I was booked to do a (fairly rural) half in mid-June. I was really struggling with a hip injury, I could barely walk without being in pain. I’d got through a club 4-mile race in the week with a bit of grimacing. I was honestly not at all confident in my ability to get through the race. I got talked into starting by my partner & best friend who were also both running.
I dropped out at about 2 miles. I knew I could not take another 2 hours of that pain, and I didn’t want to be really forced into stopping in the middle of nowhere with no way back at 7 miles.
Didn’t really have the confidence in my ability to finish before I started and I’d probably made my mind up I wasn’t finishing before I started. So mentally I wasn’’t there. A half was just too much on that injury.
I was booked to do a (fairly rural) half in mid-June. I was really struggling with a hip injury, I could barely walk without being in pain. I’d got through a club 4-mile race in the week with a bit of grimacing. I was honestly not at all confident in my ability to get through the race. I got talked into starting by my partner & best friend who were also both running.
I dropped out at about 2 miles. I knew I could not take another 2 hours of that pain, and I didn’t want to be really forced into stopping in the middle of nowhere with no way back at 7 miles.
Didn’t really have the confidence in my ability to finish before I started and I’d probably made my mind up I wasn’t finishing before I started. So mentally I wasn’’t there. A half was just too much on that injury.
Had it been a 10k, I’d probably have finished.
Sounds like you made the right decision and as you say, your head wasn’t in it even before you started
I don’t think I’ve ever been a DNF, couldn’t bring myself to do that.