Discussion: Why do you compete in your sport?

I posted these questions on my log and I got a bit of a response but I was thinking I could maybe reach more people if I posted it here. You can answer one or both if you'd like. Look forward to your responses.

What is your motivation at the toughest spot in a race to keep running hard, push through and compete at your highest level possible?

Or maybe what is your motivation to get out there day after day and train?

Question 1--I am at the point in my life now where, when the going gets tough, I just start walking.

Question 2--It used to be (in my 20's and 30"s), that I just plain liked to run or ski and I never really though about not going out. Of course, maybe I just liked it becasue I didn't "train", I just "ran" (or skied).

1) I find it best to have a whole lot of enticements to keep me pushing. There's taking pride in being good at what I do; an elation in exertion, especially when it's very hard; self-deception, telling myself that I'll push up this hill and rest a little bit later; thinking to the future and knowing that I'll regret it later if I don't give it my best shot.

2) My motivation to train every day comes from a lot of places too. The easiest is that I have built a habit and going out each day is easier when you and your body both expect to be exercising. Having long term and short term goals is good. I am hoping to break 9 mins in my 3k time trial coming up but my long term goal is qualifying at WOC for a final. If I'm tired while running up Summit Ave during my hill repeats I can think about how fast Thierry was running up the hill last fall in Harriman.

I compete because the non-competitive entry is so cheap, I'd feel that I'm cheating out the organizers.

1&2: Damned if I know, but it appears to be something in the wiring. According to my parents, I was Type-A from the get-go. While there are aspects of training and racing that are unpleasant, I have to say that I really do enjoy the vast majority of it.

I thought the relevant inspirational gem was "pain is temporary, failure is forever", but it turns out the more common form is "pain is temporary, pride is forever". I actually found the "failure" version more useful when I was fighting to finish my first road marathon, but I can see the "pride" version being a healthier attitude overall.

At the toughest spot, I'm typically pushing because I want to get it over with. For whatever reason, I almost never quit.

But I don't get out there day after day and train. Getting started is much harder than keeping going.

For question 1: I am just to foolish to give up and admit that somebody is beating me (even if it is the course setter). I guess it is what fredder is calling pride...

For question 2: What is nicer as the adrenaline of running with a headlamp through the bushes during a night training, even when it is raining or of hearing your pace breaking through the snow... I guess it is just doing what other (normal?) people consider to be out of bounds.

Concerning the last question: I am often wondering why I am not able to slow down during those training sessions where the flow is really good. Even if my brain suggests to go slower, my feet still override it after a while and suggest to go faster again.

As much as the "pain is temporary, [pride | failure] is forever" makes a good t-shirt, I'm afraid the opposite is true. I like getting a good result as much as the next person, and if it's a particularly good performance, I might reflect on it for a few weeks or even months. But, after a while, I put it behind me. Nobody gives a rats A about a race I won 20 years ago and I refuse to become one of those codgers who goes on about what he could do back in the day.

On the other hand, every morning, my body reminds me that I've been flogging it for 40 years. I'm not suggesting any regrets, just acknowledging a reality. Competition hurts, both at the time and often many years later.

every morning, my body reminds me that I've been flogging it for 40 years.

Then try something that hurts even more and for longer (e.g. a rogaine). Once it stops hurting that much, your whole perspective will shift and you'll be grateful for "just" the "normal" morning aches. This should explain the popularity of ultras among old people. On the other hand, Tour de France is perhaps taking this too far; once it stops, you'll still hurt.

Nobody gives a rats A about a race I won 20 years ago

Well there was that Greek Peak race (cycling) that you won the field sprint in, sitting down, because you'd broken a toe strap or something. I was pretty impressed by that at the time...

The dream that keeps me going is that one day I will have the best race of my life and PG will have the worst race of his life and I will edge him out by 2 seconds.

Peer pressure...I think that's what makes group track workouts such effective training.

And it works in our sport too. As you move through the USOF age groups, you become very familiar with your competition; you compete against the same guys in California as you do in Maryland. A primary reason for traveling to A-meets becomes the chance to knock off one or two of these old guys who normally beat you.

And unlike almost any other sport I know, when you're near the top of the results board orienteers are very good at lavishing you with respect and adulation. It can be very addictive...and inspire lots of long, lonely training hours.

I personally don't think the "pain is temporary..." quote is all about being able to brag about something or gain other's adulation. To some degree (more or less depending on personal reflection), it's about learning something about one's self from experience. The times when you decide to tough it out or quit are data points that tell you what kind of person you are.
One of my favorite sport movies "Without Limits" about Steve Prefontaine (an idol in my younger days) is largely about self-learning, and the speech that couch Bowerman makes when Pre first shows up at Oregon says as much. Check it out if you haven't seen it.

“We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.” - Roger Bannister

@Fossil - that was closer to 30 years ago, but I do remember it well. Rather surprised anybody else would, but there you have it.

The Bannister quote pretty much sums it up for me these days. I will certainly admit that there was a time when being able to brag and gain other's adulation mattered quite a lot to me. I don't really think there's anything wrong with that, but I've moved beyond that. Now, the "reward" (whatever that means) is completly internal. I feel compelled to compete and I try very hard to win. But, if nobody else notices, that matters not to me.

Huh. I don't actually enjoy it all that much, I just think it's doing me some good. Maybe this is part of why I'm not Bannister. (My breakout freedom enjoyment activity is hang gliding, which doesn't particularly do me any good.)