Knowing when to say no

Posted by Helen in Running | 0 comments

Oct 21, 11

One of the hardest decisions you have to make as a runner is when not to run.

Your natural inclination is to run, however there are occasions when it doesn’t make sense. You sometimes have to listen to your body or look at other factors before making that decision.

For the past month I’ve been ill, I’ve also been adamant I will run the Woodland Challenge 10k on Sunday. I’ve had a month of unbelievable stress due to the health of a family member, and until a few days ago hadn’t run a step since the Sutton 10k last month.

My husband advised me against running this weekend having seen what he calls ‘the state of you’ when I got in from my 3.5 mile run last Sunday morning. Okay I admit I did look a mess and out of breath but I ran well, it maybe didn’t feel that good during the run but when I saw the splits I was a happy if shattered little bunny!

What with one thing and another I haven’t managed to get a second run in this week until this morning. For my own piece of mind I like to have a 5 mile run under my belt the week before a 10k, you can always pull off that extra mile if pushed during race conditions, but this morning fell just short of 3.5 miles. To hit the 3.5 meant running past my front door but once I saw home that was it, I’d had enough.

Whilst it was a good, if hard, run I knew that I couldn’t have managed six miles, and that’s the problem. To take part on Sunday would have been too much, even if by some miracle I managed to complete the distance I suspect the toll on my health over the coming weeks would be too much. I have goals for my running next year that include half marathons and possibly a full marathon. Running more than I feel comfortable with, risking my health and injury would put those goals in jeopardy. It’s not worth it.

Why is it though that it’s always the races you’ve really looked forward to that are the ones you have to pull out of. Someone called it sods law, I guess they are right.

Have you had to pull out of races? Or did you run and regret it? I’m interested to know how others handle this.