Do you enjoy racing?

When toeing the line, I am neither excited nor anxious but prepared to execute the last phase of the plan that has been developed and implemented over the past few months.

I am very calm at the start of a race. I'm ready to race and execute my plan - almost to the point of being stoic. Thankfully, I don't get nervous or get the butterflies....it's just a nice, quiet calm.

In the week leading up to the race it's always on the back of my mind, and my gut kind of sinks when I think about it.

The day of the race I can't stop thinking about it.

Warming up I'm a nervous wreck, because I know I have to perform. I just want the race to be there already.

When I'm on the line I'm totally ok with how much I'm going to hurt over the next few minutes, and I can't wait until I'm into the race.

I really hate the day of part.

mixt wrote:

In the week leading up to the race it's always on the back of my mind, and my gut kind of sinks when I think about it.

The day of the race I can't stop thinking about it.

Warming up I'm a nervous wreck, because I know I have to perform. I just want the race to be there already.

When I'm on the line I'm totally ok with how much I'm going to hurt over the next few minutes, and I can't wait until I'm into the race.

I really hate the day of part.

It's pretty much the opposite for me. The day of the race I'm really excited. That ends right after the warm up, though.

As an alpha male, I see it as yet another opportunity to assert my dominance over pvssy beta males like you.

of course i love racing. I put a ton of work into my training and i love being able to see what i can do.

I enjoyed it for 25 years and then stopped enjoying it.

That was my last serious race. Won my age group and called it a day.

Still go to races now and then but run easy in the middle or back of the pack.

I love racing, and competition in general. It's fun to do things as hard as you can and see who's strongest. It does kind of suck to move to a place with a shitty running scene and just automatically win ever race I enter, though. I almost feel bad winning some of these races, but if you're gonna have a prize I'ma enter.

Racing was always the best part of racing for me. I was prepared and confident and didn't consider it particularly painful. OP, you may be doing something wrong.

Wow Unbelievable wrote:

Racing was always the best part of racing for me.

I would not be doing my job as a LetsRun poster in letting this phrase pass us by without comment, yet I'm not sure what to say.

no

I don't enjoy racing at all but more for lack of interest than nervousness. Lately I've found it difficult to get excited about any races- I have a pretty good idea of what shape I'm in at any given time and I just don't have the same competitive drive I used to. I'll still go out there and race and perform well but all in all I really don't see the point of it.

I always used to get really worked up and nervous before races; I would feel queasy and get butterflies in my stomach and would obsess over the coming race and the pain. Strangely enough, this was when I was still quite slow. As I got faster (still not great, but good enough to be in the top 10 of almost any local race), I started getting less amped up about racing.

I still don't know if I would say that I enjoy racing; it's uncomfortable and usually I'm too focused and pushing too hard to really "enjoy" it, but I like competing and pushing myself to my limits, and I am always very happy after a good race. But during the race, unless it's the first 16 miles of a marathon, I'm not usually having fun.

Dwight Kashrut wrote:

I love racing, and competition in general. It's fun to do things as hard as you can and see who's strongest. It does kind of suck to move to a place with a shitty running scene and just automatically win ever race I enter, though. I almost feel bad winning some of these races, but if you're gonna have a prize I'ma enter.

I agree with this guy (although I don't live in a place where I can win races, or any race for that matter).

I'm busy with work and family and don't get nervous about races until I get there (I do think about races when training). Once start warming up I get somewhat nervous, but in a good way - I'm excited to see what I can do and who I can beat.

Few things match the feeling of hitting the finish line when you've run a good race. Suddenly the months of training and sacrifice feel worth it.

Wow Unbelievable wrote:

Racing was always the best part of racing for me. I was prepared and confident and didn't consider it particularly painful. OP, you may be doing something wrong.

No, I don't think the OP is doing anything wrong. I would get super nervous for years and years about racing. It wasn't until my senior year of college that I finally started feeling more comfortable on the line.

Competing against others doesn't really drive me. It's the competition against myself and the clock. Kinda like doing a work out. Other people there help push me and pull me faster, but it's the time and my past performances that are my measures of merit. But for a while I would feel the pressure of having other people around me that I'm supposed to try and beat and that intimidated me. Now I go into races with very specific plans and the challenge is to execute it. The people around me are just tools to pull me along or give me a mental boost when I pass.

nah - I really hate racing. But I love after the race - makes it worth it when I really nail a good one and can summon the exhileration for years. I still remember great races from 30 years ago. And as recently as 3 months.

And there is no way I would train as hard without races - but I do not like doing them. Sort of a catch 22. Because I love love love being in fantastic shape for races.

We not even talkin about the race. We talkin about practice....

I love racing. Competition is my entire reason for running. I don't really enjoy the day to day of training in the way that a lot of runners seem to. I'm not the type who will keep running every day even if I'm not going to race. I don't run because I love to run. I run because I love to compete and running offers me the opportunity to do so.