Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Competitive much??

I never considered myself to be a competitive person. I was never involved in team sports as a kid, never chased a trophy or a medal. I wanted to be one of the better dancers in my classes, but never really lost sleep over my turn out or height of my grand jete.

I wasn't until after college and I started cycling that I realized I might just be a little competitive. I started riding with my husband (who was my boy friend at the time) and I knew he was an accomplished and skilled cyclist so I wasn't competitive with him, it was much worse than that. I was competitive with myself or more specifically this perfect image in my head of myself. This Shannon vs Shannon has grown to a full out ugly competitive streak. When you are always trying to beat yourself, you never win!

Over the weekend I was working an Expo at a 5K where I met a lot of new runners. During our chats, most of them would tell me what their goal time was followed by "but I am not trying to win, just finish". That sounds a lot like me. Most of the events I enter, I am not trying to win but that doesn't mean I am not there to compete.

I personally fell that anyone involved in some form of endurance sport has a small twinge of competitive nature. You might not re-work your whole life to shave seconds off your pace, but you find a fellow racer and think "I should be able to beat her/him."

Are you competitive? Do you think it helps or hurts you?

3 comments:

  1. oh i think we are all a little competitive! i can say that i am not, but know that deep down i really am! i think it is good because without it we would lose that drive.

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  2. I'm competitive :) I think it helps me. I think I'm more competitive with myself though than others, lol.

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  3. I just discovered this weekend (as you already know) that I have a hidden competitor in me and I must learn to embrace her.
    Maybe is a bit of insecurity in my athletic abilities that I never FOUGHT for that medal or trophy but I am finding there is nothing wrong with going for the win. If I did not have that drive to "chase" this weekend, who knows if I would have placed top 3 ???

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