The benefits of a little competition.

Well, another first for me today: I went for a run while away at work.

I know that we’re supposed to be blogging about our local running adventure, but I just wanted to share this as it was quite an interesting experience for me.

First, just to clarify; I work as long haul cabin crew for BA (not very Transition, I know) and my job entails a lot of time spent in hotel rooms around the world. Until now, that time has been spent doing many things – but getting fit wasn’t one of them. For me to get up and go out for a run was a wonderful, fresh experience and I’m very much looking forward to doing it again.

I didn’t push myself too hard, however, because after a few laps of this lovely little park in Johannesburg, I realised that to do so could prove a little silly for 3 reasons:

·   I had only had about four hours sleep the previous night as I had been working a 12-hour shift bringing 300 passengers the full length of the African continent.

·     It was 27 degrees, very sunny and my water was back at the hotel.

·      Jo’burg is 5751 feet above sea level. Oxygen is harder to come by at this altitude.

Nonetheless, having realised all of this, a fellow runner then appeared. He was running the opposite way to me and, as the track was on a ½ mile loop, we kept on passing each other at the same two spots. Now, I’m not overly competitive, but knowing that this other guy had seen me, there was no way I was going to drop off first, and I made it my goal to keep going longer that him. Silly? Perhaps, but having that incentive really worked to push me on even when the above reasons had me feeling pretty ropey after just 10 minutes. I also like to think that he felt the same way and that my presence pushed him on a little too.

Anyway, I am glad to say that my self-induced competition ended in a draw: He backed off and started walking the course – I imagine as a warm down exercise – and I told myself that enough was enough and not to over do it (being half a mile away from my hotel and in a foreign country I didn’t really want to collapse from heat exhaustion and dehydration). 

As I left my impromptu competitor walking round the course and headed home out of the gate, we exchanged a friendly salute and – so I like to think – a mutual gesture of thanks for the company and the amicable competition. A good run.