Would you let fear of placing last keep you from competing?

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2

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  • SlimJanette
    SlimJanette Posts: 597 Member
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    If you attempt it and succeed you are a winner no matter what place you come in. If you attempt and are unable to complete it, you are still a winner, don't let fear stop you.

    AGREED!

    I Second this!
  • KCoolBeanz
    KCoolBeanz Posts: 813 Member
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    Hell no! I ran my first 5K a couple of years ago, convinced to come in last. I was elated to find out I came in 7 before the last person! It's something I had never done before, and I just wanted to finish to prove to myself that I could :-)
  • VNewell1989
    VNewell1989 Posts: 2
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    Hell no. If you finish-- even if you come in last-- you've still beaten all the people who dropped out or chickened out of even trying.

    I got passed in a triathlon by a girl with a cast on her leg, but do you think I cared? That's a bad example, actually, because I did. That's some demoralizing crap right there. But you know what I mean.

    I just recently ran a 5K and lost 3rd place to a ten year old. At least you were passed by an adult lol.
  • mattschwartz01
    mattschwartz01 Posts: 566 Member
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    Not at all! I entered a charity bike event which has several options ranging from an 8 miler to a 75 miler. I want to try the 75 miler and even if I cross the finish line dead-set last, there will be a smile on my face because completing something I've started is an undeniable victory! What do you call a law student that graduates at the bottom of their class? A lawyer.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    I'm competitive so I might. It depends though, cause some events are just so hard that just finishing at all is an accomplishment and in those cases you are truly "competing with yourself".
  • uneik3
    uneik3 Posts: 68 Member
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    Who are you actually competing against? Isn't it yourself? You've got to do your first one to get to your next goal....

    Exactly this. I've done four half marathons now, and my goal with each one is to just do a little better than the last one (except for the last one I did with a fractured knee). Just go for it and have a good time of it!
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    It gives you a great PR to beat next time.
  • smaihlee
    smaihlee Posts: 171 Member
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    DO IT.

    I have been attending a boot camp-type class since January. When I first started, I could barely run a 1/16 mile lap around the track without stopping. Needless to say, always last to come in from the track. Always fewest reps completed in circuits. Always the most red-faced person in the bunch. 4 1/2 months later, and I can run several laps in a row before I have to stop. I can do a lot of the exercises "as instructed" now, instead of doing the mods. But I am still usually the last one in from the track, and so on. I just don't care. I work hard and do the best that I can, every time. This is my workout and my journey and not another person in that room can take that away from me.

    As others have said, this is about YOU, not everyone else. You will probably surprise yourself, but the key is that you'll never know until you get out there and do it.

    Best of luck!!
  • Jcnmama
    Jcnmama Posts: 5
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    In my opinion, GO FOR IT!! Not matter what your time, if you don't try your time is 0.. and you won't have a time to go by next time to be better.. I fear failure as well. Last place is still a place.. Do it for You!!!
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
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    There is last place, and then, there is embarrassingly last place. Embarrassingly last place would be didn't train at all, showed up half drunk after an allnighter, etc. Embarrassingly last place is when they have already cleaned up and left by the time you finish. Walking when everyone else ran. Using a toddler trike for a bicycle race.

    It sounds like you are not in any danger of being in embarrassingly last place, and likely will not be in last place either. In your situation, I would go for it!
  • pkinblue
    pkinblue Posts: 140 Member
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    I've placed last many, many times before in a variety of events and you know what?

    My name was not announced on the nightly news as "The Loser".
    No one posted mean things to my Facebook page.
    My mother didn't call me up and chew me out.
    My kids still rode home with me in the car--although this isn't a given with teenagers no matter what happens.
    My boss didn't fire me.
    I didn't have to wear my time on my t-shirt as a brand.
    I didn't lose any sleep over it, I didn't blush, I didn't feel bad.
    I didn't lose any advertising endorsements. (Ok--I wasn't offered any either)

    Do the race for you and no one but you and enjoy every second of it!
  • czardastx
    czardastx Posts: 127 Member
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    To give into fear would be worse than coming in last. You will always know you quit without trying. Coming in last would give you the motivation to improve to better yourself. And you would know you gave it your best shot, not that you gave up without trying.

