I Swear I'm Not Competitive

I recently was trained as a Strength Finder trainer.  This allows me to meet with my staff and others to guide them through the process of discovering their strengths and how our strengths mix in a group. 

One of the 34 strengths is called "Competition"  are:

"People who are especially talented in  the Competition theme measure their progress against the performance of others.  They strive to win first place and revel in contests"

These are the people who like to be in competition and if they aren't in a competition, they find a way to turn it into a competition.  My older daughter I think has some of this in her because she announces all the time, "I was first".  This can be when setting the table, brushing her teethe, using the potty, putting on shoes...

I've been labeled as "competitive" but I really don't see it.  According to the geniuses that came up with the strength finder, competitive people only compete when they think they can win.  I do things all the time knowing that I won't win.  I've only one 1 race in my life and that was a 5K in which I knew fast people weren't going to show up.  I was "relatively fast" and got the gold.

So, while running this week, I spotted a runner a ways away and thought to myself, "I wonder if I'm going to pass him?"  I maybe picked up the pace a bit but I was more curious than in competition mode.

Then he cheated!  He cut a corner and probably gained about 12 second on me.  Then when we got to an intersection, he had it clear and I had a car to wait for.  He was cheating on our race.

It took me another 1/4 mile of running faster than I would have to pass him and keep going.  The problem was that I wasn't about to make this great effort to pass him, only to have him pass me again as I struggled for air.  So I had to keep up that pace until the turnaround point.  My plan was to pass him, look like I'm taking an easy run and then take a different way home so I could walk and gasp in peace. 

I made the turn around, and he wasn't there.  He took a different route.  My plan fell apart and I just had to keep up my strong run in case I met up with him again. 

So the good result is that I ran 6 miles at a 7:20 pace - the bad news is that I really should have been running at 7:45. 

So, to make a long point longer.  I just wanted to remind everyone that I'm not competitive according to the Strength Finder and if you base my personality on my race results.  However, if you meet me on the trails of Vancouver, please slow down so I can pass you without being competitive.