Hey

Comparison is the thief of joy

But we learn the hard way don't we?

Sometimes we don't learn at all

It's natural to look at someone else's race time and have a wee pang of 'how the hell did he manage that?!!'

I've been training better than him!!

I smashed him in my last race, how's he beat me???!!!!'

All totally normal

We're Human

It's the way we are wired

And it IS difficult not to look at others race results and have a wee negative emotion run through you when they've beaten you

Here's how I've changed my thinking on this....

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME

that's what all this comes down to

that's what LIFE comes down to

YOURSELF

Your inner being

How you think

How you feel

How you approach the external world

ALL COMPLETELY UNDER YOUR CONTROL

So why would you want to ruin that by thinking of other people's running results as something that can affect me and my emotions???

It is something that will not do you any good.

Re-frame it.

Someone beats me in a race, great!

Means they must be doing well at life, good on them!

Someone gets 90 mins for a 10km

Great, means they must be doing well at life, delighted for them!

The more positive emotion you generate within yourself, the better a Human Being you will become (and a better runner)

I know people who are genuinely delighted for others whatever results they get in a race

I know people who are raging when things don't go their way in a race

That's fine

No judgement

But the only person you are hurting with negative emotions is YOURSELF

There is literally no point

It is a waste of time

Be happy for people

Be happy for yourself

Be thankful for the small wins in life

The getting out of bed early

The getting out the door in all weathers

The Parkruns

The sessions

The hooking up with others

The social media updates

The Strava kudos

All these things should cultivate within you a positive emotion daily

Keep doing that

And when you have a genuine love of running, there's no place for negative emotion

Until next time

MovementMartin

P.S Follow me on Instagram @movementmartin for daily updates on running and life