    I'm not the fastest, I'm not the strongest but I am out there, doing 5K's, 10K's (soon 1/2 marathons), and Triathlons. I'm proud of every race I've done, no matter where I finish. It's not about the finish, it's not about a medal for age group. It's about challenging and bettering myself.

    Run the damn race. Finish it and be proud that you'll have done more than 99% of the people your age. Be victorious in your accomplishment. It's not always about where you finish, but that you started.
  • littlelaura
    littlelaura Posts: 1,028 Member
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    NO! I walked a 5k in April and came in dead last, and I didn't feel bad about it. The people running and walking all were very supportive as they came toward me because they had already got to the turn around. It took me 63 minutes, I would of done a tiny bit better but it was wet due to earlier rain and I didn't want to risk slipping or falling and spraining or breaking something, it was for fun. I do intend to get faster and finished higher than last lol, but last still means I DID IT!!! :smile:
  • Lochlyn_D
    Lochlyn_D Posts: 492 Member
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    No. That kind of insecurity is for high school kids.
  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
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    You know what they say...er, write:

    DFL>DNF>DNS

    (Dead Effing Last is greater than Did Not Finish is greater than Did Not Start)

    Get out there and do it!
  • pobalita
    pobalita Posts: 741 Member
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    To give into fear would be worse than coming in last. You will always know you quit without trying. Coming in last would give you the motivation to improve to better yourself. And you would know you gave it your best shot, not that you gave up without trying.

    I'm not the fastest, I'm not the strongest but I am out there, doing 5K's, 10K's (soon 1/2 marathons), and Triathlons. I'm proud of every race I've done, no matter where I finish. It's not about the finish, it's not about a medal for age group. It's about challenging and bettering myself.

    Run the damn race. Finish it and be proud that you'll have done more than 99% of the people your age. Be victorious in your accomplishment. It's not always about where you finish, but that you started.

    This exactly. You are never going to finish a race and wish that you hadn't started it.

    Honestly, I think most who have ever completed in a race have felt this fear at one time or another. I felt this way before my first 10K, my first half marathon, and especially my first trail runs....and now I'm feeling it about a local track and field series I'd like to participate in.
  • pobalita
    pobalita Posts: 741 Member
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    No...My personal fear, and the reason I have not signed up for tough mudder, is the fear of not finishing.

    sign up! You will finish. I did my first one last year at age 45...ALONE. The great thing about Tough Mudder is the amount of support that fellow Mudders will give you on the harder challenges. Total strangers lifted me to the tops of walls, pulled me from mud pits, and encouraged me when I was tired. You can do it!
  • Shawshankcan
    Shawshankcan Posts: 900 Member
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    When my wife ran her first marathon, he picked the wrong one. We live in Ottawa, and it is not hard to find a race in the area that has thousands signed up for it. This marathon is a double loop, that is uphill for half of it.She picked the one that had 120 signed up. No typo, just one hundred and twenty people . 15 people dropped out. Ten percent.

    My wife was not one of those people. She ran. Past the official cut off. They asked her time and time again, do you want to quit. She kept saying no, partially because I think she was delirious at this point. But she kept going. When she got to the finish line, they had taken it down. But she still crossed the line. She still got her medal that says FINISHED. Not last, but FINISHER. That is what matters. She did more than she thought she could. She did more than a sane person would have. She did do it. And that is something that can't be taken away. You think someone is going to question her place?

    Now, what is your fear again?
  • TJMiddaugh
    TJMiddaugh Posts: 67 Member
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    if you are scared of placing last you will never accomplish anything. its not about what place you come in. its that you competed at the best of your abilities and enjoyed doing so! the old saying, if at first you do not succeed try try again!!! have fun while you still can, you might not get the chance to again. life comes at you fast they say. if you want a good level of competition, compete against yourself. each time out try to do a little better/more. most of us have never been nor will ever be Olympic medalists. we just your average Joe's out acting like world champs!! nothing wrong with that. 169th place? ohh yeah whos a badazz now!!
  • Lochlyn_D
    Lochlyn_D Posts: 492 Member
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