Hilary, that's why I'm not a fan of announcing what I plan on doing in the coming year. I run races for myself, not for others to cheer for me. So if I want to DNS a race, for any reason, there is no disappointment, or eye rolling, among those I could have potentially have announced it to.

 

 

Ditto me on that. I have told people that hubby and I are doing our first Half Iron July 2015 but I am already

physically ready so for that it's more of a fun anticipation thing for me. We have about 12 or 13 other races

running and triathlon planned for 2014 and I mostly don't talk about them until they are done and over with.

You don't see my name on  race lists here. Hell I don't even tell any non runners or most family IRL

other than hubby and sons when I am running  a marathon or most other races for that matter. After you have

been racing for 10 years (2014 will be 11th year of racing half and longer )nobody cares anyway, if they ever

did . Our extended families have zero idea that we are doing our first Half Iron, they probably wouldn't even

have a clue what that is.

Hil, I am also in the camp that you shouldn't write it off yet. You ran a good half just a few weeks ago and had the

base for that so it is still possible so don't give up yet! Try to keep up any cross training you are able to do and

keep the hope!

I certainly wouldn't see it as a failure, you have to think long term.  But at the same time, I also agree that not all is lost yet.  Everyone is different, but it took me less than a month to bounce back from my piriformis issue, hopefully you can do the same and be able to resume training.

Step 1 - Bitch and complain.  Continue to bitch and complain until I realize that everyone is tired of listening to me bitch and complain.

Step 2 - Step back and reassess where I am and where I want to be.  Set new goals accordingly.

 

I don't think it has to do with how long you have been doing it, because I feel the same way and I am pretty new at it. Just a matter of personal preference. And on a running forum, I think in general EVERYONE cares.  For me maybe it is more a superstition, a not counting chickens before they're hatched kind of thing. Plenty of people here announce 10 months in advance what they are racing, I can't imagine it for myself.

I was referring to the IRL non running people and family who have no interest in athletics.
I know 100% they don't care about my races

Pop psychology coming!

There is a certain amount of "peer pressure" (whether real or perceived) when announcing goals of any sort.  Some thrive on that - knowing that their goal is "out there" and there is outside pressure to perform and do what they say they are going to do.  And obviously some don't want that outside pressure at all.   I don't think either is right or wrong, just different way people deal with things.

Then there's also the superstition part of announcing goals, which is sort of a different phenomenon.

I haven't been running all that long (since Aug. 2011) but I do know about DNSing a goal race.  Four days before my first HM, in March 2012, I developed a pelvic stress fracture.  I was really upset because it was something I had trained for and been really looking forward to.  On the day of the race, I dressed and thought maybe I could run, until I actually tried to run down the street and the pain let me know I wasn't going anywhere.  I got mad, I cried, and I tried to get back to running before I was really ready, so prolonged my healing by doing too much.  The long recovery meant I couldn't do another HM that I had also signed up for, but didn't care as much about.  So I was out the money for two races, which hurt.

Eight months after my injury, I was back to running.  A nearby club offered 1/2 price entry to a HM, if you signed up on Jan. 1.  The race was in September.  Good, I had plenty of time to train.  By July I was running 14 miles and felt I was on track to doing pretty well on the race.  So, of course, I got injured again (either another sfx or osteitis pubis).  So I missed that race, as well as a 10k race in December that I really wanted to do.  I considered walking the course, just to do it, but realized that I would probably push myself and exacerbate the injury.  For that one, I had time to get used to the idea of not running, so it wasn't as painful as the first DNS, but it still hurt.  At least in part, the frustration comes because I knew I wouldn't be ready for our  local HM (the one I missed originally) as it takes place in March and I wasn't able to start running again until late fall.  The next one I may be able to run is next September.  But I'm not counting on it.

I never cared about losing face, or wondering what others would think, because that isn't my motivation for running or racing.  I know that nobody really pays attention to what I do except me (and possibly my husband, who is impacted by my training).  I did care that my body let me down, because it has implications for the future, and I did care that the training I did was not going to have the reward that I had hoped (the chance to experience a goal race.)

In your case, it's only been two weeks.  You have time to see how your body heals. Don't give up yet.

So many friends, co-workers, and family members are rooting for me and I feel like I am disappointing them by "giving up."

A very simplified view of your dilemma is when you remove the emotion ("I feel like...") from the equation, what is left is reality.  And the reality is you either can or cannot run it.

For the most part, this is the defining factor when deciding whether to run a race or not.  Can you actually run it?  If you cannot then the decision has been made for you, you just simply must come to terms with it.

Other things to consider when injured is can you run it and still hang a respectable time, or will running it do further damage and so on.  But if you cannot even run, then you have not given up on anything.  Fact.

We all handle these things differently so telling you what I would do is pointless....so I will do it anyway. lol  The bigger the race, the bigger and bitter the pill!  There is no right way to whine about taking a big fat DNS oozing with sauerkraut and green cheese, only your way.

I did not say a word about my decision until the day I came to grips with sitting it out, other people talk about it incessantly.  Like O said, it is just a different perspective on things, which epitomizes who we are as a people; different.

If I were in your shoes, I would be hard at work just trying to get to the point  to where I can run, then make the final decision when all practical hope is gone.

During that time though you just keep readjusting your training schedule e.g. a 16 week plan, becomes a 12 week plan, becomes an 8 week plan becomes a 4 week plan becomes a DNS.  If it comes to that.