How to structure an informal competition against yourself
A formal race isn’t what everyone needs
“You have to put a race on the calendar!” is great advice for 95% of people in the fitness space. Competitions force urgency, accountability, and intensity into your training because you have to be prepared, competent, and ready for a specific date on the calendar.
There’s pressure in the public performance that training in solitude does not match, and that pressure is a great catalyst for growth in body, mind, and spirit.
But there is way to compete solely against yourself, for yourself, and by yourself. And this is the place where the other 5% need to start when letting the power of competition compound the ways consistent exercise helps us grow in body, mind, and spirit.
I call this ‘informal competition’ and have practiced it myself and teach it to a select number of my coaching clients.
I want to explain the benefit of this style of competing, and give you the tools to craft one for yourself if you don’t feel called yet to enter a ‘proper’ competition but feel the urge to go after something BIG and CHALLENGING in the world of sports and fitness.
Why compete this way?
An informal competition has 1 big advantage and 1 big disadvantage when gauged against a formal competition. Understanding these helps explain the allure of this style of competition.
The big advantage: Complete FREEDOM
The big disadvantage: Complete FREEDOM
What? It’s the same thing? Are you pulling a fast one on me professor?
Let me explain.
A formal race ties you down to a specific time, date, and modality.
There are rules.
There are registration fees.
There are expectations and pressures.
There’s no adaptability
For most they need those elements to force accountability. They simply can’t muster the internal discipline to set a date only they determine to create the necessary pressure to train and rise to the performance.
But some have such a strong internal desire that a promise not kept to themselves, once fully committed, stings worse than and public shame that comes from backing out of or quitting a formal race.
Some require a bit more flexibility in goal setting, and their goal might even be outside the realm of ‘schedule on this day’ and perform.
Some might need to prove to themselves FIRST, before entering a world where they are forced to prove it to others.
A formal competiton makes it easy to tap into the value of competition. And it provides a bit more risk. That’s why it’s the best place for 95% of athletes.
But if you’re one of the 5%, you get exactly what I’m expressing here.
How to go about putting one ‘on your calendar’
Still not quite getting it? I’ll explain it better in the realm of action, theory often gets messy.
My first informal competition against myself was an attempt to run a trail marathon fasted, while also not taking any water or fuel in during the marathon.
Why? Well it was a natural extension of the way I trained and ran trails over my first 7 years doing it consistently. I could already cover 16 miles like this easy.
It was 2022 and I was banned from travelling countries and signing up for formal races due to totalitarian laws in Canada stemming from a certain medical product. I saw a bunch of my American friends taking on a massive challenge at IronMan Florida and because I couldn’t join them I made up my own race.
Here’s how I put in on my calendar.
It needed to be before the leaves fell off the tress and the snow hit the ground OR just after the trails dry out in spring but before it gets too hot. I used nature to give me the optimal date range.
Then I took a look at my calendar and daily responsibilities. That narrowed my range to a mid week date due to needing to keep my weekends free for family. I also required a pacer/medic to accompany me, so it had to coordinate with their schedule (shout out
for travelling countries to help me out here!)The logistics and geography informed me.
That’s how you go about it for yourself and why informal competitions are great. They are adaptable and customizable.
I didn’t create something new out of thin air. I took what I was already doing, created an extension of it to make the competition, then fitted the requirements of that challenge into my race date.
Inspiration for your race against yourself
If you’re still itching to try this style of competing out for yourself, I want to breathe life into your dream and empower you to GO FOR IT.
The best reason to do a race like this is to completely set yourself apart.
I was inspired watching a twitter mutual decide to run a 100 mile ultra through their suburban neighbourhood in Texas on a random Tuesday just for fun. SAVAGE.
There’s a pageantry and formality of competitions that can be off-putting at times. People just doing it to go through the motions, gain the bumper sticker, and then move onto the next ‘goal.’ But if exercise and sport are tied to our spirits we demand something DEEPER than just the outcome. A competition you create just for yourself has that meaning baked right into it, it’s just yours, because you want it and LOVE the challenge of going for it.
Here’s how you can start imagining what that could be and aiming to make it a reality.
1.Think of extending yourself
You don’t need to think of something completely new, just think of what you’re already doing and how you can extend it. Good example, one of my guys has taken to biking and just crushed his PR for distance at 20 miles, so we set our aim at a 60 mile bike ride in 2 months from now as his competition.
2.Dream up a ‘I can’t believe they did that’ scenario
In what you’re doing make it unbelievable to yourself and others, that way the accomplishment feels real despite there being no ‘real’ finish line. I helped one of my guys look at cold plunging in a stream near his cabin in the dead of winter as his competition because no one around does anything like that!
3.Create the conditions from your imagination
Freedom to design something of your own is one big advantage to an informal competition, so USE IT. One of my clients wanted to take down the ‘brick’ portion of a 70.3 IronMan on his 40th birthday so he pedalled the 56 miles on his bike trainer then immediately we went and ran a 1/2 marathon together!
4.Apply a RUTHLESS standard of execution
Here’s the tough part, it’s up to YOU to follow through. There is no external pressure, it’s all on your shoulder. You need to go hard against yourself and demand the absolute highest level of accountability. It’s how I aimed myself during my fasted marathon, no outs, no excuses, just the weight of internal desire and the artistic passion to bring an idea to life through my own actions!
I hope you’ve got a great idea of how you can leverage the idea of ‘informal competition’ into your training.
If you still have questions leave them in the comments or send me a message and I’d be happy to help guide you towards the best informal competition for your journey!
Happy Training Friends!