Competition

I don't know where it comes from specifically but I am one competitive girl. As a young child I played a lot of different sports. My parents instilled in me that I always had to do my best. They didn't care if I won, they just wanted me to try my hardest. I've often thought that being an adult kind of stinks for one simple reason.... you don't have the same opportunites to compete - no Saturday morning soccer games in the fall or Tuesday night swim meets in the summer.

I have had a few opportunities here and there to compete as an adult...annual softball tournaments, the occassinal game of ultimate frisbee or the always serious putt-putt. :-) In Dallas, I did one triathlon and even played two seasons of indoor soccer. However, as an adult my competitive nature always sneaks up on me because there is just not as much opportunity for it.

Since I did the swimming portion of the last Ironman the competitive feelings have come back in full force. I am now training for an Olympic distance triathlon that will be held on Labor Day weekend. I have been running on the treadmill and have been to a couple of spin classes.

This morning I hopped back in the pool for the first time since the race a few weeks ago. It was great! I felt like I was flying through the water (probably just flying compared to the old lady who was stretching in the lane next to me)! Then it happened...a young man came in and he had the serious swimmer look. :-) There were no other lanes available so I offered to share the lane with him. He would take the right side of the lane and I would take the left. I swam a couple more laps and then he started and all of a sudden he was by my side. We were swimming next to each other. I was pulling and kicking and he was matching me stroke for stroke. I kept wondering when he was going to pass me. For several laps, I kept thinking that surely he was going to take off and leave me in the dust but I guess we were evenly matched. The competitive feeling then washed over me. I didn't really have a desire to "beat" him to the wall. Instead I would kick a bit harder and inch forward. I would then turn it down a bit and fall back a foot or two, only to get back even again. It was a mental game for me. We swam like that for 20 minutes which is almsot unheard of in the pool. Normally someone will pull away. He eventually got tired, he was probably just tired of swimming next to me, and stopped at the wall. I continued swimming and then he started again after a short break. Now he was 3/4 of a lap in front of me and the boost of competitive drive kicked back in. I was going to catch up to him. I eyed him in the distance and kicked and pulled and kicked harder. Since we were so evenly matched, it took a me several laps but I eventually caught up to him! SUCCESS!!

I sometimes wonder if I have taken on more than I can do with training for this triathlon. I have never in my life run run more than 3 miles and I have to run 6 for this triathlon. My training seems to be working at this point though. I ran 3 and 3 quarter miles on Saturday so I'm making progress. I even feel really good while I'm working out and afterwards. I can tell a difference in how my body is responding. It just feels so good to workout! I say that I'm competitive and certainly in the pool today I felt that way but most of the adrenaline comes from pushing myself farther than I think I'm able to go. I have to push through the mental blocks and the "pain" in order to make my goals. The ability to work hard and push myself both mentally and physically in order to reach a goal is the best feeling! I hope that I will stay healthy so that I can continue to enjoy this process. My goal is certainly not to be the fastest but just to finish!