Have You Ever Had an "Angry" Race?

not in running. im a hobby jogger. trying out different emotional fuel right now. bembe oya aguabella etc. though i tend to have anger powered sets. reacting to idiots. you know someone walking in lane one on the phone. so i have to avoid the times people are around. so i will stay in my zones and not get injured. because you know how hobby joggers are always on the edge.

my best swim race was anger powered. it was conference prelims 200 breast. the way it worked was the way to get into state was off of time, not place. and i knew i had to go all out. and that i could only do it once. so i had to do it prelims instead of finals. so for quite a while before the race i was looping just the start of a song on the white zombie astro creep 2000 album that goes- " i just said up yours". i just played that line over and over with a litte of the music after it. and i was talking to every bit of the world that says im nothing. when i went up to the blocks to race i had literal tunnel vision. and my hearing was a bit weird. i knew my paces and got my best time. won conference and got into state. the anger worked well. but the tunnel vision thing was weird and very real.

also one time i had a confrontation with my girlfriend at the times ex boyfriend. and i went inside. and i was shaking mad. and i said- i wonder if this makes me all weak or what. so i did a pull up set. and it felt easier than usual. all pumped on conflict.... but. if you use those states it isnt free. and you still have to rest up and regenerate after. i wouldnt really use it except for the season max. definantly can progress the season better with out that energy the rest of the season.

oops sorry to extend the too long... i did not win conference. i won conference prelims. but the time made the cut. really not too bad for my first year at the distance.

Look, you've got to up your game. You're a solid entry level troll-provocateur, but this isn't going to get you into the big leagues.

You need to strike a balance between originality and cashing in on letsrun tropes. Here, you do neither. Those of us who have been around a while a fully immersed in a great body of work about "running on hate". It's a thing. So, your running on anger notion does not check the originality box, yet does not quite hit the mark as an in-joke.

Maybe try lurking for a few months. Soak up the culture and organising principles of LRC. Read some classic threads. Get to know Eddy Lee, the Xfit bro, badthreadpointer, the concrete runner. Even David45 got some people to bite. When you have a well thought out thread, reinvent yourself with a new screen name and give it a go. We're rooting for you.

A girl hurt my feelings pretty bad about a year ago. Usually me and her liked to smooch and go on dates and what not, but one day she decided to smooch someone else and not tell me about it.

Been running all my 800s on nothing but pure, unadulterated hatred since.

All I can say, is that when it comes to running, if your feelings are hurt, your legs don’t. Use the pure agony and hatred to your advantage, and never let go of any negative aspect of your life. Keep letting the pain, sorrow, regret and anger keep building until eventually you can run 1:40.89 in the 800m.

I showed up at a local 10K years ago and I ran into a guy I had raced against before in the john before the race. He mentioned that I looked in rough shape/like ship. The final half mile was up hill, I had forgotten about him by then until I noticed him up ahead, probably one of the best kicks I ever had. Passed him for the age group W

2015 M40 800m State Championship Serbia Europe. After warm up,just before the race they "joked" something about my nationality (I am not serbian,but as minority living in this country).

2laps on pure hate,who saw it never forget.Others who tried to follow hurt even today.

CopperRunner wrote:

A girl hurt my feelings pretty bad about a year ago. Usually me and her liked to smooch and go on dates and what not, but one day she decided to smooch someone else and not tell me about it.

Been running all my 800s on nothing but pure, unadulterated hatred since.

All I can say, is that when it comes to running, if your feelings are hurt, your legs don’t. Use the pure agony and hatred to your advantage, and never let go of any negative aspect of your life. Keep letting the pain, sorrow, regret and anger keep building until eventually you can run 1:40.89 in the 800m.

Dude, you will go much faster if you run on love. Learn to love racing.

hey copperRunner-

thanks for the posts youve made about your 800 training and racing. when i see them i think- keep an eye on that guy. he's getting somewhere. i can learn from him. thanks. you are inspiring. keep on pushing on.

At a 5k road race, 30 or more years ago, I was on the front line. At the gun, I was elbowed in the side, then a high school kid tried to run me into the curb. I told him to "Back off, or I'll smash you." Got really angry after that and went into the lead, never looked back. I won the race in 15:35.

I found ways to manufacuture anger leading up to races when I was a bit younger (middle school/early high school) but it really only ever got me in to a mindset of going out too hard and dying lol. When I was 15 my 5k PR was 17:30 but I took out my conference pace in 5:10. Still ended up PRing but I was picturing my crush going out with this one jerk when I was on the starting line. I've always had my best performances when going into races with very little time expectations and kind of just a relaxed demenor. Too much emotion one way or another ends up making my race all goofy.

