I am the type of person who competes with myself and I think my level of competition is at a pretty healthy level. I think that blogging and other forms of social media can sometimes lead to competition and comparing yourself to others and that can be on the unhealthy side. We are all at different levels with our running and that is what keeps me in perspective. Do I want to be a better and faster runner? Of course, I do or else I will never run the Boston Marathon! Do I want to beat others or run as fast as they do? No, I don't. I am definitely happy when others achieve their goals but my focus remains on my game. I am by far my own worst enemy and I am rarely satisfied with my performance because I always think I could have done better.
Am I competitive? Of course I am, I want to run a half in 1:45 but my goals are not based upon the performance of others. My goals are reasonable goals that I feel that I can achieve based on past races and current performance. Will I ever run a 3:30
marathon? No I will not; and I don't think I even want to try because in my mind it's crazy
fast and out of my comfort zone.
I don't want to be super fast or beat anyone. I just want to BQ and run the Boston Marathon! I just want to be Me and Do My Thing! Am I happy for people who can out run me? Of course I am or else I would be a pretty stressed out person trying to compete without much success. Running would no longer be fun if my level of competition became out of control and I never want that to happen! I actually admire the hell out of those who have that tremendous running ability since they are the ones who motivate me to become a better runner and inspire me to push harder and achieve things that I never thought I could!
What are your thoughts on competition? Who do you compete with?
