Monday, June 8, 2009

Best Friends and Opponents

This weekend will be a first for me..my first trail run! I am really excited but very nervous! I am not sure why because the distance is short but the idea of all those hills and different terrain have me a bit spooked. Also, being a Canadian, we could only get out on trails in May because it was either frozen or sludge until then. Not to mention, I don't like to go out to the trails by myself so I have to ensure I have a partner with me. This can be challanging when most of my running partners are also Mom's with crazy parent schedules. As a result, I have only done 2 trail runs and the race is this Saturday!

Here is my other problem and it is NOT a reasonable one. I often run with one of my best friends. Our children are both the exact same age and sex and we see and/or speak to each other nearly every day. Even our names are only different by the placement of the "E". She was a great short distance runner in her youth and as an adult she is still very active in hockey, lacrosse etc.. She and I are running this event together and she is PUMPED. However, she normally cuts runs off at 10km. While training for my marathon, she would often meet me on my second loop so to give me a push but she was not going more than 10k.

I am definately the stronger long distance runner and have far more mileage in a week but I can say with certainty that she will KICK MY BUTT in this race. She is super fast on the short distance. This has me a little bummed out! Do you think that is strange? What is even more strange is why would I even want to be so competative with my closest friend? Is that a woman thing or just a human being thing? It is even more strange that we are hardly Olympic competitors in our 20's. Does anyone else think that once you have a mortgage, two children and exceed the age of 35, we should be a bit more forgiving to ourselves and our fellow competitors?

One of my favourite things about running is the racing environment. I am addicted to the energy people give off and I can honestly say that I am fine with total strangers running me down but it stresses me when it is my best friend. I feel the same way when I am play soccer and tennis. I don't lose any sleep when a team of stranges mows us over but last week I played against a friends team and felt compelled to kick (forgive the pun) it up a notch. Playing tennis with my brother in law is probably the best workout I can get because I refuse to give an inch.

I think I need a little therapy!

9 comments:

Relentless Forward Commotion said...

I don't think it's strange. I'm not setting any olympic records either, but i'm SUPER competitive. My friends husband just decided to run one day, joined me in a 5k, and beat me. I was mad! LOL!! I think healthy competition is half the fun of racing :) good luck on your trail run!

Mrs. Hibit said...

There's nothing wrong with friendly competition! Growing up, my closest friends have always been my cross country teammates - and you'd better believe there was competition there. We'd be genuinely proud of others' strong performances, but desired to shine on our own - and that was OK.

Now I'm older and much slower, but you'll still find me looking up my old friends' race times to see how I compare.

Denise said...

I think it's totally normally what you're feeling. I'm more competitive with people I know then with strangers. It's in all of us, I think.

Marlene said...

That's a human thing - don't worry about it. :)

Have fun!

ihaverun said...

I can totally understand how you feel and don't think you should feel bad about it. When I found out my sister-in-law (who doesn't run regularly) had signed up for a half marathon that will take place just a few weeks before my first half, it motivated me to push my training harder and make sure I beat her time even though we aren't even running the same race. From the other comments, it sounds like we are all just human! Good luck this weekend!!

Kim said...

LOL...I seem to be totally the opposite. I'll step back so my best friend can cross the finish line first. It's just the way each of us works.

Rookie on the Run said...

I am not competitive in most situations. With that said, I can relate to you there. I'm more competitive if I'm competing with someone I know.

I can't wait to read about your trail run! I bet you'll love it. :D

Carol said...

I wish I had someone to run with even if they were competitive. I run alone. None of my family or friends are runners. (Except my daughter but she is a long distance runner.) I only run 2-3 miles to stay fit.

RunnerMom said...

Hi!! I didn't know you were back to blogging!

I have two friends/opponents in my age group with whom I do many of my training runs. But they are way faster than me. One of them used to be my speed, but now she's somehow gotten so much faster in these few months since the marathon when I've been plagued with injuries and fatigue.

Glad you are back!