Within the space of a few days I have had more than one accusation levelled at me that I am competitive.
When I heard this my immediate reaction was to laugh it off. I mean, what a ludicrous thing to say. Competitive. Me? Of course I’m not. I’m an average speed, middle of the pack, definitely not bothered about my time, just want to enjoy it, kind of runner. I cannot possibly be all of those things and be something as unsavoury as competitive too. Or can I?
Well needless to say this made me reflect on what being competitive actually means to me. I have spent far too long caring about the negative connotations of ‘being competitive’ that I hadn’t actually considered the positives.
Let me put this into context for you to give you some background on where these “Sammy-Jo you are so competitive” comments came from. The first was in a chat with some running buddies who alluded to me being competitive because I am obsessed with achieving a parkrun PB and when I do manage to run one I want to shout it from the rooftop. I was very quick to defend this. We all have our motivations for running, (see my earlier post Why Do I Run?) but achieving something that you once did not even realise was possible makes running that much more special. The second ‘accusation’ came from a friend who I will sometimes go to a group a spin class with. This particular spin class starts at 6.30am and the studio is kitted out with technology that will rank your bike’s performance and this is displayed on a screen for the whole group to see. Only you know your bike ID but I turn up to every class determined to rank in the top 3. Which when you read it back is clearly extremely competitive. Once again I was very quick to defend myself. But let me tell you if I am going to set an alarm for 6am the morning after interval training you can be sure that I am going to be in that class giving it my all because if you are not giving it your all then what is the point?
But why am I so quick to defend my competitive spirit? In all honesty, until recently I haven’t even been able to admit it to myself. Now I can see it is obvious that I am competitive but not in the literal sense of the word. From the outside looking in it may appear that I am out to win but the truth of the matter is that the only person I am competing with is myself. A PB is exactly that, a PERSONAL best. And in the spin class I have no idea what everyone else’s bike ID is. All I care about is that MY bike is in the top 3.
But with competitiveness we all tread a very fine line. Sometimes competitiveness can come across as cocky or intimidating and all those other negative things that come to mind. So you have to get the balance right in order to encourage others without putting them off.
Whilst pondering how competitive I am I have often wondered if it was this determination to better myself that has spurred me on when training has not been going to plan or when I have been ill or injured. It drives you to be a better runner, makes you strive to continually improve, moves you to greater achievements and pushes you to run that little bit further or faster. Without competition, without races, without parkruns, without milestones, without personal bests, what am I even training for? Maybe without this competitiveness I would not be half the runner I am today and would not have achieved the milestones I have on my running journey.
So I am sure you are reading this now and contemplating if you are competitive too. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror and really consider that question. The answer will always be yes! You are competing. You are competing with that person staring back at you. Don’t worry about anyone else, you are trying your hardest every day to be better than the person you were yesterday. Be competitive and own it.
Running Above Average 