One bad run doesn’t make a bad runner

The Fixx was wrong: One thing does not lead to another.

It’s far too easy for us to draw conclusions based on how we’re performing. This is especially true of running, and even more true if we have a bad race: Surely, we think, we must be doing something wrong.

It’s rarely true.

What’s more likely is there are other factors that are preventing you from feeling good in your training and your racing.

Just to make you feel better, let’s go through a few of those now.

• The heat — When you run in the heat, your body works hard to stay cool. That takes energy and resources that you’d typically use to run faster, harder or longer. I’ve noticed it’s been warm this summer. What about you?

• Fueling — Hunger and thirst affect how weary you feel during a race, even more than the miles you’re ticking off. If you felt tired during a run, you should look at how much you ate and drank and eat or drink more next time.

Take a look at what you ate the night before a bad run as well. Here’s a hint: A fast-food Mexican place probably isn’t a good idea.

• Sleep — A bad night’s sleep the night before won’t wreck your race. But I never feel great during a run unless I’m getting good sleep during the week. Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, for at least eight hours, will do wonders for how you feel throughout the day and, consequently, during your run.

• Stress — Stress hurts us in many ways, and while running can help ease it, running can also be affected by it.

• Training — When we train, we put our bodies through hardship so it will adjust and, eventually, make us stronger. There will be runs that won’t feel good because of the six-hour long run or intervals we did the day before. I look at the day-after runs as an opportunity to learn how to run tired.

There are other factors as well, including traveling, humidity, and running with friends, that can all hurt your performances.

Given all that, look at what you’re dealing with in life, and what you’re running in, rather than beating yourself up over a bad run.