DNF or DNS

Is it better to start a race you plan on not finishing or to skip the race? Some races are expensive and I hate to throw away the entry fee. On the other hand, I like to finish all races that I start.

Saturday they had a 10K and a 2 mile race close to the house. The plan was to run the 2 mile race as this would be the first time running outside since the stress fracture. When I got there I was looking at the 10K map and noticed that the course would pass by the finish line at the 5K mark. I started thinking, should I run the 2 mile race or the first 5K of the 10K? Change of plans, run the first 5K at a slow pace and take the DNF. I started running at a slow pace but I felt great and picked up the pace after the first half mile. The first mile was 8:02, second 7:42, third 7:32. OK, this was faster than I planned but I was feeling good and started thinking about running the whole 10K. I know I could have finished the 10K but I wasn’t ready to push it, so I stopped at the 5K and took the DNF.

Sunday was the Austin Marathon and I didn’t make the trip to Austin so I took the DNS.

This weekend I got my first (and I hope the last) DNF and DNS. One good thing about this weekend is that I ran three miles and the next day I was still walking without pain.