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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
Sean H wrote:
Both. If it weren't for wanting to compete with the best I probably wouldn't work as hard though. It's pretty easy to continue to beat your previous best with just consistency.


I'll need Mark Lemmon, Manofthewoods, and Slowman and Fleck to help me, but no amount of consistency helps the old guys compete with their former selves. The ghost of one's past performance can often be the motivation killer for the "experienced athlete". Finding/creating new challenges be it head to head racing or self generated are key when performance declines and eventually it must so training and racing lifestyle takes on a new meaning.

Well, if you're at that point then you've probably already been at the pointy end of the sport. And there you're most definitely competing against others.

For folks like myself who find this sport later in life (especially without a background in either of the three disciplines), the perspective is quite different.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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Myself. I do still acknowledge those around/in front of/behind me but usually view them more as motivation to go faster and chase down my PR.

There are a few people who I directly compete against though, but not often. Usually that develops when I've raced against someone multiple times, they have consistent results and are somewhat close to my times.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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Sprints and oly's I race against others. IM--myself,,,,halfs--- it depends.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [Tri-Banter] [ In reply to ]
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tigerchik wrote:
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I am curious to see what really drives most of you.


Sport quells my anxiety and prevents me from falling into depression.

h2ofun wrote:
I train for health and my OCD personality.

Endorphin Withdrawal is a terrible thing to experience, and horrible to watch

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [racehd] [ In reply to ]
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racehd wrote:
Myself. I do still acknowledge those around/in front of/behind me but usually view them more as motivation to go faster and chase down my PR.

To be honest, on race-day, I'm trying to beat my PR, or my predicted finish time ... it just looks like I'm chasing ponytails

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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I gotta ask, how did a reply to me generate quotes from TC and Dave and include none of my content?






Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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I got into training (running) for health reasons. I found it also satisfied my inner desire for competition.

My first point of competition is always myself. I want to race hard and smart. I still want to podium, but it's a bonus. As an example, when I set my half-marathon PR, I ran an intelligent and well-executed race. I beat my time goal by almost three minutes. I finished 16th overall, but was still 5th in my age group. I can still say, today, that this was my most satisfying race I've run.

I'm fairly new to tri. My main goal is to get better each time. I do hope to compete for podium spots, but more because that would show that I am meeting my own personal goals for performance. But, if I were to fall into the same situation that I was in at my half marathon PR, that would be just fine.

Attacking this day with enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [Tri-Banter] [ In reply to ]
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Tri-Banter wrote:
I gotta ask, how did a reply to me generate quotes from TC and Dave and include none of my content?

Hahaha, I had you all bunched together, along with racehd, but then decided "y'know, that should probably be two posts" so, I cut it in half

Then, I thought yours & racehd's were pretty much the same, so I took yours out again for the second one, arbitrarily

Sorry dude

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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I'll bite.

What motivates me? There's a lot of things that motivate me.

1. I love the process. I enjoy getting on my bike and riding or running and seeing my totals accumulate. I like to get to the end of the week and realize that I need x # to get a goal that I set out for at the beginning of the week. Then seeing the totals accumulate throughout the year and trying to surpass what I did the previous year.

2. I'm also a little vain. So I enjoy getting into a gym and jacking up the speed on a treadmill and seeing people think this guy is only going to be able to keep that up for a for a few minutes, but 30 minutes later I'm still going. Yeah, a little vain.

3. I have a buddy that we are about at the same level so we race/compete against each other. He's a much better biker, but I'm a better swimmer and runner so we always have some great races. I can crush him on Sprints and Olympics but I have yet to beat him at a 70.3. We've even taken to a whole another level. I had loser T-shirts made up for the loser to wear after the race. And there's puffy paint and tassels on them too with cut-off sleeves and they're way too tight.

4. I used to race 15-20 years ago and with the invention of social media it's changed the Triathlon community. Back in the day I felt like you could only socialize with people that were at your same level. People wouldn't hang out with you after the race just because you were slower than they were. I feel like social media everyone is very friendly, so I like that aspect. I mean you do get your tools too, but those seem to be less than what it used to be.

5. Finally, I love to race. I really enjoy the competition. I love seeing how far I can push myself. I like the feeling of collapsing at the finish line because I didn't hold anything back.

There's more but those are the big things that motivate me...that and the fact that I'm a borderline ephedrine junkie.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [TriathlonJoe] [ In reply to ]
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TriathlonJoe wrote:
2. I'm also a little vain. So I enjoy getting into a gym and jacking up the speed on a treadmill and seeing people think this guy is only going to be able to keep that up for a for a few minutes, but 30 minutes later I'm still going. Yeah, a little vain.



"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [Mark Lemmon] [ In reply to ]
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Mark Lemmon wrote:
I used to have competitive rivalries with peers I raced regularly and when I've had goals such as qualifying for Kona or getting a Team USA spot I've had to pay a lot of attention to my peers, but generally these days I'm not fueled by podium finishes or particular rivals. ..
I'm assuming that one year I'll no longer be able to stay with my younger friends on the rides. I know I'll be sad about that, but I'm guessing that there will also be a feeling of relief.

yep, used to get a trifle obsessive about tracking my peers when trying for nationals or similar.. no more.
the High Grade ride was my bike marker - used to be able to pass anyone I could see on that climb, and did not get passed. As the years accumulated, the passers started to come by, more with each year..

@dev, "no amount of consistency helps the old guys compete with their former selves."
I trained harder and harder just to stay at the same level, since 53 or so it's been pretty much a total collapse, no amount of training works. Luckily I have no trouble with working out every day, though the idea of competition is ludicrous.

