Competition Creates Discomfort

This past weekend I raced my first Enduro in awhile. I went through all the emotions of feeling accomplished, to feeling defeated, to feeling somewhere in the middle of content. I hadn’t been on my dirt bike in a few months due to our move from McKinney to Bonham back in early August. The month prior to the move was focusing on the move, which meant no riding. The month after the move was literally the move-in period, so there was no riding. I was itching to get back on the bike.

There is nothing better than a race to throw on the calendar to work towards. The idea of a competition can create a finite focus to jump start some missing goal focused work. Notice I didn’t use the word motivation there. Though motivation can be good to get started, it’s shit at keeping you accountable, and waking up early when the alarm starts going off. My goal here was to see, in my current state of life, if I could ride close to my full potential. I wasn’t going to have weeks to get on the bike and fine tune technique. I would see if the months of consistently working out was enough to act on years of experience as a racer and rider.

To be quick about it, for me, I rode awesome! Did I make mistakes, heck yeah (smashed brake pedal). Did I have some amazing moments, HECK YEAH! What really resonates with me from the weekend are the moments of digging deep, the moments of finding a flow state that surpassed any feeling over the past few months. I’ve got bruises, sore muscles, and parts that need to be replaced, but I feel accomplished. All of these highs and lows, ups and down, are because I entered a competition. I put myself in a very uncomfortable position to push myself past what my daily life would do.

I’ve been someone who has pushed back against the “Couch to 5k programs” out there because it can creates too much of a finish line. After someone finishes the 5k, they typically head back to the couch. The goal has been accomplished and they can rest easy. I don’t believe that’s the time to rest easy. I believe that’s the time to assess how the 5K went and how you can implement what you learned while training for it into your daily life. You don’t need to become a 5K professional, but some of the habits and routines can teach you a lot about yourself.

I was hesitant to sign up for the Coyote Crossing Enduro due to my state of life. Now that I’m on the other side of the race, I can’t even consider a time I would be hesitant about signing up for the race. I’m so thankful to have the discomfort of pushing my bike, body, and mind to it’s limits on the weekend. I see and feel so many little things that I can work on to continue to improve as a rider and a racer. That discomfort I felt makes me want to improve. I’m not letting it discourage me into a state of feeling like I’m not enough.

I hope that you have something on your calendar that’s going to create discomfort for you. Something that will take you out of your comfort zone, create some finite focus, and foster growth for you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If it needs to be a “Couch to 5K”, then go for it. Maybe it’s as simple as a hike in the woods. Whatever it is, if you’re afraid to do it, it’s probably the exact thing you need to do.