Wong Fei Hung once said something about competition being good for us because it showed us the weaknesses in our training. I'm going to come face-to-face with any weakness in my marathon training program in less than one week. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I've always been fairly athletic. I held a grudge against one girl for an exorbitant amount of time for beating me out of the last leg of the 4x400 relay Presidential Physical Fitness team for my middle school in the 7th grade! Hello! (I still ran on the team, an 8th grader beat me out of the 4th leg.) I was a cheerleader for a time in middle school. Cheerleaders do some crazy athletic things! I ran track and cross-country in high school, although I was never particularly good at it. I also participated in other sports both on the high school and university (club) levels. Not until I discovered martial arts in my late twenties did I find the "sport" that appealed to me most. I started taking Kung Fu in Georgia and continued in New Hampshire, earning a black belt at my school there, and then starting with a new school when we moved back to Georgia. I was a decent student (I have three former instructors that may very well read this and beg to differ) and really enjoyed it. No doubt I would have continued in my martial arts training except that we moved to North Carolina. There isn't a Kung Fu instructor that I've found within an hour's drive of our house. Not logistically feasible with a two-year-old and a husband that puts in some crazy work hours. Not willing to settle for a different style of martial arts and needing SOMETHING as a vehicle for stress-release, I began running again.
I never really quit running, not since high school, but this time was different. I was running for myself. There was no team, no school pride, no other sports to prepare for, no health-consciousness, no reason beyond self-satisfaction to get out there and get it done. I found that I was enjoying my runs more and looking forward to leashing up my four-legged running partner even when the thermometer registered below freezing. I made a New Year's resolution in 2011 to run a half marathon. Never having run that distance before, I withheld all expectations and set out to run my own race. I proved that I could cover the 13.1 mile distance on October 8th, 2011. On December 3rd, 2011 I broke two hours for the same distance and was suddenly faced with living up to my own declaration that if I broke two hours in the half I would register for a full.
Here we are, a little more than a year after my first half marathon and I'll be running 26.2 miles on Saturday in Savannah, Georgia. I ran the distance a few weeks ago--no medals, no shirts, just me on the trail--and I know I can physically do it. The next weekend I PR'd my half marathon time, running the same course that constituted my very first half marathon, but the Rock-n-Roll Marathon in Savannah will be the largest race I've ever entered. More competitors, more fanfare, more hoopla. I'm trying really hard not to let self-doubt creep in.
Wong Fei Hung was absolutely correct in his assessment of competition being good for us. My husband is a little "Type A" with his competitive personality; he wants merely to pulverize the competition and he pulverizes himself after any competition he doesn't win. I tend to be a little more pragmatic and see the race as Wong Fei Hung would have...an opportunity to reevaluate my training and better prepare myself for the next competition. This doesn't mean I don't dream of surprising myself. I've already considered changing my race corral based on the finish time of my last race. I do know that I won't run well at all, though, if I let my brain go to mush due to worry. Best let this one play out according to God's plan and then I can have a conversation with Him later if need be.
Whether it's Debate, One-Act (I remember those days), Quiz Bowl (I remember those days, too), a soccer game, or an individual footrace, competition keeps us humble and keeps us realistic and keeps us GOING! I am a firm believer in the necessity to flex both the brain "muscles" and the body muscles. Competition allows us to do both at the same time. The competition is not necessarily against your opponent (or your 5,000 opponents), but against yourself. Don't shy away from the challenge. Whether the challenge brings validation or an awareness of what needs to change, EMBRACE IT! And feel free to wish me luck Saturday, November 3rd!
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