I’ve been giggling a little bit this last hour, while I soaked my legs in a hot bath and warmed up from being out this cold morning. When my friend and I entered the local 5k, we were both adamant about our objective and personality. I told her in a pleading voice, “This race is not at all about competing, it’s about participation.” And, she relayed to me several of the training regimen absurdities that her extreme-competition husband practices, which we laughed about.
When we planned for the run, we planned what we would chat about which would be no different than our Monday morning run together. We planned how we would look: tights, clean hair, a touch of makeup, fleece, a cute hat. We planned to have fun.
And, we did, but afterwards we walked sheepishly down the street with medals around our necks! I placed second in my age group, and she placed third. We managed to communicate only one story (about a woman who had a baby with the cord around its neck, etc etc) and the rest of the time we were breathing hard and focusing on getting under 30 minutes.
Wow! Winning makes participation much more fun!:)