A recent post on raceAthlete comes from Erin of the Long and Winding Road blog. The comments on her post were as interesting as the post, and my own response fits better here than in the comment section.
Her post comes from discussions held at a spa she recently visited. Her post is worth reading, so stop by her blog or raceAthlete for the full treatment. In the mean time, allow me to ‘splain. No, ‘twill take to long. Lemme summup. (Sorry, couldn’t resist)
The long and short of it is that Erin entered, well, was dragged into a conversation with another female triathlete. This woman apparently has some amount of self-satisfaction with her training and race performance, and was willing to share with anyone and everyone in her presence. During the discussion, it came to light that both Erin and the other woman had finished their first Ironman events in 2007.
Erin’s primary interest was in sharing her feelings from the day. I imagine she probably had stories similar to many other Ironman participants. High points, low points, and that it was one of the best days of her life.
The other woman? She was more interested in Erin’s time. When she had it, she was apparently quite smug as she pointed out that her time was about two hours faster than Erin’s.
This very nearly resulted in Erin’s head exploding from her body and blasting through the other woman’s chest. Luckily, Erin seems to be part saint, and responded about the good time the woman posted. Which promptly encouraged the other woman to talk about how “poorly” she did, and that she can be much faster, and plans on qualifying for Kona once she straightens a few things out.
Erin’s take on the whole issue is that the woman seems to have missed something. For Erin, Ironman is about personal accomplishment and individual success. For the other woman, it seemed to be about competition and doing better than others.
One of comments left at raceAthlete was from Mike (blog unknown). He was confused by Erin’s response, and indicated he has no problem with others finishing ahead of him. “… I accept the fact that they are better than I am.” I think this misses the point, and raises a few questions.
Most of us who enter triathlons accept that many will be faster than us and others will be slower than us. It is a fairly small group that is capable of competing to win and the rest of us must compete against ourselves. That said, the only real question about time in a race should be, “Did you achieve your goals for the day?”
If someone asks me how I did in Louisville, I tell them I did well. I finished the race, and met most of my goals. If they ask my time, I’ll tell them. If that individual’s response is to try and “one up” me by telling me they had a better time, they are the one in need of an attitude adjustment, not me. If their response is similar to mine, hackles are unlikely to be raised. “I did well, too. I had a great swim and okay bike, which enabled me to finish just under my target of 12:30.” That’s significantly different than a self-satisfied, “13:12? I finished in 12:10.”
The plain and simple fact is that time alone is a poor judge of how “well” someone did on a given day. Consider two people at the same Ironman. One finishes in 10:45 and the other in 11:15. Who had the better day? At first glance, one might say the person who ran the 10:45. What if that person is Faris al Sultan and the person with the 11:15 is me? Faris just ran something like two hours under what he is capable of doing. And I just ran a PR of nearly an hour.
But does that even answer all of the questions?
What if we find out Faris raced with a bad knee and a mild touch of the flu? And I raced under the same conditions as the raceAthlete sponsored team from 2007. A brand new BMC bike, coaching, Power Tap, etc. Might that change our answers? There are so many factors that go into completing an Ironman that the simple question of “What was your time” is almost guaranteed to miss vital information.
And the fact that someone ran a faster race is absolutely no indication of someone being a “better” person. Now, I understand Mike’s point. They are “better” racers. Perhaps. That all depends on perspective. Dick Hoyt hasn’t won too many races in his career. Then again, most of us don’t carry the load he does. Those who finish ahead of him aren’t necessarily better. They just got to the finish line faster.
Individuals who attempt to boost themselves up by pushing others down should examine their priorities. I am all for the woman Erin met improving herself and qualifying for Kona. If she does, she deserves every bit of credit given. GIVEN. A fast time or a Kona slot is not a license to belittle the accomplishments of others. Many of us will likely never qualify to race in Hawaii. It makes us no better or worse.
Attitude. That CAN make someone “better” or “worse.” I’ll hang all day with someone who has a positive attitude. If they’re slower, I’ll run with them. If they’re faster, I’ll run with them while I can.
If someone has a rotten attitude, I’ll walk or sprint just to find someone with a better attitude.
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