Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan T
Absolutely, the only person I ever feel that I am competing against is myself.
If I go out there trying to compare against others that have been running longer than me, or even those who haven't been running as long but may be more gifted genetically, then I would get discouraged very fast.
Instead, I look at where I was 3 months, 6 months, a year ago and compare to now and see what a huge improvement there has been.
I keep my workouts as workouts, but when I go to race, I always have in mind my previous best that I am looking to beat. If I surpass my personal goals, then that is what I am looking for. If I fall short, then I have something to double my efforts on for the next time.
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Exactly. To think I ran my first 10K in 50 something which was fast for a first timer at 10K but then trained for a real race and did 46:09 and then trained some more and did 43:11. Always amazed at looking at my own improvements.
Then, with the whole virtual community of runners, to see other runners, either faster or slower than me, improve their own time, it's empowering. Makes me want to beat my own times even more!
Oh, of course, I sometimes look at the reference times of previous editions of the races I'm entered into and try to see where I could place in my age group, but that is so not the point. I just wanna be a better me than I was last week or last month...
FM