I got my 5k PB with an “angry race”, basically I had a super crap week at work, was stressed out and this got me in a good mindset and I was ready to hurt that day as a way to deal with my frustrations! Also I had skipped a few runs that week due to workload which served as an effective taper.

About 30 years ago when I was just a high schooler I entered a 5k road race. I was running along enjoying the race and just minding my own business when some guy muttered something like ‘back off, I’ll smash you’. He was the angriest man I’ve ever seen. I always wondered what his problem was.

Beetle wrote:

I got my 5k PB with an “angry race”, basically I had a super crap week at work, was stressed out and this got me in a good mindset and I was ready to hurt that day as a way to deal with my frustrations! Also I had skipped a few runs that week due to workload which served as an effective taper.

More than once I've turned a stressful week at work into a good race on the weekend. I funneled my anger/frustration into the race and ran a good one. You have to pace yourself, though. You don't want to waste all your anger/frustration in mile one and run out of steam.

I want to run on anger, but never got the chance.

Age 29. PR of 16:30 5K / 4:30 mile. I typically won my age group of 25-29.

Wife and I just had our first born. Running fell off for two years and I got out of shape. Not fat, just not good cardio / strength. I came back via local 5K and ran 19:30 and in the last mile this bro kept cutting in front of me and kept saying "there is now way you'll out kick me". I was sort of laughing at the guy and shocked at how much of a d!ck he was. We were in 20th place so I didn't care and he sprinted ahead and beat me by 3 seconds. I didn't even kick or sprint to beat him. I just was enjoying my time back at a race and taking it in.

Apparently he went back to his running group talking about how he was faster than me, when one of my friends said "Dude, he'll WRECK you once he's in good shape" and the dude got really quiet.

A few months later I was in good shape (16:50) and apparently he signed up to run a 5K that I was also scheduled to run. Come race day, he was nowhere to be found, which is too bad, since I was ready to run on pure ANGER against this tool who thought his 19:27 5K was special.

A couple friends in HS were goofing around and throwing rocks at each other and one of them stopped paying attention so he got hit in the head and was gushing blood and his mom rushed him to the hospital.

The gf of the one that threw the rock heard an incorrect rumor of what happened and thought he beat the other kid up. So minutes before his race his gf breaks up with. And while warming up his parents heard the same rumor and grounded him for 3 months.

My friend had a PR of 19:02 but had only run 20:30 that season. He went out with the leaders in the jv race and actually lead at the mile with a 5:15 or so first mile. He faded badly but tied his PR of 19:02.

FutureOldHead wrote:

I found ways to manufacuture anger leading up to races when I was a bit younger (middle school/early high school) but it really only ever got me in to a mindset of going out too hard and dying lol. When I was 15 my 5k PR was 17:30 but I took out my conference pace in 5:10. Still ended up PRing but I was picturing my crush going out with this one jerk when I was on the starting line. I've always had my best performances when going into races with very little time expectations and kind of just a relaxed demenor. Too much emotion one way or another ends up making my race all goofy.

All jokes aside, I do think angry running has merit in the “lactic death” races aka 400m-1000m.

Obviously me breaking up with a girl isn’t the only factor, and doesn’t actually make me hate every second of every day, but I have a lot of crap to be upset about, and if you can panel that rage into the last 200-300 of your race instead of the first 200-300 of the race it’s very helpful.

There’s been quite a few studies that show anger reduces pain reception, so using anger can be an advantage if you know how to use it.

For the 1500 and 3k I really like to go into those races with a calm strategic mindset, but 800 and under I like to get myself so angry I’m shaking. I know I’ve gotten to the point in my 400/600/800 running that I don’t feel any pain nor do I fear said pain in the earlier stages of the race. I definitely feel my legs starting to give up on me and I feel the burn but it doesn’t register as pain. This used to make me race like an idiot, and you do have to get used to it, but it also made me realize that in an 800 the majority of unseasoned runners slow down between 400-500m because they are scared of the pace and possible consequences of said pace. What they don’t understand is that if you are in an 800m, and your first 400 is too fast there isn’t really room for course correction.

When I’m angry and thinking somewhat irrationally I tend to blow past people in that 400-500 zone which secures me really good position in races. I can then stop restraining myself on the next backstretch and I start opening a gap/ catching leaders. My last 100 is usually pretty slow, but I’ll often have put up enough ground in the race that I can win or place well.