Observations on Competition

The competitive spirit is an interesting human emotion. Successful professionals have a high level of it. In the extreme, professional athletes survive in their sport only by competition. In the past I liked to compete, be first, be the best. As I have gotten older, I find I prefer to watch more than compete. But some of the old me is still there. I am very competitive with myself. I really like to improve and show progress.

To keep motivated, I joined two competitions on Walker Tracker.com. Competitions are based on step totals during a set period of time. Logging steps on the site is based on the honor system - no one checks on what you report. Sometimes there is a small reward, like a gift card, Walker Tracker points or cookies. Usually the reward is just the knowledge that you placed first. It is all for fun.

The first competition was "Walking the Grand Canyon" and yesterday it ended. HappyOne finished in first place many, many thousands of steps ahead of 2nd place. I was shooting for second place and last night that is where I was (shocking!). The person in 3rd looked like he had logged his steps for the day and he was about 2,000 steps behind me. I went to bed thinking that I made 2nd place. Unfortunately, this morning, I had dropped to 3rd place. Sometimes extra steps are added later in the evening, when a walker's day is truly over. I am happy with third.

esknitter Steps: 76,547 Place: 3

The second competition, "Walking Cornwall" continues until September 10th. I've been as close as 20th place and as far away at 47th place out of 68 participants. The group has some power walkers in it (who average 15,000 steps or more a day). I believe I will finish midrange and I'll be happy with that.

esknitter Steps: 181,589 Place: 36

Now 10 years ago, I might have felt differently. I would have walked nonstop, demanding a "recount" when I fell behind PoconoGreg - a super power walker who averages 45,000-47,000 steps a day - everyday, for as far back as I could look in Walker Tracker. That man must never sleep, must eat while walking, must have a catheter so he doesn't ever have to stop at the men's room!! His Walker Tracker Blog shows that he spends 3 hours a day on his treadmill (along with other walks).

Think on that a few minutes ... 3 hours a day on a treadmill, where the scenery never changes, there are no casual hellos with other local walkers, no views of the sky or the local wildlife. Maybe he has TV to help pass the time, but we all know that TV rots the brain if watched too much. But ten years ago he would have eaten my dust!! Beat'en the pants off him! Sure, I would need hospitalization after 2 days of that, but still ... been first in step counts, number 1, lead dog, superwoman, leader of the country, dictator of the universe ...,

uh ... I think I just blacked out there for a moment!