Runners--tell me a "bad run" story and a "good run" story.

Bad story:

I almost killed a bunny on my first ever run.
I turned a corner and a cute little bunny was on the grass. I scared it and it ran towards the road. A big truck was coming.

Good story:

Luckily the bunny dodged at the last second.

If I had seen the bunny get squished, I would have given up running forever. And ever.

FYI I just started 1.5 weeks ago.

Bad: Before getting pregnant with my first child I could easily run 5 miles several days a week. My first run after giving birth I couldn't even make it 1/2 mile. I was out of breath and in pain. I felt discouraged and embarassed.

Good: I didn't give up and kept training starting with C25K. I lost all the baby weight plue another 17 lbs. When my daughter was 2 I ran my first half marathon and was greeted at the finish line by my husband and daughter. I was so overwhelmed I cried. We now take our 2 daughters, 16 months and 6 years old, to several charity 5Ks a year. It's something we do as a family.

I could tell poop stories for days!

Bad run: I was training for my first half a little over 2 years ago. I was planning to blow off my long run (I think it was 7, maybe 8, miles that week) and do it another day, but for some reason decided to do it after all. Was very proud of myself. I hadn't really eaten breakfast, so I had most of a bag of gummy worms. Bad decision #1.

Bad decision #2 was the fact that it was about 11 am and sunny by this point. It was miserable. I had cramps and nausea from those stupid gummy bears and the heat. I got *maybe* 2 miles in and gave up. I started to walk back and sat down on a rock next to the path and cried a little (in my defense, it was a pretty challenging time for me personally, too--I'd just moved across the country by myself for my first post-grad school "real" job and was doing the long-distance thing with my husband).

Then, for reasons I still don't understand, I dug deep, got up, and finished. The entire experience was excruciating. But I did it dammit.

Good run: I got the stupid idea to sign up for a 10k in early February this year (one of the coldest on record) in one of the coldest cities in the country. It snowed a few inches the day before, so there was some packed snow and ice on the route, which had a lot of twists and turns. My husband had to work, so I went by myself. It was 12 degrees with a wind chill of 0, but at least it was sunny. I felt great the whole race, hit my goal despite having to be careful not to slip, and placed 4th in my age group. And my husband surprised me by showing up on his way to work to cheer me on for part of it. I still feel like a real bada** for doing that one!

It's not really a "bad" run, but I once got a debilitating cramp in my *kitten* during a run on a busy street. So bad my nerves started like, spasming and I had to sit down because I couldn't feel my left leg (which is an extant problem that I have--spasmy nerves making my leg go all numb)...

So I had to massage my *kitten* on the side of a busy street in order to get up and drag myself home.

We all have bad days. I've learned this from training for several races. You can go out feeling like it will be a good run, and it's the worst run ever. Then your next run you could be sleep deprived and run your fastest run that day.

Yes! I tell myself that training isn't about whether or not I feel good, it's about whether or not I get the workouts in. The workouts get me where I need to be whether they feel "good" or not. The real goal is to feel good on race day, and training gets you there.

BAD - I had my husband drop me off 7 miles from home so that I could run past all the pretty farms. (When I run out and back from my house I never make it that far) Anyway, the second he pulled away, I immediately needed the bathroom. That was a LONG run in more ways than one.

BEST - So many to choose from, but I'd have to say it was the day I broke 9 miles. 9 miles was my goal for the day, but when I reached it, I just kept on going. I ran right past my house and kept on cruising. The only reason that I stopped was because I ran out of time...places to be, things to do. It was my favorite run from when I was training for my first half. After that run, I KNEW I could run my half. And the half, that's another BEST RUN story.

Bad run story: I left my house to run and it was 113 degrees. I ran....and ran...and ran. I ended up with heat exhaustion and the worstsunburn of my life and ended up getting a kidney infection from dehydration.

Good run story: iI didn't want to go. I put on my shoes and went, thinking I'd just jog or walk just to get it over with. I ended up running five miles-the farthest I have ever ran.

Bad story:
When training for my first and only marathon, drove quite a distance to a rails-to-trails for one of my long runs. I was really looking forward to it. There was literally no one around early on a Sunday morning. This particular trail is very secluded and wooded at parts. Only a couple miles in I was running through a densely wooded area and I caught a little movement out of the corner of my eye. There was a man crouched tightly in a ball hiding to my right up on the hill just ahead. YIKES, my fear factor went sky-high! I abruptly turned around and made record time back to my car!

Good Story: Finishing above marathon with Leukemia and Lymphoma team support and seeing my sick niece had made it to the finish line to see me!

I love this thread! It is great to remind me that everyone has a bad day here and there

Bad story: I was out running the nature trails at a local park. When I left my house I knew there were storms coming but hoped I could beat them. I was heading down the entrance to my 2nd trail when it started raining a little and thundering. I didn't give it much thought because it was hot, the rain felt good and the thunder sounded far away. As I was running back up the hill to move on to the 3rd trail lightening struck a tree on the trail ahead of me. Scared me to death! Needless to say that was the end of that run.

Good story: It has been really hot lately and I am not normally able to run in the mornings so I've been toughing it out afterwork. I went out to run my usual 4 miles one evening when it was in the 90's with high humidity. I didn't have much hope that I'd be able to finish because of the heat, but I did! Even though I was sweating buckets and not feeling 100% I was able to push myself to finish. I didn't finish with a good time, but it certianly wasn't my worst and I showed myself that I can do it! I don't let the heat talk me out of a run anymore :happy:

Bad: I was running and my underwear fell down. Like all the way down, almost to my thigh and scrunched up there. The only thing keeping them up was my running pants. I was far from my house and there was just nowhere around that I can adjust them with anything resembling privacy. I walk all the way back with my panties pooling around my butt.

Good: When I can finally run non-stop for 10 minutes. I started with not even able to run for 1 minute. That was a proud moment.

Bad run - First 20 mile run ever and I wasn't very experienced at carrying water. Needless to say it was a bit warmer that day and I needed more water throughout the run. Pilfered water from a local river and from a water sprinkler at a local park (some serious force in this one). Survived the run and learned quite a bit.

Good run story - Same as my bad one.