Hi, this is Debbie Boyle's coach at Mojo for Running with podcast number 31.

What to do when you have a horrible, no-good, very bad, dreadful race?

Okay, I admit that's a bit of an extreme description, but some of you may have had a race like that.

The good news is that you've had so many more invigorating, mind-blowing runs that evoke the

kind of endorphin high that lingers long after you cool down. And the memory of that feeling is what

will be pulling you out the door to do runs for years to come as your brain seeks repeat performances.

Thank goodness. But on the flip side, the memory of those few really bad runs will

still be there, reminders of how bad it can be. But thankfully, those are few and far between,

if you train properly. But what if you do train properly and things go awry due to factors

beyond your control? That certainly can and sometimes does happen.

Of all the people I talk to and communicate with,

I'd say the worst race experiences usually occur

when it's unseasonably hot on race day.

One of my listeners lives where the temperature is usually quite reasonable

at this time of year, but she did a 10K recently,

and the temperatures were sweltering,

much, much hotter than normal for this time of year. And she had not been training in those

temperatures because that was much hotter than it had been, and much hotter than was typical.

That happens sometimes. That's what happened in Boston this year. They realized a few days in advance that it would be sizzling on race day, far hotter than normal in Boston for that time of year. Now think about this. That race attracts the best and fittest runners from around the world, and the race organization is world-class, just like the

participants. You know they have the best medical advisors, and you know that as much as they

wanted a great race, even more important, was that they wanted a safe race. For that reason,

officials actually discouraged people from running if they were not prepared to run a marathon

...