okansas.blogspot.com

okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering

Monday, August 29, 2005

Did Not Finish

Boris wrote:

One thing i noticed yesterday, and i wonder if anyone can comment on this: it seems very normal and acceptable here in Sweden to quit when you are having a bad race. Judging from the splits and from talking to people, several good runners who got off to bad starts just quit, and this seems fine. For me, quitting a race is one of the most shameful things i can do - i have done it almost only in cases of injury or an extreme situation (US Champs at Fallen Leaf). Why is it that here it seems more acceptable than finishing with a bad result?

I haven't ever thought of quitting as a cultural thing. Some people quit a lot. Some never quit.

I'm one of those people who DNFs a fair amount. If I'm not having fun, I stop (though if it was a relay, I wouldn't). Last Spring I DNF'd on two A-meet days. On the first day at the NTOA event, I stopped when I had only a couple of Kms to go. I just wasn't having fun. As soon as I recognized that thought, I stopped. What was the point? At West Point, I was fighting my mind. I couldn't concentrate. I was missing controls. I just wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I stopped, sat on a rock for a while, watched Kenny go by, and then jogged to the finish.

Some people never quit. Some coaches will tell you, "quiters never win; winners never quit."

There seem to be two distinct approached:

1. Never give up. You might still do ok, because everyone else might be doing bad. On top of that, quiting is bad (shameful, lazy, weak).

2. If you're not having fun, stop. The whole point of sport is to have fun.

I'm quite sure there are very good orienteers who fit in each group.

It is a bit like the distinction between different views of results. Some people are satisfied when they win, even if they didn't run well. Some people are satisfied if the don't win, as long as they ran well.

posted by Michael | 7:20 PM

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