We all have them. Jo Pavey shares how to manage your dismay.

How do you get over the disappointment of a bad run?

It’s important to put every bad run into perspective. Even with the best preparation, there will be times when you have bad workouts and races. With running, sometimes you also need that little bit of good fortune so everything feels great on the day. It’s part of the sport, so don’t get too down.

The most positive way forward is to use the bad run as a learning experience. Record the race or workout in your training diary and see if you can identify any possible cause of your performance. It may be obvious if you had disruption to training because of illness or injury.

But if you’re not sure, it’s useful to work out what aspects of your training you had not given as much attention to as you should have. Once you’ve analysed the situation, set yourself a new goal to boost your motivation. This might be a long way off, but it will keep you looking forward, rather than dwelling on disappointment.

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