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

hazymary
hazymary Posts: 190 Member
in Motivation and Support
Or would you just go for it?......I'm not a spring chicken, I'm not the picture of fitness and right now I'm letting fear dictate my next possible goal. I'd like to sign up for my first Duathlon a 2 mile run /15.7 mile bike /4mile run . Can I do it YES!! I just fear coming in last place. I did a trial bike/ run this weekend, 15.8 mile, 1:09 min bike followed by a 27 min 3.11 mile run, I'd have a lot of training to work through to get my bike time down. It was a cool weekend 64 degrees...late July is going to be a totally different story. I don't run well in the heat........so any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
«1

Replies

  • pkbryant28
    pkbryant28 Posts: 146 Member
    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.
  • plf1219
    plf1219 Posts: 11 Member
    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!
  • Buddhasmiracle
    Buddhasmiracle Posts: 925 Member
    I believe in shooting for the stars but not shooting myself in the foot. You say this is your first bike/run race of this nature and your performance time goes down competing in the heat. Look, you are competing in a rigorous race, compete and finish, look at your stats and go from there. There's lots of glory in that alone.
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    First, 3.11 miles in 27 minutes is amazing, in my book! I'm just hoping to come in under 35,minutes, ideally 33 or lower, at my first 5K this weekend! Second, by training and competing, you're already a winner. You may very well come in last, but if you finish the race, who cases. Compete against yourself, no one else. Use whatever our time is, enter another race and shoot to shave 30-60 seconds off your time!
  • irishscootz
    irishscootz Posts: 97
    I would be much happier running the race, and coming in dead last, than not competing at all!
  • harvo
    harvo Posts: 4,676 Member
    No...My personal fear, and the reason I have not signed up for tough mudder, is the fear of not finishing.
  • KarCrib
    KarCrib Posts: 39 Member
    I finshed last in my first triathlon, I did not care. I was out there doing it and having a great time. You will not DIE if you come in last, so do it. You will love it and it will motivate you to keep going. Breathe in faith, breathe out fear.
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    Don't let fear stop you from anything you want to do. Someone has to come in last, so what if it's you? What does that really mean in the big picture? That you were slower than everyone else who had the guts to DO IT. You still beat everyone that didn't compete, who is still sitting on their comfy couch at home wondering, "what if." GO FOR IT!
  • Skinny_minny_mo
    Skinny_minny_mo Posts: 1,272 Member
    I've let the fear of failing stop me from playing team sport. have that horrible feeling of being a kid and being chosen last - or not at all! for a team.

    oof. got to put my panties on sometime with this.

    and yes, go for it! Because when you do, and you succeed, and failure isnt the big hairy monster we thought it would be, you feel so good about yourself.


    :)
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    Never.

    If I were continually coming in last, I would seek out other hobbies. I don't have to be the best, but I can't stand being the worst.
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
    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.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    I went for it knowing I would end up with the highest body fat. I was determined to have fun and I did! Now I have a comparison and have a better chance at winning in the fall.
  • cyclist_44060
    cyclist_44060 Posts: 86 Member
    I would go for it. I am not a runner, but I can tell you that the bike time is very respectable, there are people that ride much slower than that. I would be happy if I could run a sub 10 min mile. Don't let fear get the best of you. I am very sure that you won't finish last at all!
  • Jesstruhan
    Jesstruhan Posts: 331 Member
    I'd say just do it. Even in last place, you DID IT! What's that saying? Running slowly is still lapping everyone else on the couch? That one keeps me moving.
  • Alissakae
    Alissakae Posts: 317 Member
    Who are you actually competing against? Isn't it yourself? You've got to do your first one to get to your next goal....
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    I had the same fear doing my first 5k. I didn't come in last and since that time have shaved almost 15 minutes off my time. That is your goal - do it and then beat your time when you do it again.

    Good Luck!
  • VNewell1989
    VNewell1989 Posts: 2
    Even the person in last place finished the race and honestly isn't that what's most important?
  • Just_Scott
    Just_Scott Posts: 1,766 Member
    I rather be on the arena floor then in the stands. Go for it!
  • carrieo888
    carrieo888 Posts: 233 Member
    The FIRST time I did a 50 mile challenge walk, I came in 2nd to last (an 8-months pregnant woman beat me by hours). I was elated that I finished (at 210 lbs). The SECOND time I did the walk, I was in the middle of the pack; and the THIRD time I did the walk I finished in the top 25 - I think 3 hrs ahead of my first time. Every time was exhilerating and more about the people I walked with, than about finishing First. It was important to me to perform better each time - which I did - but just the fact that you are in it when so many others aren't is a big success right there.

    Consider that you're lapping all the folks who are just sitting on the couch and doing nothing :-D

    I say DO IT!
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    A good friend of mine has completed 5 marathons. She's yet to crack the 5 hour mark but to me it doesn't matter. To be able to complete just 1 marathon is a feat in itself.
  • SlimJanette
    SlimJanette Posts: 597 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    It gives you a great PR to beat next time.
  • smaihlee
    smaihlee Posts: 171 Member
    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
    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
    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!

Categories