Race Bombing Stories - Lets hear em!

Was the first race of the season, very very hot day. 90 something.

Coach told me to go out at 5:30 pace (3 mile race), and just keep that consistent for the whole race.

Went out at 5:30, hit the first mile at 5:30, after that..well...lol.

Something like 6:20, then I think my last mile was well over 7 minutes. Completely awful.

Turns out I was in 16:30 shape, even though after that race I didn't think so at all, because the next week I ran 16:30, and it felt great.

I bombed my entire senior track season in high school but one race stood out. I had to run the 800 at an invitational the day after my 18th birthday. I was one of the better runners in the conference (2 mins flat) and was the favorite going in.

But the day before the race I got wasted at a big party and went to bed at about 4am. My race was at 1pm and I actually didn't feel too bad. At the race the gun goes off and nobody wants to take the pace so I said F*** it and took the lead. I was in first place the 500m in and then it just felt like the energy was sucked right out of me. I hit the 600 in 1:35 and finished the last 200 in 40sec, walked it home in DFL. As soon as I finished I went to the bleachers to get my stuff and I drove home.

conference meet my freshman year of college. went out a pr pace but the wind picked up, I started feeling crappy and my pace slipped to 6:30 ish for the last couple of miles. The last half mile I sort of gave up cause no one was around me and basically jogged it in. 50 meters from the finish this teammate of mine that was a competitive weight lifter who never broke 30:00 goes barreling past me. After the race I found out my coach was taking the top seven from that race to regions. I was eighth. So the dude with 20 inch biceps took my spot for the last race.

Senior year in HS and I'd finished 7th the past 2 years in the mile at state. I was a little sick going into this one but I was determined to go for it. I was a good 40m back at the bell and decided to just kick. I was in lane 2, 120m from the finish when I pulled into the lead. I heard my neighbor who came to watch yell for me and then out of nowhere, my legs shut down.

Finished 7th, again.

My senior year of high school, biggest day of my career to that point, my coach tells me that he wants to move me from anchor to 1st leg on the 4 x 800m, because the 1600m was moved up in the program, and he wanted to get me another few minutes of rest.

I had never ran 1st leg, and wasn't happy about it, but agreed. In a fit of idiocy, I went out with this multiple state champion 400/800 type guy, and heard 52, 53, 54 as we came through 400. I felt fine, but knew I was in for a world of hurt at that point.

Next thing you know, with 100m left, I must've stepped into the lane with quicksand in it, because my legs just weren't operating properly.

I ended up passing the stick at 1:59, so basically must have wobbled in the last 50.

I remember sitting under a tree with an ice pack on my head. Then the 1600m was just a survival contest, with no legs under me from the gun. I wish we just stuck to the plan and ran the anchor as usual. I regret it to this day.

To top it off, I got 6th place in the relay, so for all that misery, I got a pink ribbon of all things.

Ran the 1600 with a bad case of the flu. I was in around 4:25 shape at the time. The first 400 was fast, as is usually the case in high school, at 64 seconds. I started to feel it about 500 in, but was determined to just stick it out, and gutted out a 70s 2nd 400. After that my lungs and legs completely shut down. I don't remember the rest of the race, but the finishing time was 5:08, meaning the splits were 2:14 - 2:54.

^ Made me laugh. Good stories.