This post is written from a more personal perspective than most, and for many people won’t necessarily be all that relevant in most scenarios, but competition with others isn’t reserved for those at the front of the race, so it’s worth exploring.

 

Some back story

I’m writing this in June 2022, having raced 3 times so far this year and finished 3rd, 2nd and 4th. The performance I’m most proud of is the 3rd place, as this was a return to the Peddars Way Ultramarathon which defeated me in 2020 when I picked up an injury at mile 18 and had to hobble to mile 27 before withdrawing from the race.

 

Peddars Way ultra

I had an A goal in mind of running the 48 and a bit miles of trails in 6 hours, which would break the previous course record by around 20 minutes. Ambitious? Yes. Realistic? Also yes. 

Now setting out to break a course record is generally going to mean winning the race however in this instance, two supreme athletes turned up and although I did break the previous course record by 8 minutes, I came in third place approximately 20 minutes behind the winner. 

Loads of people were very kind after and said it was a shame the other two guys turned up, and whilst it would have been lovely to win, that wasn’t my priority. I was over the moon to have performed so close to what I thought would be my absolute best, so the fact the other runners had performed so well took nothing away from how happy I was and to see them disappear off into the distance was kind of awe inspiring to be honest. The winner had already left by the time I arrived at the finish as he was catching a flight that afternoon to go skiing!

 

Mammoth Marathon

Next up was the mammoth marathon and I assumed that I’d be battling it out for one of the top spots with Dom Blake, and that unless someone from outside the county turned up, one of us would likely win it. On the day, I saw Alan Darby and knew any thoughts of winning were gone unless he had a nightmare race which was very unlikely, and equally would have resulted in a very hollow victory if I had won. I knew my focus however wasn’t on winning. It would have been a bonus, but not the goal. Training in the 16 or so weeks between Peddars Way and the marathon hadn’t been great. I missed three weeks with an ankle injury picked up in the 33rd of 48 miles, missed another 5 days with a cold and then missed one of my final long runs when my wife was hospitalised. Including the much reduced mileage for the first three weeks I was back running, I ended up around 10 miles/week short of what I’d managed in the preparation for the Boston (Lincolnshire) marathon in May 2021 where I ran 2:39 on a very flat course., and 12 miles/week less than my training for 2:37:06 in Manchester in October 2021.

Mammoth was going to be an entirely different beast with over 900ft of elevation, so to get anything near 2:39 even would take my best effort, and that’s what I was focused on. I wanted to perform well relative to my current capability more than compared to other people, and whatever placing I got wasn’t too consequential as long as I’d worked hard and ran the time I wanted. I ended up running 2:42:25, bang in the middle of my target range of 2:40-2:45 and was really pleased with it. Finishing second was again fantastic, but the main thing I was pleased with was my relative performance to my current fitness.

 

Holt 10k

I was disappointed with this race, and I made no bones about it. As a coach, there is a pressure and expectation to run fast and achieve certain things. It wasn’t that I finished 4th when I had hoped to be in the top 3 that bothered me though as evidenced by cheering on my fellow Norfolk Gazelle, Nico Drinkwater in 5th who was closing on me fast in the final mile, it was that physically and mentally I’d not done as well as I could/should have. 

At the start I looked around and saw that everyone else was wearing carbon plated shoes, something I’d not bought at the time as I want to know that any good performance is down to the work and training I’m doing. I psyched myself out because I focused on the wrong thing, everyone else and their performance. I knew I’d have to work harder than them to run the same time (which is fine of course), but by hoping for another podium, I took my eye off the ball. 

My legs were probably still recovering from the Mammoth marathon which had been two weeks before, and I’d underestimated the impact of the extra elevation of those 26 miles, so I could have done with another week of recovery in all likelihood. I went into the race hoping to run around 33:30-34:30, having run a solo 10k of 33:48, albeit on a flat route, back in January 2021 when I wasn’t as fit or strong. 

The only two things I was pleased with from my 35:34 clocking were that I went out at my target pace of 5:30 rather than holding back for what would be an unlikely negative split, and that I didn’t walk when my brain was screaming at me to give in. Other than that it was a big lesson in better knowing my limits and my mind. 

 

Carbon shoes

I’ll be open and honest in saying that I have now bought a pair of carbon shoes to race in, partly because I’m one of only a couple of runners near the front of races that doesn’t wear them (Dom Blake with me also) and so want to compete on an even playing field. Rightly, or in my view, wrongly, coaches in all aspects of fitness and sport are so often judged on their own performance and at times struggle to get work based on the perception of their ability, when it has nothing to do with their skills as a coach. Over the last 10 years in the fitness industry I’ve seen and experienced the snobbery of “looks like the trainer needs a trainer” and spoken with other coaches who feel they won’t be approached by runners who are faster than they are. Our own accomplishments aren’t a metric for how much we know or how much we can help. One of the PTs I worked with at a gym in my early fitness industry days was in cracking shape, but was full of absolute BS, seemingly had very little understanding of coaching principles and was lazy as hell to boot, but he was always busy because he looked good in a gym vest and shorts.

If there wasn’t a potential negative impact on my business, I’d not bother with carbon shoes. I want to know where my own fitness and improvements are coming from and if I don’t achieve a certain goal then I’ll look to work harder or better. Unfortunately that isn’t the case, so I’m having to get over my curiosity in favour of what is essentially prioritising my business.

 

Why I’m writing this

My main point in this is that too many people I speak with are focused on what everyone else is doing. Naturally those at the front of the race or age categories, with accolades, trophies and potential prize money up for grabs are competing with one another and comparing, but anything other than friendly, motivating competition for other places is frankly a bit daft in my opinion. 

When I was running slower times than I do these days (there are still plenty of people faster than me in most races), I looked up to those who were ahead of me and was motivated by those who were around my speed, because I knew they were working hard to progress like I was. I wanted them to succeed, not fail or have a bad day so that I looked or felt better.

Why half kill yourself in training and push far past a sensible level of exertion just so the other person doesn’t run 50m more than you for a particular interval? Why stalk Strava to see what people are doing or try to hammer out quick times on Strava segments, only to end up injured time and time again?

Focus on your own training and personal achievement goals. Your own needs, wants and ways to optimise if you want to get faster or run further. Occasionally you might pick up something from looking at what others are doing, but unless your situation and body are the same as theirs (which they obviously aren’t) then you’re more likely to miss out on finding what would work better for you.

I appreciate that everyone’s goals are different, but the most important thing is self-fulfilment unless you’re a professional athlete. Your own progression as an athlete, and supporting those who run is the best thing about this sport we love. Please don’t taint it with unnecessary pressure on yourself, negativity towards others and competing with people when it just isn’t serving any purpose. None of us get that right all the time, as I’ve shown you in the words above, but please try to keep it in mind.

As I’ve said innumerable times, this is our hobby. It’s meant to be fun.

 

Written by Kyle Brooks, Running Coach based in Norwich, Norfolk