I'm wiling to bet there were a lot of unhappy people at Presque Isle on Sunday afternoon. Hot and humid are not great marathon or half-marathon running conditions and there's no doubt it affected the race performance of most -- if not all-- of the participants at the Presque Isle marathon & half marathon.

I recently got an email regarding that subject from "C:"

"Any random advise on how to 'get past' a horrible race would be appreciated. At the end of the race (Sunday's half-marathon), sitting on the grass, 'T' commented that it was her worst run ever. Not her worst race, but her worst run. Her legs basically turned into cement blocks around Mile 6 -- leaving a long race ahead of us. As we basically crawled back to the car, I kept remembering the one comment in Runner's World about Marathoning that can be paraphased as, 'I then went past 4 struggling women -- they looked like they won't speak to each other for months after the race' -- that was how Theressa and I looked after the race.
We're still speaking today but the thoughts of 'why are we doing this' seems to be weighing heavily on our minds."

Getting past a horrible race is hard. First, understand that one bad race is just that ... ONE bad race. And, frankly, weather conditions are one thing you just can't fix. Hot and humid weather is going to mean a bad race performance for most folks (some thrive, most of us wilt). So...

Tip No. 1: Accept it. It happened. It's history. It's over.

Tip No. 2: Learn from it. Think about your bad race and what went wrong. Were you tired when you started? Did you do too many runs that week? Did the weather conditions affect you? Did you have sweat dripping in your eyes? Maybe you should wear a hat next time. Were those middle miles lonely and hard? Recruit family/friends to be there to cheer next time.

Tip No. 3: Cut yourself some slack. Not every race is going to be better than the last. There are a lot of factors that affect that, of course. But, the bottom line is that we all have bad days.

Tip No. 4: Give yourself some successes. If you've been consistently working toward goals -- getting faster, going longer...whatever...if you have a bad race and feel defeated, it's time to pull back some. Just take it easy for a while and let yourself be successful -- if you've been running the 1/2, sign up for some 10K or 5Ks and allow yourself to succeed at a shorter distance. If you've been training for a certain speed in a race, leave your watch at home and just run the race without any pressure. Let yourself enjoy running again. And...let your mind and body rest.

Tip No. 5: Prepare for next time. Consider allowing yourself to quit in the future. I know runners are all hell-bent on finishing what they started, but..consider allowing yourself to drop out if you are really having a hard time and you just need a break. I wouldn't recommend this for new runners -- you have to push to reach your goals, but...for those who've done the distance before (and plan to again), there is no shame is saying, "You know what? Today is not my day..and I've had enough. I've done enough. I'm done."

Tip No. 6: Celebrate your victory. If you pushed through and finished the race -- even if it was the worst race you've ever run and it was the hardest you've ever struggled -- you accomplished light years more than most people that morning. Regardless of how hard it was or how much it sucked -- you did it. You won. Period.

Tip No. 7: Bury the race if you must. Write it off. Forget it. Just wipe it from memory and forget it ever happened. Don't put it in your log book or keep the bib. Never happened. There...see how easy that is!

As for wondering why the hell we are racing..well...to be honest with you...I say that to myself at the start of a race almost EVERY time and I say it near the end too. When I am pushing to bring it in and I can't breathe, I think...WHAT is the point of this?????

But, I keep coming back to the races. I keep enjoying it, and I keep doing it. Why? I honestly don't know...the challenge I guess. You just never know what race day is going to bring. Good race, bad race, hard race, easy race -- you learn something about yourself every time. And, every race makes you stronger.

Vets -- got more advice? Chime in! Send me an email or post a reply below.