Skirt Chaser, Competition, and Annoying Personality Traits

So about a month ago, as part of my training for the mini, I ran a 5K race in Denver called the Skirt Chaser. It has this title due to the fact that the women generally wear skirts during the race and they get a three minute head start on the run over the men. Only later did this come off to me as potentially sounding sexist, but when I first heard about it I just thought it sounded Iike fun. And all in all it was exactly that. The race went well, and the participants received two free beers afterwards (my favorite kind of reward).

Tomme chose to participate and I decided that if he were to catch up to me after a three minute head start that I would possibly have to take his life. After all I have been running like crazy and while he has been biking a significant amount recently, he has not been running at all. Luckily for his safety and my pride he did not pass me during the race. As the comments above may have suggested, while I am not particularly good at these extracurricular activities I do, I still for some reason can be quite competitive.

When I say competitive I do not mean I slightly have an urge to win or do better then my opponent, I mean I am competitive no matter what. Even at sports I'm horrible at, such as golf, I get mad when I can't hit a twenty foot chip shot a foot or so from the hole. It's ridiculous, and not my best side. Over the years I have come to realize that I get this from my dad. I love him to death, but like me he loves to win, and can't stand to admit when he is wrong. We are both stubborn in this way, and not just with sports, with opinions, politics, ideas, we are even competitive when playing the card game bridge. Now I recognize that such a competitive drive when you are not a professional tennis or bridge player borders on the insane, and it can drive those around us nuts, but I can't altogether say it's a bad thing. After all, my competitive drive improved my average pace in the 5K by about 45 seconds, and while it didn't make me a pro tennis player it did help me to get a college scholarship. It even helped me to get good grades because more than anyone I was mostly competitive with myself.

I actually think that is the way with most or our personality traits. The source of your best qualities are also the source of your worst. I always try to think of that when it comes to relationships. All of the things you find so amazing about the person when you fall in love are the exact same things that get on your nerves after the initial euphoria of falling in love wears off. For example you fall in love with the fact that someone is passionate and knows what they believe in when you first meet them, but that passion also means that when he or she disagrees with you that they will be just as passionate about refuting your point. I think this concept is an important one in making relationships go the distance. You have to accept that there are two sides to every human quality and that if you really love someone you appreciate the fact that even the things that drive you crazy about the person come from the same place that drives you to be crazy in love with them too (I have fulfilled my cheesy line quota for the day, yessssss).

Mediocre tip: Love yourself, even the not so great sides.


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