Comparing yourself to others – 9 March 2010

I’ve never thought of myself as particularly competitive. I have always compared myself to others but thought this was a pretty natural way to be? How else are you supposed to know if you’re doing well?

One of the best and worst things about training for the London marathon is the number of other people training for it too. Having had a recent set back in training because of injury, and now playing catch up, I’m finding myself taking more interest than ever in how other people’s training is going. I realise it’s not helpful as it just adds extra pressure to hear others are running more than you, but reading other people’s blogs about injury and set backs is also strangely reassuring. Maybe it’s that strange human mentality of seeking comfort in knowing there are people worse off than yourself.

A friend of mine emailed me today telling me about the progress of some of the other runners from his charity. Those that are aiming for sub 3:15hrs, mums training between family commitments, and one person hoping to wing it on the day. It sounds like he’s comparing himself to others in a similar way to what I am.

And that’s leads me on to how so many others training too is one of the best things about the London marathon. There’s a real sense of community in training, re-establishing friendships as you share stories of what has inspired you to run, meeting strangers running for charity and bonding with them, and finding out more about people you know who have run it in the past. I hope my friend won’t mind but I’ll copy and paste one of the great emails I’ve received from a friend who completed the marathon last year. It may motivate some of you running it this year.

“If you have never done it before, the best thing you can look forward to the atmosphere and pure buzz of it. I’ve played in lots of big football matches and I have never experienced anything like it before (maybe because its more individual than a team experience). Everyone is there for the same reason, which is to raise money for their chosen charity, so everyone is nervous but so friendly and helpful.

I was aiming for a 3 hour time, but thought I could take a further 30 minutes off due to the lack of training. All was going well for the first half and I completed it in 1 hour 28, then I hit the wall (well I seem to hit it after about 9 miles, but kept the same pace), from then on in I really struggled, I was running against the crowd looking for any sweets for energy (I even put what must have been a gob stopper in my mouth out of desperation). I had family around the canary wharf area, which was a great boost although it made me a little emotional, especially at mile 18 when I jumped the rail to kiss my little boy, it actually makes me a little emotional now reminiscing. At mile 19 was when I first stopped with cramp and once I stopped it was game over, I couldn’t run half a mile without stopping. It was the weirdest feeling in the world by this point, because I wasn’t tired, out of breath or drained, but my legs just didn’t work. So I was stopping and stretching the rest of the way and even had two massages by the ambulance crew. I crawled over the line in 3 hours 50 and looking back at my times, I completed the last 2 miles in 35 minutes. I was just pleased to finish in the end.

Please don’t let my last 6 miles experience put you off Paul, other that having my little boy, this was one of the best experiences of my life and I’m sure you will find it the same.”

With less than seven weeks to go I’m slowly putting my injuries behind me, and tonight will run 8.5 miles as part of my programme to get back on track. Wish me luck.

Paul x
http://justgiving.com/paul-raybould