Dumbest thing you've ever done before a race?

waazzzzup wrote:

The dumbest thing ever was i got completely hammered before a Xc race in highschool and won, with 1544.

After XC states where our team finished an unexpectedly high 4th, we proceed to haul several cases of beer, a couple bottles of Mad Dog, an ounce of the kind, and a goodly selection from the girls XC team back out to the course and partied atop Cardiac, the killer hill in the 2nd mile of the course. We were up until some ungodly hour, passed out on the course, woke up at the crack of dawn, had a greasy spoon diner breakfast, then back out to the course for the state Jr Olympics race... we all wound up running 15-30 secs faster than the day before!

I forgot my racing flats for a workout about 3 days before a race in high school and all I had with me was my really heavy trainers. About half way through the 400m repeats, I figured the Kenyans raced without shoes all the time so I would be fine. I guess they must work up to it and probably don't race on asphalt tracks. I finishd the workout but by the next day my feet looked like I had walked through fire (which is also how the felt). The blisters were so big it felt like I was standing on a waterbed.

During high school, I decided to walk home from a friend's house (about 1/2 mile) barefoot. I figured the walk would help toughen up my feet. I ended up burning the bottoms of my feet on the asphalt - huge blisters all over my heels and the balls of my feet. I couldn't run at all for about two weeks after that.

i have a story similar to the coke story. i was in 7th grade, and was an okay runner(like 5:30 mile). I had run the 800 and a 200 leg of a medley already, and my friend zach said it'd be funny if i drank a big slam(1 liter) of Mountain Dew before we ran the 1600. needless to say, i didnt shat my pants or anything...but Zach won in 5:15(he was an 8th grader) and I got 2nd to last in 6:50. it's not funny--- but stupid nonetheless.

7 pints of Guinness the night before a national road 10k. Fun until the last k of the race. It isn't easy being green.

I was jumping on a trampoline the night before a cross country race, when I fell of the trampoline, broke my foot and landed on my head. The next day my foot was so swollen up I couldn't stand on it! I laced my shoe up real tight, did a few strides, and still won the race by running on my toes the whole way. As soon as I crossed the finish line, I started limping again and one of the chute officials asked me what happened. I told him "I fell of a trampoline". He gave me this like like "there was a trampoline on the course".

The 'Isle of Man' Easter Athletics Festival. Better known as the 'Isle of Beer'. 3 races in 3 days and a ridiculous amount of drinking. Somehow I always run best on the final day. It starts with a Friday road race of 5.5 mile. Last time i ran I took 3rd. Then after drinking until falling unconcious its an early start to drive accross the Island for the saturday morning hill race of 4 miles. Last time I ran they changed it to Cross Country because the hills were out of bounds due to Foot and Mouth Disease. I took 2nd but felt like throwing up the whole way. After finishing at about 1am its straight to the pub and the 13 mile cross Island run starts taking in 8 pubs. At night its more drinking usually with yards of ale challenges. Usually this means collapsing early in the night. The final day is a 5km road relay. And what do you know I record the quickest time beating some of the few guys who hadn't entered in to the spirit of the festival and drank like silly. The time was only 15:07 but I still performed better than the other 2 races! Its one crazy weekend but this is a dumb pre-race antic that I would do again!

I was a senior in high school and did not care for a particular kid. So me and 4 friends made him eat a box of exlax before practice. Man it was some funny shit. Coach was so pissed at usand the kids mom threatend to sue us. Poor basterd missed 3 days of school with the shits.

(1) Getting a very strong deep tissue massage 2 hours before the Crescent City Classic in 2002. I ran like shit as a result.

(2) Running a very hard 40km tempo run 7 days before a big marathon. I ended up having to drop out of the marathon at 30km.

right befoer our own invite meet i decided along wiht some other friends to do the annual lighting of the c o teh mountain(huge c) and ways ya we live at elevation and the c is over a 2 mile run up to about a mile high in elevation so we do that. after its lit we sprint down like jackasses and get away, the next morning i have to race and comeo ut and kcik everyones ass feeling like total shit, i sitll do not know to this day how i ran so well after than

How do you run a very hard 40K tempo run?

hmmm. I didn't think I had any good stories in me until your posts sparked a memory. (let's see if any of my long lost buddies are on this board...)

(long post)

Back in HS (I was a wide-eyed sophomore) the team travels to a large outdoor track invite. Thinking about it, it might've been the county relay meet. Anyway we arrive early, and coach tells us we have over 2 hrs. till our first event (the DMR), so "just lay low men." "Sure thing coach, it's us, remember?" Not 15 minutes later we were on a school field behind the stands playing a light game of tackle football while our distance leader/mentor Dan runs off for the boys room.

Another 10 minutes or so of youthful bliss pass, and then events take a dramatic turn. Here comes Dan, charging up the hill towards us at a dead sprint, screaming "Our race is starting! Our race is starting!" Well, in the space of about 30 terrifying seconds 3 boys docked in full sweats (and Dan) transition from rolling around on a football practice field to streaking back through the stands, flying over a chain link fence, and darting to the start line all the while shedding layers of clothing and dressing into proper shoes. The DMR was already 200 meters into the race and Dan (our lead-off guy) never even broke stride.

I must've been half spent by that flurry of activity and adrenaline before even being handed the baton. Dan ran his mile and presently I got the baton (800 leg.) Everyone had to of been behind me at that point because the track was a virtual ghost town, and I can only imagine the stands were standing at full salute, tears in eyes, as this kid blazed off into the sunset at full sprint.

