Man … this got deep. Quick.
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I’m similar to nearly all of this.
I have an element of me that’s somewhat aligned with Poet, in relation to setting myself targets, but they’re all pretty arbitrary and in the context of his own “why” question, even his own answers don’t actually answer his own question!
What difference did it make that I did go sub-10? I was still miles off the front of the race.
What does a sub-2:50 marathon mean? Not very much when that’s nothing remotely special in and amongst a number of runners I know.
They’re arbitrary goals that only meant something to me, because I knew they were a stretch target that would require a fairly special performance from me personally.
The why is entirely because I can, and because I want to. There is no fundamental driving force. And that’s part of the appeal. Why do I go to work? Because I have to in the world, in order to survive. Why did I ride the Etape last year and spend 8hrs on a bike … because it was the biggest challenge I’ve done, in conditions I’d never faced before, in awe inspiring scenery, and doing it alongside a friend. The “whys” behind the latter are a lot more valid in my mind than why I go to work.
It brings us back to that Emma Pooley quote. We are lucky to be able to be able to choose to make ourselves hurt.
Also on the “never again” point. I’ve definitely said that. I specifically said after London marathon 2017 I was never doing a standalone marathon again. Yet I toed the line at two in 2019.
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Then you’re entering races with too large of a field!
Even I’ve won three (one 5km and two duathlons) and been on the podium a few times.
Just do smaller events 
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But what does “winning” those events really mean? To ask your own kind of question back to you, why would you get any satisfaction from “winning” an event with hardly anyone there? You could just go out and do your own thing and “win” your race of 1.
I conceptually “won” my AG at the Cotswold Classic, which was a first in any event or race, and yes, it was nice, but I’m under no illusions it was a product of circumstance. I was still miles away from the front of the race. And I was still only racing myself and goals that I had set in my own mind.
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Ha, the only ever race I won was a 14 mile fell race/LDWA, jogged 1.5 miles to and from race to home… only 7 of us turned up, with most preferring to undertake the 22 miler. Happy days. 
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Nothing, which is the reason for the wink and ROFL emoji 
However, they’re good training sessions and allow you to race.
It’s the same satisfaction you get when your annihilate your mates at Goldeneye, FIFA, COD etc…then you go online and realise just how crap you actually are 
Or when you cook an epic meal at home…then go to Elnecot or Northcote or The Inn at Whitwell at weekend and realise the meal you cooked was a bit shit in comparison.
It’s similar Kona qualifying, isn’t it?
There are around 300-400 people in your “race”, you finish 4th-6th in your AG and get to go to the World Championships where you finish, but don’t win anything?
It feels really bloody nice winning a race overall, or standing on the podium, more so when you’ve targeted that race to achieve it.
The fruit basket at MARS Tri still eludes me…maybe 2021 will be the year I can get it 
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Quite an interesting discussion. For me it’s about getting the best out of myself. I’d rather finish 94th in a PB than win with a slower time. There will always be people faster, crazier, etc. I’ve always been quite intrinsically motivated and am my own judge of whether or not I’ve done well. Getting the best out of myself should involve focusing on a particular thing (e.g. a 10k PB rather than triathlon, or an Ironman rather than a sprint etc, I need to be better at this!)
It’s interesting reading about people’s motivations for doing things. Probably quite a few people (myself included) might say “I dunno, I just wanted to do it and see if I could…”
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I’ve been in quite a few things where I’ve felt utterly broken, probably most recently IM Wales 2017 and the North Coast 50 last year but it passes, sometimes mid race, sometimes at the finish line.
I think there is a difference in signing up for something knowing it’s going to be hard and you will experience low spots and deliberately intending to be utterly broken (why would you do that).
It might come down to a lack of training or preparation for the course (Exmoor, I’m looking at you!) that means you get real low or you just have a bad day.
But to deliberately subject yourself to be utterly broken over a prolonged period of time makes little sense to me.
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On the same course, with the same field?
Surely the first place is better?
Unless you’re racing the same courses for PBs, then they’re a bit “meh” too?
I’m looking at the ski-slope welsh TT course, or the one in Hull.
Whereas when you do a SPOCO course, it’s all about position, not time.
Time is an outcome, not a goal.
I like this thread 
For me it was always about how well I performed in a race. If it is was cross country then that would be my position in the race and/or how I did against my fellow competitors, who I knew, time wise. On the track or a flat road race (including London Marathon) it was all about the time and trying to beat my current PB.
