both? That's a future-Tommy problem; let that guy worry about it. Right now I'm all about enjoying the present.
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Post-Script (because this is a shameful topic that doesn't deserve it's own post)
While I'm mostly very happy with my race at the Rodes City Run this morning (30:19 is the second-fastest road 10k I've run), I'm also extremely frustrated.
Why? Because I was cheated out of $300.
Not by the race or the organization or anything; rather, cheated by other runners in the field. I finished 6th; top-five get prize money. Two of those runners beat me two weeks ago at the Anthem 5k. The other three are all from Hebron, KY, members of the infamous LM Elite training group.
So I'll just come out and say it: those runners (as well as the overall women's winner) are doping. No, all of them haven't failed drug tests -- that's because they're never tested. Not in Kenya, not in Ethiopia, not in Hebron, not after races; never.
Members of that group (an assembly line of African imports) and their Russian manager have a long and blatant history of PED use.
See here. And here. Here, too. Oh, here as well. Also, here. Got it?
RACE DIRECTORS: Stop welcoming this group to your races! Your actions (or lack thereof) set the tone for the whole sport. You can either curb doping at all costs, as Indy Monumental has done, or you can enable it. By following the latter path, not only are you tarnishing the supposed level playing field that your entire event is predicated upon, but you are also tacitly condoning cheating.
Are you oblivious or do you just not care? It shouldn't be there first, because it is your job to know who's entering your races. And if it's the second, then you have no business hosting any kind of athletic competition. So what is it?
Your participants reflect the values of your organization. What image -- what brand -- do you wish to project to the running community? Is cheating in your events okay? If you won't draw the line at doping, well then can I cut the course? If no one sees me, does it even matter? Do you even care?
It's up to you, race directors, to draw the line. You can prevent cheating at your races, but you have to actually do something about it. Take the stand for clean sport.
What do you do when your pour your heart and soul into training and come up empty on race day? What do you do when you're in the shape of your life, but it doesn't show in the results? What do you do when, on the biggest stage of your career, you choke?
Do you give up? Do you sulk? Do you wallow in self-pity? Do you hang your head in defeat?
No. Hell no.
You race again. You rest, recover (physically and psychologically) and then you get after it. You don't let all that training go to waste. You don't let that disappointment consume you; you use it for fuel. You pour gasoline on the fire that's still burning -- faintly, smoldering, but still burning. You don't let that fire go out.
You're better than that failed race. You race again, and again, and again; until your feet are bleeding and you physically can't push your legs one...more...stride...
These races are validation and vindication. Validation for the miles and the trials you've suffered that didn't show on your disastrous day. Vindication for a poor effort, because you are better than your bad race.
So I had a disaster of a race at the Olympic Trials. No need to explain that any further. A few hours after the race, the one thing I wanted to do more than anything (once I got recovered) was to simply get out and compete again. To feel full of run instead of consumed by suffering.
In the month since then, I've run three races, all in the past three weeks. I started off with a 14:45 (4th place) at the Anthem 5k in Louisville, then a 15:22 solo effort at the Bockfest 5k in Cincinnati, and finally this morning a 30:19 (6th place) 10k at the Rodes City Run back in Louisville.
In two weeks I'm planning on running the Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville, to complete their so-called Triple Crown of Running, and then after that I'm eyeing the hometown Flying Pig Marathon. The ultimate goals for that are: 1) finish a marathon, 2) win at home, and 3) break the course record (2:20:25). After that, well, who knows...maybe some rest and recuperation? Maybe a summer of 5ks? Maybe some combination of both? That's a future-Tommy problem; let that guy worry about it. Right now I'm all about enjoying the present.
_________________________________________________________________________
Post-Script (because this is a shameful topic that doesn't deserve it's own post)
While I'm mostly very happy with my race at the Rodes City Run this morning (30:19 is the second-fastest road 10k I've run), I'm also extremely frustrated.
Why? Because I was cheated out of $300.
Not by the race or the organization or anything; rather, cheated by other runners in the field. I finished 6th; top-five get prize money. Two of those runners beat me two weeks ago at the Anthem 5k. The other three are all from Hebron, KY, members of the infamous LM Elite training group.
So I'll just come out and say it: those runners (as well as the overall women's winner) are doping. No, all of them haven't failed drug tests -- that's because they're never tested. Not in Kenya, not in Ethiopia, not in Hebron, not after races; never.
Members of that group (an assembly line of African imports) and their Russian manager have a long and blatant history of PED use.
See here. And here. Here, too. Oh, here as well. Also, here. Got it?
RACE DIRECTORS: Stop welcoming this group to your races! Your actions (or lack thereof) set the tone for the whole sport. You can either curb doping at all costs, as Indy Monumental has done, or you can enable it. By following the latter path, not only are you tarnishing the supposed level playing field that your entire event is predicated upon, but you are also tacitly condoning cheating.
Are you oblivious or do you just not care? It shouldn't be there first, because it is your job to know who's entering your races. And if it's the second, then you have no business hosting any kind of athletic competition. So what is it?
Your participants reflect the values of your organization. What image -- what brand -- do you wish to project to the running community? Is cheating in your events okay? If you won't draw the line at doping, well then can I cut the course? If no one sees me, does it even matter? Do you even care?
It's up to you, race directors, to draw the line. You can prevent cheating at your races, but you have to actually do something about it. Take the stand for clean sport.
Ugh. I am so sorry that you had to race against that group. They make my blood boil. I hope more race directors do like Indy and start keeping the Hebron group (and similar groups with the bad kind of notoriety) out of regional races.
ReplyDeleteArticle on the Enquirer today related to the PS... :(
ReplyDeleteFor a non competitor it mostly makes me sad, if I were at a competitive level, I would really be f.... annoyed...