Thinking about this on a hard run recently (working on gratitude) it occurred to me to be happy for the many years I was able to run freely. It was a kind of high, an unparalleled joy and solace every day. Now running on memories, but at least have those..
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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Pretty simple

I race against whom-ever shows up. I love to race. I ride and run much faster in a race than I ever can by myself. I also find it very hard to compete against myself from 1 year to the next as the conditions change and I'm getting older.

I train for myself. Partially to allow myself to compete as I love to race, partially to keep from getting fat, mainly to drink more booze.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [doug in co] [ In reply to ]
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doug in co wrote:
Mark Lemmon wrote:
I used to have competitive rivalries with peers I raced regularly and when I've had goals such as qualifying for Kona or getting a Team USA spot I've had to pay a lot of attention to my peers, but generally these days I'm not fueled by podium finishes or particular rivals. ..
I'm assuming that one year I'll no longer be able to stay with my younger friends on the rides. I know I'll be sad about that, but I'm guessing that there will also be a feeling of relief.


yep, used to get a trifle obsessive about tracking my peers when trying for nationals or similar.. no more.
the High Grade ride was my bike marker - used to be able to pass anyone I could see on that climb, and did not get passed. As the years accumulated, the passers started to come by, more with each year..

@dev, "no amount of consistency helps the old guys compete with their former selves."
I trained harder and harder just to stay at the same level, since 53 or so it's been pretty much a total collapse, no amount of training works. Luckily I have no trouble with working out every day, though the idea of competition is ludicrous.

Thinking about this on a hard run recently (working on gratitude) it occurred to me to be happy for the many years I was able to run freely. It was a kind of high, an unparalleled joy and solace every day. Now running on memories, but at least have those..


Along these lines, with sufficient and optimized training I can get very close to my former self on the bike and swim. On the run it's not just a total collapse at this point it's lunar size crater hole as my run is barely above walking speed due to some spine/nerve compression, however, like you I am completely thankful for all the year of running and when you run truly fast and it is effortless it is a crazy high that is nearly impossible for me to replicate in any form of life.

In any case, I see a general trend on this thread.....everyone wants to race however they can, with whomever is in the vicinity...largely most are in it for self improvement and the carrot of the race help and the guy around them on race day is a target on that day, but being able to do that is the cherry on the cake. It seems most of us are in it for the self improvement and the process. It's cool you can do that in these endurance sports. If you are a team sports player it is somewhat harder.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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There is a great big lie I tell myself all of the time. I say "oh I am just training to push myself and see what I am capable of" We'll call this version of me the frog. Then I get to the actual race and the scorpion comes out. Now, I know trying to beat (insert person that I think doesn't deserves to be ahead of me) "X" will probably put me over my training/ability which will lead me to bonking horribly but that doesn't stop me. The scorpion will sting the frog (see: aesop's fables). I've learned to accept this dichotomy and bank on the fact that the scorpion someday will win.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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devashish_paul wrote:
On the run it's not just a total collapse at this point it's lunar size crater hole as my run is barely above walking speed due to some spine/nerve compression, however, like you I am completely thankful for all the year of running and when you run truly fast and it is effortless it is a crazy high that is nearly impossible for me to replicate in any form of life.

yep, between the back pain, achilles problems, and lung problems my 5k pace is now 8:20min miles on a good day.. by far the slowest I've been since starting running seriously age 14..
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [tigerchik] [ In reply to ]
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tigerchik wrote:
Quote:
I am curious to see what really drives most of you.


Sport quells my anxiety and prevents me from falling into depression.

That pretty much sums it up for me!


___________________________________
Cure CF, because I love my daughter.
http://www.cff.org
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [doug in co] [ In reply to ]
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doug in co wrote:
devashish_paul wrote:
On the run it's not just a total collapse at this point it's lunar size crater hole as my run is barely above walking speed due to some spine/nerve compression, however, like you I am completely thankful for all the year of running and when you run truly fast and it is effortless it is a crazy high that is nearly impossible for me to replicate in any form of life.


yep, between the back pain, achilles problems, and lung problems my 5k pace is now 8:20min miles on a good day.. by far the slowest I've been since starting running seriously age 14..

Well if you're running 8:20's you're not in the lunar size crater hole yet. Maybe just a Floriday sinkhole size! Keep up the great work. Did i mention that I have set personal bests in the 100m fly and all over age 50....because I could not do 100m of fly when I was younger. So I defeated my younger self on something. Even before the latest disk/nerve issues, my max interval 1K pace was slower than my 30 year old marathon pace!!! But I'd be in the pathetic range of my peers so on race day, whomever was in the vicinity shuffling at the same pace more or less was either a target or someone I was trying to hold off as long as I could. and if I failed, all that pushed me to get more out of myself. Shake hands with the boys out of respect for still pushing each other to the edge of the reduced set of capabilities, but still pushing.
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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ha. I set new 50 and 100 scy PRs last year, since I'd never raced those distances as a teenager or adult.. woo-hoo !
27 and 63..

--
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will..

"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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 Most of the time it's against the clock(except for in a race against other AGers). It's really the only way to measure yourself since the clock doesn't lie. So if I'm swimming 1:23 100's during my morning training I feel good vs 1:30 100's I feel like I'm dogging it. There's too many variables involved to start comparing myself to the guy in the next lane(he could be an ex-Olympian for all I know). Same applies to the bike and run. Maybe if I was 20 years old, I would approach this differently, but at 47 I know there will always be someone faster and more talented.


"For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't understand, no explanation is possible."
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Re: Compete Against Others or Compete Against Yourself (informal Poll) [devashish_paul] [ In reply to ]
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Both really. If it's a small local race with only a handful of people in my AG then others. It's nice to stand on the podium. If it's a big race where I essentially stand no chance of doing anything worth extrinsic reward then myself.

I still lapped everyone on the couch!
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