...And so there I was, straining and rigging down the final barren straightaway, legs half-cramped, but nonetheless feeling liberated to end it and happy about my performance. Except, something was horribly wrong. Bob, our 400 leg (and to this day very close friend), was standing off of lane 6, practically smiling at me. What could this mean? In front of him stood the official, directing me to continue running. I was to run another lap. We had run out of order. Dear God.

Anyone who has run a full bent race, tying up in the process, and then been made to keep on another 400 probably knows where this is going. Indeed this is where this is going. Somewhere on the start of the backstretch the transaxle completely blew out and the wheels came flying off. Then a blur of 400m runners streamed by, it was all a dream, a dreadful, humiliating dream. For the next 200 meters the stadium reverberated with the appalling screeching sound of grinding metal. I was half expecting to be lapped not once but twice during that epic quarter-lap catastrophe.

The finish was near. In my mind I was still running, still clinging to some level of dignity, but in reality this petrified block of wood was skidding across the finish line, sparks flying. Only 3 legs ended up running the race, wonder if we were even counted in the final results. Who cared at that point?

Incredibly this wasn't the end of the woes. We had the 4x1600 later that day and were looking forward to a normal race. I ran leadoff and again rigged the 2nd half split, then stood off the track as our 3rd leg was getting the baton. Mike -- a special ed/vo tech type of guy (in addition to being a good runner), who once ran 8 miles to a dual meet because he missed the bus -- gets the baton and promptly trips over his own footing. No big deal, though. "Get up! Get up! Get going already! Blimey, what's wrong with you!" we're all screaming. Up he finally gets, and proceeds to... jog. This went on for 4 excruciating laps. Apparently something in his head had at long last snapped. Naturally, Dan anchored and crossed the finish line about 2 laps behind the last place guy. But who cared at that point?

Anyway... sorry for the long post, but wanted to relate that meltdown.

This didn't happen to me, but to one of the other guys on my college team ...

We were headed to a meet in the southeastern corner of Kansas, which was going to be the last big meet of the year for anyone who wasn't top 7. So we're charging down the highway, and everyone's getting ready for the race the next day, staying hydrated and whatnot.

Now, we had a complete ass for an assistant coach that year, no one liked him and he had been horrible from day one. So, my buddy's sitting in the very back of this 15p van (with the doors in the back), and he asks if we can pull over because he has to pee.

The coach says, "No, the other van will lose us" -- I mean, come on! this is kansas for god's sake! -- so 20 minutes go by, and my friend asks again. Again, the coach says no. Someone offers up their nalgene for my buddy to pee in, but he's really a modest, quiet guy and he doesn't want to do it ... another 20 minutes, again the coach won't pull over.

So, finally we hit that part of Kansas where the highway tolls start, so my friend (unbeknownest to anyone else in the van) plans his escape. But, he has to go so bad that he actually doesn't wait until the van is completely stopped before popping the back doors and launching himself out of the back. He hits the pavement in the middle of highway, rolls and goes and pees.

At the hospital when we finally get to the meet, it turns out that he had fractured both his wrists, had to be put in casts and couldn't race the next day.

Loretta?

Hey, careful about the "this is Kansas, for God's sake" comment. Although the southeast part of the state does look a lot like Arkansas. Sorry Bubba1

more specific wrote:

some of these things are totally bs. you drunk a two-liter of coke 90s before the race? the fastest ive ever seen someone drink one is a little over 2:00 and he totally chugged the whole time.

Who gives a f***? The visuals in the writing style alone make the post a true classic.

Still funny. But I really need to find the classic post about crapping the pants at the local race or whatever it was called. Need to see if it's as funny as I remember.

Yea I got a good one that comes to mind .

I was just a freshman at the time, I guess our coach thought it would be funny to put our worst and youngest distance guys in the 4 x 800 at most likely the biggest meet in the state. I'm talking 2:45 + for each guy. Well this was one of the first track meets I had ever run in, had never run in a relay before so I had no idea what to expect. The race was scheduled at 4 pm, and our team got there at 9 am. It was an unexpected 40 degrees out and all I brought was my uniform and a t shirt over it. I spent about 7 hours hiding out in the bathroom which was only remotely warmer than outside. And on top of that I didn't pack any money or food to eat. I just kept walking out of the bathroom every hour and chugging a bunch of water.

By the time our race was ready to get started me and the other guys were just shaking and our teeth were chattering. No one on our team wore any spikes. The first leg goes out hot with the pack, drops the baton, runs 20 meters back, picks it back up and continues running. I was the third leg and after I got the handoff I immediately got lapped by the entire field. Our team finished in a blistering 10:23 in DFL. 2nd last was 8:46. After I finished I was warm for about 5 minutes, and got dizzy from no food the entire day. Then I sat right back down in the semi heated bathroom where I had spent the last 7 hours of my life.

That was definitely my dumbest and most miserable experience in my life. It sure felt good to win that race 4 years later with almost the same team though.

Went out to a bar the night before a race. Drank a few beers and was standing for like 5 hours then did a hard night run to complete a double that day for 45 minutes home. Ended up only 8 seconds off my lifetime 5k PR the next day, probably could have got it in an ideal setup that day but I also raced stupidly, leading/swerving and spending useless energy. Actually I don't regret anything about that. It is what it is. The night at the bar was better than most of the other nights I wasted there.