Competition and GOALS!!!

Let me real quick take you back to January of 2010. I was 260 lbs. I was fat... fat fat fat fat fat!!!
Walking up the stairs at my office job was absolutely awful. I was exhausted going up a single flights.
So, I decided I needed a change.
I needed to make a goal. First goal was to run further than a mile without having to stop. Done.
Then I decided to run a 5k. My only goal was to finish it without stopping. Did it, even though my calf cramped up.
Then, it was to do a Warrior Dash. Did that last year.
Then to finish Spartan race. Done last year as well.
This year, I had to set new goals. A sub 23 min 5k. Done.
Competing in a Half Marathon. Done.
Then finishing in the top 10 % of Warrior Dash competitors. Done.

The point is, every time out I try to set a goal for myself to smash.

New goal is to compete in my first ever triathlon in August. I also plan on running Spartan Super Sprint, and possibly two more Half Marathons and a duathlon.

If you're not setting goals for yourself, you're stagnating. Even if today's goal is simply to run a 1/4 mile, make a goal, and get after that finish line!!!!

Warrior Dash and the Competitive Spirit

Warrior Dash was this past weekend. It was my second one that I've done. I know it's on the easier side of these adventure runs, but I love challenging myself and I prefer this to some of the Spartan obstacles as I feel like this race flows a bit better.

I displaced a rib about 10 minutes before running as I was warming up. Seriously, I can't get hurt doing anything cool, it's something very basic that always gets me. Once the race started, though, I was good to go and didn't feel it. I made a mistake starting about halfway in the back of my wave. No more of that. Too much traffic that I had to run through. Afterwards, that rib injury kicked in and I was on the floor. Holy crap... But my friend Vicodin was there... Thanks for that Laura.

My final time was 30:40. That's 5 minutes better than last year, and I felt like this course was harder. When I got done, I was jacked. I wanted to do something else, right away. I just felt so good about myself and my fitness level.

This is a stark contrast to my competitive nature from about 20 years ago. Before college, I didn't care and didn't work hard at anything. And in fact, I really didn't train at all in college unless you call binge drinking training. I just played hard when it came to sports. Now, however, I train hard for my events. I bust my ass and try to PR every time I can.

It's funny that as I've gotten older, I've wanted to compete more. Whether it was fights, or running, I want to win. Of course, when I say win, I mean I want to beat myself. I try to outdo myself each time. Try to find something new and challenging that I haven't done before.

I believe I'm going to do my first triathlon in August. I started bike training this week and I'll start my swim training next week hopefully. I'm way excited about it.

Thanks to Jerry, Andrea, Ray, and all my F'NRC peeps... Had a great time making some new friends.
Anyway, find something new and challenging for yourself this week. Try to make yourself a little better. No one is a tougher opponent than yourself.

Till next time!!!