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The 6 most dreadful running scenarios

This is the stuff of runners' nightmares

These are the scenarios that runners have nightmares about. These are the things that we practice day in and day out to avoid. These are the things that are sadly sometimes out of our control. Here are six of the most dreadful (but unfortunately common) running scenarios.

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Running so close to (but not hitting) your goal time

https://twitter.com/chrisnickinson/status/1229079425658085376

All runners have benchmark times that they want to hit. Whether it’s a sub-four minute mile (see video above), breaking three hours in the marathon or 25 minutes for the 5K–lots of runners have a time goal when they’re on the start line.

Running within a tenth of a second of that time goal is both a dagger to the heart, and inevitable at one point in their running career.

Terrible weather on race day

 

When you’ve got a big race planned and no one notified mother nature, it’s a big blow. It’s important to go into these situations with a positive attitude, but there are also basic laws of physics at play. It’s a lot harder to run into a massive wind than to run in calm weather. That’s just a fact.

A freak accident that causes injuries

Running injuries from overtraining are a hard pill to swallow, but at least you know you’re ultimately the one to blame. However, freak accidents that cause running injuries are truly terrible–they feel like a real injustice.

For example, Canadian steeplechase record holder Matt Hughes ran into a fire hydrant in 2017. That injury took him out for 10 months.

An upset stomach

A runner’s diet in the days leading up to a race is equal parts bland and basic. Their pre-race food consumption is for utility, not taste. This is to avoid stomach upset on the start line, because a cranky tummy can ruin any race plan.

Even worse than an upset stomach on race day is an upset stomach mid-training-run (with no washroom in sight).

A dead watch

There’s nothing worse that getting dressed to go for a run and finding out that you’ve forgotten to charge your watch–especially when you’re time-crunched.

Discontinued shoes

 

After months of searching, you finally did it, you found running shoes that you love. You love these shoes so much that you buy them in bulk, you tell all of your friends to try them and people can spot you from a distance just by looking at your feet. You feel devoted to one particular shoe make and model.

And then the inevitable happens–the shoe gets discontinued, and you’re left to pick up the pieces and find a new running shoe to love.

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