Along with that came pain (in the case of cross country extreme pain) and for me that was part of the motivation. Just how hard can you push your self in a race? I loved that feeling of being really fit and thus being able to push yourself really hard.
My London PB was the best example of that. A guy came alongside me at 20 miles and we raced the last 6. He got slightly ahead at one point and I at another. It ended up in a sprint finish. At the end I think we hugged. For me it was an amazing experience to realise what I was capable of. I use the memory of that still to motivate myself.
As my running has slowed its now Ironman events and next year hopefully it will be my first ultra. Its more about the challenge now but hopefully there will still be some pain in there!! That perfect Ironman race still eludes me and motivates me to try again.
Oh I did win a fun run once. My prize for winning … a towel
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If I am completely honest with myself, a *part of my motivation is to impress other people to massage my ego. That gets challenging, as its easy to impress sofa residents by even doing Parkrun, but the further you get in the hole, the harder it gets… until you find yourself in communities like this, where its ‘just an Ironman’ and the bar is much much higher… not sure where this journey ends!
*part… I do have other reasons too!
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But so is your finishing position??
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I think this is the bit my wife gets most frustrated by.
a) that there is no visible end to my exploits (it started off as a one off Ironman in 2013!!)
and
b) that i’ve surrounded myself with people that don’t bat any eye at an unprepared 100km run through the night, just for fun, so consider that totally normal. Same as a 4 hour 100km ride on a Sunday morning before carrying on with my day.
But like we’ve said on here before, there are much worse pastimes that could be heavier on the wallet, scales and lifespan!
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LIke looking gooooood !!! 
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It can get a bit like that and you can get quite blasé about it. An easy paced 21km for me comes in at around 1:55 these days and then you will read something about someone training for months to try and go sub 2 and think, shit I did that before breakfast, on a whim.
And whilst fitness wise, that’s a great place to be, it does lead to the constant question of ‘what’s next, whats next’. I am thoroughly impressed with the tri communities I’ve been involved with so far, I find them friendly and supportive but there is something about the trail/ XC crowd that just resonates.
My name on here is a great example. I’m not particularly fat in the general populace but I hang out with skinny fast people, so your perspective gets skewed. And that goes for distances as well IMO.
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True, but I didn’t say it wasn’t 
I think people get too hung up on time and are them hard on themselves when they don’t achieve it.
For example, a race plan might go like;
Swim: RPE6, build to 7, then 8 if feeling good towards the end. If not, keep at 6.
Bike: 85% FTP, 160bpm cap
Run: 155bpm ave, 165bpm cap
Obvs add on some more details, but that’s a good start.
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Definitely. Which is also why I think placing is too variable. At least with time, you can use things like BBS to figure out what those kind of number should lead to. And that is how I will often compute any indicative time goals, which can be adjusted for raceday conditions/weather, etc.
Whereas placing is entirely outside of your control. You could nail a plan like you’ve outlined above, and come first or 101st. It’s simply an outcome of who else turns up.
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Yes, also agree with that.
But people use Jack Daniels VDOT and BBS, then come up with a “best” time and beat themselves up when they don’t get it.
FWIW, I’d enter Broxtowe Duathlon, Market Bosworth Duathlon and Aston-on-Trent/Sinfin 10km with the sole target of reaching the podium, the time was irrelevant.
I’d study the entry list and make sure I stuck with someone who’d set off at a slightly faster pace than me, who was also slightly faster on the bike and then I’d try and save energy by not passing them and aiming to run away from them on the second run 
The local 10kms were similar (no time goal as they were 50+ % on footpaths and stiles etc, but not really off-road or trail) - hold on to my late colleague for 5-7km, he’d drop the hammer for the win and I’d be left blowing a gasket for 3rd or managing a 2nd.
If I did a race and was 94th in a PB and then ran the same course with the same field a week or a year later I wouldn’t be thinking I could win it in a time that was slower than a PB… the point for me is that I try to get the best out of myself. Getting the best out of myself isn’t going to result in me being able to turn up and win any race on the calendar, in the way that the best in the world hope to, so all I can do is to try, at a finish line, to be able to say that I got the best out of myself ( from the point of view of picking a target, working towards it, trying to do everything right and leave no stone unturned, and deliver a performance that I am happy with. Despite best efforts it doesn’t happen all that often…!
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Everesting is definitely a craze that I’m not drawn to. I find it odd that it’s become such a thing for top riders chasing records; given the haphazard way in which you ‘prove’ your achievement.
For me the Channel Swim still seems like one of the most prestigious feats.