1

Family Competition (Read 819 times)


Swadvad

    My wife and I are starting to show a bit of healthy competitiveness. Although we are still newbies and quite slow, we have both expressed some jealously when the other has run a certain distance a bit faster or extended a run a but further. We find that we are trying to out-do each other. What healthy (or unhealthy) experience do you have with a competitive friend or family member?
      My wife still thinks she's smarter than me just because she graduated cum laude from college (we met in college and had the same major). She's not. I am way, way smarter than her, I just chose to enjoy the social aspects of college life more than her.

      Runners run


      Dog-Love

        My husband of 15 yrs started running with me and I could tell that he was going to be faster than me right from the start so I told him I don't want to run with him anymore. Does that help?
        Run like you are on fire! 5K goal 24:00 or less (PR 24:34) 10K goal 50:00 or less (PR 52:45) HM goal 1:55:00 or less (PR 2:03:02) Marathon Goal...Less than my PR (PR 4:33:23)
          My husband and I run together, he's beaten me a few times in 5k races....so I started doing bigger races Evil grin he won't run more than 4 miles at a time - I WIN. Big grin And...I'm very determined to not let him beat me in another 5k race ever again. I can understand the whole jealousy thing. When I'm not able to run I get a little bitter when he heads out the door to run. I always ask him what his time was and for a while he was doing our usual 5k route faster than I was, but now I've stepped it up and my times are always faster than his. He says he's not running it to improve his time. He's running so he can enjoy his weekend beer without guilt of the extra calories. Roll eyes That - and on days that he runs he has a big bowl of chocolate ice-cream right before bed. We've had some recent arguments (not really arguments, mostly him rolling his eyes at me and insisting that I'm crazy) over my increase in mileage. He sees no point in running more than 3 or 4 miles at a time.

          Michelle




          Burninated Peasant

            I found a real easy way to solve this one - every time my wife starts to show interest in running again, I get her pregnant. Next kid comes along in July, so I've probably got at least through the rest of the year without any competition. Big grin
            jEfFgObLuE


            I've got a fever...

              I always ask him what his time was and for a while he was doing our usual 5k route faster than I was, but now I've stepped it up and my times are always faster than his.
              A little competition is healthy, but don't let it screw up your training. For example, if you have a scheduled easy day after a hard interval workout, and your husband strolls in with a spiffy fast time on your 5k loop, don't feel compelled to try to go out and beat that time on that day. We have easy days and hard days for a reason, and sometimes competition makes us blow up our easy days when we should be recovering. This happened a lot when I ran track and cross country. I'd let it rip on speed days, but had to struggle to take it easy on recovery days when my teammates would try to "beat me." Pointless, destructive (or at least wasteful) example of competition. As far as the eye-rolling from hubby when you run long, try this on him. Larry Bird didn't shoot 500 shots every day after practice because he'd be called on to take 500 shots in a game -- he shot that many so that he knew he would make the shot when he took it in a game.

              On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

                A little competition is healthy, but don't let it screw up your training. For example, if you have a scheduled easy day after a hard interval workout, and your husband strolls in with a spiffy fast time on your 5k loop, don't feel compelled to try to go out and beat that time on that day. We have easy days and hard days for a reason, and sometimes competition makes us blow up our easy days when we should be recovering.
                I'm a slow learner in this area. The reason why I haven't run since Sunday's race is because of how I just couldn't tell my son no, and ran with him (after I already ran for the day) on our usual course last week and we ended up doing a 7 min mile pace. My foot wasn't ready for that I guess. But it felt SOOOOO good to walk in the house and show my husband the time on the clock. His response "No thank you!". As if I was asking him if he wanted to go run the course in that time.
                As far as the eye-rolling from hubby when you run long, try this on him. Larry Bird didn't shoot 500 shots every day after practice because he'd be called on to take 500 shots in a game -- he shot that many so that he knew he would make the shot when he took it in a game.
                Good one. I'll try it but I know he'll say something along the lines of "well, 500 shots won't give anyone a heart attack like running 10 miles could" or "there' s big difference between shooting hoops and making your body run for mile after mile"...or something like that. He just feels it's unhealthy to run long distances...

                Michelle



                jEfFgObLuE


                I've got a fever...

                  He just feels it's unhealthy to run long distances...
                  Yeah, long distance runners are some of the unhealthiest people I know. Wink

                  On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

                    What healthy (or unhealthy) experience do you have with a competitive friend or family member?
                    When my husband and I ran our second 5k together back a few years ago, I was overly confident that I would beat him, since I had beaten him in the first race. We ran on a course that was new to me and turned out to be a little (very hilly actually) hilly, and I was only running 3 times a week, 3 miles each time. The race started and I was chatting non-stop - then we hit hill 3 and it totally took all my energy. I ended up winded and walking, while my husband just kept plodding along. I tried to catch up, but I couldn't. He beat me by a little over a minute. I learned two lessons that day. 1. He actually can beat me!! 2. I need to shut up and save my energy.

                    Michelle



                      My husband loves long runs ... that is, when I go on long runs on a trail, and pick him up Mickey D's on the way back ! Big grin
                      2009: BQ?
                      jEfFgObLuE


                      I've got a fever...

                        I am way, way smarter than her, I just chose to enjoy the social aspects of college life more than her.
                        That's what I tell myself, too. Sometimes, I even believe it.

                        On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.


                        Swadvad

                          My wife still thinks she's smarter than me just because she graduated cum laude from college (we met in college and had the same major). She's not. I am way, way smarter than her, I just chose to enjoy the social aspects of college life more than her.
                          I like to say that I obtained a more "well rounded" education than my 4.0 GPA spouse. Afterall, what would they say if we had no "social" skills? Cool
                          Ed4


                          Barefoot and happy

                            Endurance running is not only healthy, it's what we're built for: http://www.physorg.com/news95954919.html It's only unhealthy when you take someone who's been living a completely unnatural modern life and try to transition back too quickly.
                            Curious about running barefoot? Visit the new barefoot running group.