Reigning in the competitive spirit

There's an article by Elisha Cooper in the February 2010 issue of Runners World that I found to be funny.  He discusses how male runners seem to take it personally when they are passed versus female runners who don't seem to mind.  Out on the roads, I have no problems if someone passes me, but if someone is ahead of me I find that I will try to increase my pace to catch and pass them.  Where this article applies to me is when I'm at the YMCA running on the treadmill.  For some reason, if someone gets on the machine next to me, we are going to race whether they participate or not.  I've been in the last mile of a hard 8 mile hill workout when a younger guy foolishly toed the starting line (got on the machine next to me) and started running faster than me.  I looked at him, and proceeded to increase my pace so that it was noticeably faster than his.  I ended up running an extra 3 miles that day before I broke that guy (or he simply finished his workout).  Yes, in my mind, we were racing.  Perhaps, this mentality led to my not being able to run (I'm no longer saying the word injury--from here on out, it shall be the word that must not be spoken/written).  Fortunately or unfortunately for me (depending on how one looks at it), the YMCA that I frequent is predominately visited by seniors--and I don't mean those in high school or college.  I won't denigrate those seniors who are there walking because I respect their effort.  How difficult must it be to make yourself go to the gym when you are in your 60's and 70's?  Too many people make fun of those who work out--saying they're wasting their time or they're only there to be seen, but I think they try to put them down to make themselves feel better because they can't get their own lazy asses off the couch--I understand it's difficult to do much when you've got a remote in one hand and a bag of chips in the other.  I seem to have gotten off subject.  Recognizing the problem puts one on the path to fixing it.  I have to try to be more disciplined when I do my workouts.  No more racing and trying to break the spirit of the old lady next to me.  I think it was the Penguin who said you have to "run your own race" or in my case "run my own workout".  Maybe I need to get some races in to satisfy my competitive spirit--to race against those who know they are in a race.  I've planned some 5k's and 10k's for February and March, so we'll see how things go.  I made an appointment for Jan. 6 to see my podiatrist.  If I get the okay, I'll probably be running again by the weekend.

If you previously checked out this blog, you'll notice that the L.A. Marathon countdown timer has been replaced by the Prescott Whiskey Row Marathon.  While I was really looking forward to L.A., there just won't be enough time to get into descent enough shape so that I don't  (insert word which must not be spoken/written) myself again.