If you read my previous post – Traralgon Marathon – you’ll know last weekend I picked up third place, albeit twenty odd minutes behind the winner. Besides coming home with a little trophy, I got a taste of competition again and arrived home with a sense of drive that has been missing for a while.

There’s something about that feeling when you put it on the line – when you’re in a race, right on the edge of blowing up, but so is your opponent. That feeling that you’re waiting for one another to drop back an inch. Make a mistake. Tighten up. Give in.

Somehow, it had been a while since I’d felt that. I suspect that pressure of competition sometimes got to me when I raced as a junior and later in the VIS development squad. Maybe it was the thought that future opportunities balanced on the outcome? Maybe it was just not knowing how to handle that pressure?

Perhaps those few years since then have let me appreciate how to embrace the pressure of competition. You have to want it. And back yourself.

Do you want that feeling? Maybe a taste of competition is just what you need too.

Credit: www.traralgonharriers.org

I ran the Traralgon Marathon last Sunday. Our little running group had a boys weekend away in the country, which was a perfect way to focus on the task at hand and have fun at the same time.

It is Australia’s longest running marathon, and has a rich history including a 2:13 marathon by Derek Clayton back in 1970. The current course is out and back, with a defining feature being a 6km dead straight stretch of road at the far end of the course. With only two houses along the length of this stretch, there’s not a lot to look at and can challenge even the strongest mindset. When you get to the end of this road, you turn around and head back again!

This year, the conditions were close to perfect – cool temperatures with a slight headwind on the return trip. However, after 30km a slight headwind definitely feels stronger than it is.

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