RunningAHEAD - Topic: Stupid running mistakes

xor

posted: 3/19/2009 at 2:54 PM

What's the dumbest thing you've RECENTLY done concerning running? I know mine. I'm running a race this weekend. Many weeks ago, I made my hotel reservation for Saturday night. This is how it works when a race is on Sunday morning. One problem, though. I just discovered that my race is on Saturday morning. So a Saturday night reservation won't do. I tried to change it, but my hotel is full on Friday night. Oh yeah. To get the lowest rate, I had booked a prepaid nonrefundable room. WOOHOO. But wait, there's more. All the other nearby hotels are full too... except for the smoking rooms. (without being overly dramatic, I found a room about 20 minutes away... BUT my folks only live 90 minutes away. The only reason I did the hotel in the first place was to avoid waking up the house at 3:30a. So with the new hotel, I will avoid waking up the house, but I'll still have to get up pretty early AND ultimately I've paid for two rooms) 200 marathons and I still do stupid stuff. So what's something you have recently messed up... training, racing, whatever?

labrat

posted: 3/19/2009 at 2:57 PM

yesterday I tripped and fell on my face in front of an oncoming car. Blush

Phidippides

posted: 3/19/2009 at 3:16 PM
modified: 3/19/2009 at 3:20 PM

I alway pre-pack everything that I am going to take with me to a race the evening before the race.....and check it twice or even three times.....and then one last time before I leave my house.....I pack the shoes that I am going to run in, and dont put them on until a while before the race starts.. Once (this was in my first life as runners - about 23 years ago) I had everything packed and rechecked. Went to the race on Sunday morning (about 1 hr one way), got my number and decided to get ready to run and when I went to my bag, I realized that i had everything EXCEPT my running shoes.... When I was re-checking my bag I took them out of the bag - checked that everything was there and left my running shoes on the bed... The only shoes I had with me were an old pair of court shoes that were old and flat - this was a 10 miler so didnt want to risk it...(if it were a 5K I might have run anyway)... I really enjoyed cheering on my friends and all the other runners that day...... Big grin

Champions are made when no one is watching

Dunottar

posted: 3/19/2009 at 3:47 PM

Hmmm,...actually, just this morning. Got dressed, put on my gloves and went for a run @ 5 this morning. Stopped at my local haunt afterwards for some milk and the guy says, "Are you all alright? What happened to your face?". Apparently, I had left my (dark brown) gloves to air out on top of an open Sharpie, and after an hour of mopping sweat from my face, I looked like a SEAL camouflaged for night ops. (BTW- OxyClean is about as good as it gets for removing permanent ink from fabric and face).

ArlaHile

Queen of 3rd Place

posted: 3/19/2009 at 3:55 PM

Another shoe dummy here. I was leaving town to attend a formal evening wedding, and made plans to do a long run with a friend the afternoon just before the wedding. I was extra-careful to pack all my long run stuff as well as my favorite post-long-run goodies. It's a pretty long list. Blush

When it was time to shower and change for the wedding, I realized I had forgotten my pretty shoes! I ended up attending the wedding in a beautiful, cream-colored dress paired with my favorite PURPLE running shoes. Arla

Ex runner

Econo

posted: 3/19/2009 at 4:23 PM

Ran too far on an out and back course this past weekend, in a relentless rainstorm. Ended up almost losing some fingers to hypothermia. duh, Renee!

BostonRnr

posted: 3/19/2009 at 5:01 PM

I packed two left running shoes in my gym bag. Had to go home, get a right one and go back to the gym. Glad I didn't do this for a race. This was the result of good intentions...transitioning from one pair to another, kept the old pair in hopes of recycling and then mixed them up.

xor

posted: 3/19/2009 at 5:05 PM

This one wasn't recent, but I'll mention it. Back when I was a corporate type, I went to the gym (close to work; far away from home), worked out, and then realized that I had forgotten to bring pants to wear to work. Ooops. I was very late that day. Pants are important. A couple weeks ago, a similar thing came up as a plot point in an episode of How I Met Your Mother. No, it didn't make me like the show more.

Runnerjohn

Certifiably Insane

posted: 3/19/2009 at 5:32 PM
modified: 3/19/2009 at 5:33 PM

Quote from BostonRnr on 3/19/2009 at 5:01 PM:

I packed two left running shoes in my gym bag. Had to go home, get a right one and go back to the gym. Glad I didn't do this for a race. This was the result of good intentions...transitioning from one pair to another, kept the old pair in hopes of recycling and then mixed them up.

