Week 3 of Ironman training: Competition

Much like everyone else in the state of Wisconsin, I'm not a fan of the weather lately.  I have the bar set at 20 degrees as far as going outside for a run and this past week I didn't get out once.  I either have to adjust my bar down a bit or find more crap to DVR to keep me entertained on the treadmill.  Groundhog's Day is just around the corner and I'm betting on an early spring so I should be outside in no time.  

I was down on Regent St. this past fall taking in the Badger Saturday festivities at a local watering hole and ran into several Mauston High School Alumni.  One of them played football at UWEC a bit after I graduated and he was asking me if I ever missed the game.  I've been asked this several times and my answer has always been no, now granted it's been 15 years since I played and I'd break a dozen bones if I actually hit someone, but my answer was no immediately following my tenure as well.  I've always said that I missed the camaraderie (not the bar on Water St. - but that one too) of the team more so than any game or practice.  My brother Mark played at EC before me and one of the many things he taught me was to give it everything you have when given the opportunity because those opportunities have an expiration date.  The point is I gave it my all for each and every game so there's nothing for me to miss or regret.  Then this guy asked me if I missed the competition, and that had me a bit stumped.

I guess in a way I did miss the competition and that's what is driving me to compete in marathons and this Ironman.  I don't miss competing against others, I did that for several years in those other sports and frankly that is a full time job in itself.  To compete against others you have to dedicate all your time to working harder than the person you're competing against...I don't have the time or the desire to compete against others.  Instead I now choose to compete against myself.  Can I work hard enough or long enough to drown out the voice in my head telling me 'that's good enough for today' or 'you can take a day off to rest'?  I'm less concerned about beating anyone else across the finish line and instead focused on pushing myself to do things I didn't think I could do.  Have you ever told someone that you participated in some kind of a fun-run race only to have them ask you what place you came in?  No, because that doesn't matter to others, they're only interested in hearing that you completed the race and achieved your goal.  

I believe we're all capable of more than we give ourselves credit for, so whether you're working towards a 2014 New Year's goal, running a 5k, or walking a mile without stopping, just keep competing against that voice in your head telling you to stop!