How do I get over a bad race at states??

Do you qualify for any post-season events?

Sadly no because you had to get top 10 if your team didn't qualify which mine didn't because my team wasn't even there to begin with. In new jersey the qualifying meet after states is called meet of Champions and i didn't qualify for that

Use it as motivation to train well through the winter and run good times in track.

Pick yourself up and recover. Your race is over, your season is over--no more fretting or worrying or whatever. What's done is done. I assume you do track, so now it's time to focus for that. Take a small break and train smart, train hard. There will be plenty of times to make up for your one bad race in the winter/spring. Good luck.

Holmdel can be really tough, especially with the gusts of wind there were in the morning when you ran. It's probably 30 seconds harder than the course you ran at sectionals, so you didn't run that poor of a race. Just Chalk it up as a bad race and use it as motivation to do better next year.

It's just one race. Move on.

Be in the moment. Racing is about being in the moment, doing your best, thinking on your feet.

16:30 is a decent XC mark. You'll be fine. Look ahead. Above all, enjoy the sport and give it your best.

turkey trot

I have a 'one day' rule for post race emotions. It applies for both good and bad races. If I have a really good race, I celebrate and kind of pat myself on the back. If I have a bad race, I will allow myself to wallow for a while and feel bad. But in both instances, I only let the feeling persist for the day of the race. The next day, I go back to doing my thing as if the day before never happened. It's a good way to stay humble for me.

Dust yourself off and try again.

You never lose. You either win, or you learn,

Your parents are proud of you regardless of your time and place. They'll be there for the races where you have big breakthroughs as well as the ones that don't go so well. Races, good and bad, are all learning experiences. Keep training hard and striving for the ever-elusive "perfect" race. Good luck!

As a runner who raced for three decades I can tell you just get up off the floor and race again. No race is the race. Whether it's in school or afterwards.

You panicked because you had oneitis.

Eventually you learn the same thing the good athletes learn.

N E X T

Did you run at Holmdel? That is a very hard course and if you arent familiar with the course you will not run well

Yeah I ran at holmdel first race there I underestimated it, the bowl KILLS

You could register for FL Regional. That's what my son did last year after he had a bad race at states He had trained and worked for two years to be all state.

Two weeks later he ran a big PR at FL regional. It definitely helped him feel better about his hs XC career and brought some attention from college coaches.

As someone above said, don't worry for one second about your parents. They're proud of you. I guarantee it. Any disappointment you might be detecting is *for* you, rather than *with* you.

Oh. And in the spring? My son made all state in track. There's always another race.

Just curious, what was your son's progression of PRs like??

I normally would say: Quit the team, but since the season and existence of the team has ended, I would say: Don't sign up for the team again.

You won't be automatically on it, you have to affirmatively join. Being unaffiliated with any school solves all problems. No jerk-off coach, no dense schedule of meaningless races. You can train exactly perfectly for whatever event you are best at.

Prediction:

You will not heed this advice, and your running 'career' will end upon graduation.

Link wrote:

You could register for FL Regional. That's what my son did last year after he had a bad race at states He had trained and worked for two years to be all state.

Two weeks later he ran a big PR at FL regional. It definitely helped him feel better about his hs XC career and brought some attention from college coaches.

Yes, definitely run FL Regional!

I was going to say the same thing but he said didn't qualify for post season meets.

Agree with Juice Springsteen. Give yourself a a few days to grieve – you worked hard and geared up for a big performance, and it’s okay to recognize this as the major disappointment that it is. But then start looking ahead toward new challenges and new goals, and time will help you to put it in perspective.

I know something of what you’re dealing with – I completely bombed my state XC race in my senior year, my last chance for a state medal. Faded horribly over the last mile in front of parents and friends, ending up with my worst finish ever at states and close to a minute behind my best. Still remember the horrible feeling like yesterday, although it was 15 years ago. Running spring track and college XC/track helped me big time. I not only had other good races that made that awful race seem less significant in the big picture, but as time went on I saw that there are plenty of great runners out there who have had truly awful races in high-stakes situations, and that doesn’t diminish their other successes or what they’ve achieved. Life and running will go on.

Freshman XC his PR was just a bit under 19. Senior year he was just a bit slower than you. In track, junior year he ran about 10:40. Senior states he broke his PR by 20 s and also broke 10 (though not by much - he runs for a small hs). He didn't start training in the offseason until his junior year. I think it was because he didn't improve very much his sophomore year. So, it's not like he's a superstar, but he got the attention (mostly from D2 and D3) because of the trajectory of his performances. He got into some good colleges (academically) and decided to focus on his school work instead of running.

Anyway, hang in there. Keep training hard, keep dreaming of the future, be prepared to win some and lose some. After all, if we always ran our best when it mattered most, the sport would much less interesting than it is. Because when we do run our best, it then matters so much more.

Oh: And there isn't a runner out there who hasn't crapped the bed in a big race at some point in their lives - well, except the ones who don't run big races.