Yeah, I did that, too. I had gone to an indoor track after work (about 45 minutes from home), so I figured 'what the heck?' and ran a mile or so in 2 left shoes. That wasn't working, so I just took them off and ran in my socks for a few miles. I'm usually VERY organized about my racing equipment. I have a lot of things I have to take with me, food- and equipment-wise. I went to a race not long ago, and realized I had left one of my bags at home. It just happened to be the one with my racing shoes, pre-race drinks and fuel, post-race clothes, fuel, and drinks for the drive home. If it had been possible to drive my car without keys, I probably would have forgotten them, too! Now, I put my keys with anything I need to take from the kitchen, and my running bag in front of the door. If I forget my food stuff, I forget my keys, too, and I can't leave without tripping over my equipment. I know my limits, so I've found 'workarounds' to most of them. Big grin

On the road since 1978! "To be good is not enough when you dream of being great." I am not obsessed! I'm just INTENSE! "Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool." Why? Because race results stay on Google forever! (Reasonably recent) PR's: 5K - 16:40 10K - 35:04 HM - 1:18:30

milktruck

an amazing likeness

posted: 3/19/2009 at 11:48 PM
modified: 3/19/2009 at 11:53 PM

Last Sunday I headed out looking to log 11 - 15 miles. First long run in a about a month as I've been battling knee pain from what has been diagnosed (I don't believe them) as ITB problems. Felt good to about 5 miles, then suddenly...instantly it felt as though someone had jammed a screwdriver into the side of my leg. Oh my goodness sharp shooting pain. And here comes the stupidity...I decided to try some doing some sideways "braids" and then jogging backwards on a rutted, sandy, country road and you can probably predict the results. Tripped myself in about 5 seconds. So now I'm 6 miles from home, sitting in the wet snow and sand on the side of the road with major road rash on my left leg, arm and both hands, and a knee throbbing. Nothing to do except the walk of shame home, limping and bleeding, and pretty much saying f*&** each step. Very stupid. Then there was the time when I passed a candy / gu station in a race and took a little sleeve of sweet-tarts from the volunteer. The little tube of 'smarties' or whatever they're called, wrapped in celophane. With my sweaty hands, I couldn't get the celophane open -- so I figured I'd just chew on it whole and then spit out the celophane. Yeah. Not so smart. Ended up with pieces of wrapper down the windpipe and I'm on the side of the course gagging. Dumbass.

_{Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.}

BeeRunB

posted: 3/19/2009 at 11:56 PM

Yesterday, I tripped over one of the yellow lines in the middle of the bike trail. Sort of like tripping over an ant. --Jimmy

kcam

posted: 3/20/2009 at 1:25 AM

I traveled from California to Chicago for the Chicago Marathon. Wife and I get to the hotel and find out I had screwed up and made the reservation for the next weekend. Imagine trying to find a room in downtown Chicago on the Saturday before the Chicago marathon. We did find something but it was a suite and was mucho expensive. DING DONG!

Squeaky

Jazz hands!

posted: 3/20/2009 at 1:42 AM
modified: 3/20/2009 at 1:47 AM

Quote from milktruck on 3/19/2009 at 11:48 PM:

Then there was the time when I passed a candy / gu station in a race and took a little sleeve of sweet-tarts from the volunteer. The little tube of 'smarties' or whatever they're called, wrapped in celophane. With my sweaty hands, I couldn't get the celophane open -- so I figured I'd just chew on it whole and then spit out the celophane. Yeah. Not so smart. Ended up with pieces of wrapper down the windpipe and I'm on the side of the course gagging. Dumbass.

Thank you. I LOLed. MTA: the worst I've forgotten is socks (oh well), but I did once scream as I came around the corner, and right past someone's privacy fence was a cow statue. Broad daylight, residential area. Felt like a moron. The cow surprised me!

run run run AHHHHHH run run run

Phidippides

posted: 3/20/2009 at 8:22 AM

Quote from ArlaHile on 3/19/2009 at 3:55 PM:

I ended up attending the wedding in a beautiful, cream-colored dress paired with my favorite PURPLE running shoes. Arla

I have to be honest here----I think this is pretty cool.... Big grin

Champions are made when no one is watching

Craig S

Menace to Sobriety

posted: 3/20/2009 at 8:40 AM

Shirt on backwards or inside out, or both.......many times. Shorts the same way, once in a while. This is usually done dressing in the dark, but sometimes it happens in broad daylight.

Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.

Stupid running mistakes (Read 1873 times)