The Dreaded DNF: When You Should Quit a Race and How to Get Over It
Run to the Top Podcast | The Ultimate Guide to Running
RunnersConnect: Coaching Community, Running Experts, Inspiring Runners, No Fluff Blog
4.5 • 936 Ratings
🗓️ 9 March 2022
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Have you ever gotten a DNF? Sometimes quitting in the middle of a race is undoubtedly the right thing to do. Other times, you will be full of regret when you do. Either way, it will sting for a while.
On today's Run to the Top Podcast, Coach Claire talks about the dreaded DNF. She speaks from personal experience on this one, because she's been there. She'll go over:
- when it's a really good idea to stop a race,
- when you should probably push on try to finish, and
- how to get over a DNF and get back to better racing in the future.
If you've ever DNFd or if you haven't (yet!), preparing yourself for how to manage now while help you make a better decision on race day!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there my running friend this is Coach Claire Bartholic the planted runner and this is Coach Claire Bartholic, the Planted Runner, and this is the |
| 0:15.2 | Run To the Top Podcast, one of the first and only running podcast dedicated to making |
| 0:20.1 | you a better runner with each and every episode. |
| 0:23.5 | We are created and produced by the expert team of running coaches at runnersconnect.net, |
| 0:29.3 | where you can find the best running information on the internet, as well as running coaching plans to |
| 0:34.4 | fit every runner and every budget. |
| 0:37.0 | If you like to race a lot, there's probably going to be a time when you |
| 0:45.3 | DNF, DNS, or maybe even come in DFL. |
| 0:50.6 | DNF means did not finish. D.N.S. means did not start and I'm not going to spell out |
| 0:57.9 | what coming in D.F. means on this show but I bet you can fill in the blanks. |
| 1:02.0 | All three of these situations are but I bet you can fill in the blanks. |
| 1:06.0 | All three of these situations are tough on your ego. |
| 1:11.0 | When you've trained for months or even years for this one special day, it's hard to accept when everything goes wrong. |
| 1:17.0 | Sometimes quitting in the middle of a race is undoubtedly the right thing to do. |
| 1:22.0 | Other times quitting is just quitting |
| 1:24.6 | and you'll be full of regret when you do. |
| 1:27.4 | But when you're in the middle of a stressful race, |
| 1:30.4 | you're not gonna be thinking as clearly as you are now. |
| 1:33.4 | So it's a whole lot better to start running through the scenarios ahead of time |
| 1:38.2 | to ensure that you make the right choice when you have to. |
| 1:40.8 | On today's Run to the Top Podcast, I'm going to talk about the dreaded |
| 1:47.5 | DNF. I speak on personal experience with this one because I've been there myself. I'll go |
... |
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