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| Sorry Boring Runner but this was just perfect!! |
What do you do with bad race photos?
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Race Pics...Friend or Foe?
Tell me this....when you see this
staring at you while you are running in a race, do you look like this
or maybe like this?
I have always subscribed to the rule that you can be this side of dying during a race but once you see that shiny lens on the horizon you need to paste on a smile and stride along like you own it! Now let me recognize that those who get the email that their race pictures are ready to view, very rarely open the email and love what is staring back at them! However, lately I have been noticing an unhealthy trend with me and my race pics! I am going to go ahead and blame it on a reverse body dysmorphic disorder. When I'm running, I feel like me...the prebaby me...and when I get the race pics back I am reminded that I in fact don't look like that just yet. Exhibit A...a text to my sister!
The unhealthy part is that I allow this image staring back at me to take away the badass feeling I had about the race. A perfect example of this was my last half marathon where I rocked a 2:02 finish...and then looked at the race pics and felt awful. No more!!! I have decided to not look at the pics any longer. I know how I feel about the race and I am going to leave it at that! I am NOT an image at the other end of a lens! I am a strong running mom and I need to continue to remind myself of that!!
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Yep, I have this issue quite a bit. It's not just racing, but all the time, actually. I've lost quite a bit of weight, so in my head I'm really thinner and athletic looking, but then when I see pics (especially race pics) it's kind of like a slap in the face. I don't quite look like the svelte athletic rock hard body that I think I am in my head when running. I'm kind of hoping that the more I run, the more my body will match my brain?!!
ReplyDeleteone race.
ReplyDeleteNO PHOTOS.
now Im glad...
I honestly don't give any thought to the photographers out there...I am just running my race. I always look when they come by b/c it's fun to see them capture a particular moment, but I have only ever ordered one once. Yep--let the images go!
ReplyDeleteIgnore the pics and keep the badass!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me not to look and I understand exactly what you mean.
ReplyDeleteIn the last couple of races I did, I thought the photographer got some good ones where I actually smiled - but no, they were terrible! The best ones are taken when I wasn't even aware of it, so I'm going to totally ignore photographers from now on!
ReplyDeleteHmm interesting take. I totally love race photos. I was not happen about my last half either 2:02 and i totally was dying but pasted on my very best smile just like you said lol. Yet, I still love looking at them. But this sounds like a great way for you to go if it works for you. You are amazing runner, don't need a photo to show you that. Btw, you running falmouth this year?
ReplyDeleteI like to look at mine bad or not, I think the bad ones are funny and love the good ones. They all take me back to the race and how I was feeling. Love that.
ReplyDeleteI don't look at them much anymore. They almost always disappoint, so I've learned that they add nothing to my post-race celebration.
ReplyDeleteI have to look - I can't help myself...and rarely am I happy with what I see - which is why I've never ordered a race photo! That said I try not to get too hung up on the image - I figure I'm out there rocking it and that's what counts :)
ReplyDeleteEvery now and I get a good one. But in most I look like death.... LOL ..... I have never ordered any for that reason.
ReplyDeleteMine are typically terrible: eyes closed, tongue out. I let them go for sure.
ReplyDeleteI totally get this and felt the same way recently. The images in my head and in the pictures don't match and I let it get me down. I was more frustrated that I let it bother me than I was about the pictures themselves. I'm with you - no more looking at race pictures! We're much more than that.
ReplyDeleteI try to look like the first photo but more often than not I look like the second. I rarely look the way I feel in race photos.
ReplyDeleteThe few times I see a decent race photo of myself there's always some random runner who looks like hell/weird/scary who ruins it for me.
ReplyDeleteI try to smile but it doesn't always work! If the photos are bad, I just don't do anything! There's nothing you can do about it now! All you can do is do better next time!
ReplyDeleteI always look goofy, or just plain awful. I will say that race photos are great indicators of form, at least for me! I can tell that it has improved over the past year, which is something I've been working on!
ReplyDeletewith Google reader going away i have switched to feedly and am having a TIME trying to comment via the iphone app... grr.
ReplyDeleteanyway, here I am! albeit late...
when it comes to my race pics - I never order them anymore. I apparently try to "play it cool" when passing a photographer which is always awkward but doesn't always turn out hideously. they're just too expensive to buy them so i view them, get a good laugh at myself and forget about them :)