Run Your Race: The Comparison Trap

Run Your Race: The Comparison Trap

From Back of the Pack Podcast by Kyle Walker

May 8, 2026 · 33 min · Season 4 · Episode 56

About this episode

This episode explores the impact of comparison on runners and encourages listeners to focus on their own journey rather than others'.

This week on The Back of the Pack Podcast: Second Wind, our Run Your Race series continues with a look at one of the sneakiest traps in running: comparison. Last week, we talked about the loud pressure of runfluencer culture, but this week we dig into the quieter ways comparison creeps into our minds through faster friends, local race results, Strava posts, Garmin data, and even old versions of ourselves. We break down how seeing someone else’s PR, “easy run,” or big training week can make our own progress feel smaller, even when we’re doing exactly what we need to do. We also talk about the danger of comparing ourselves to the runner we used to be before injury, surgery, weight gain, aging, burnout, or busy seasons of life changed the equation. Technology can help us train smarter, but when watches, spreadsheets, VO2 max estimates, HRV scores, and race result pages start judging our worth, running can quickly become a scoreboard instead of a release. This episode asks us to define success before the run, celebrate consistency, follow people who make running feel possible, and remember the season of life we’re actually in. Because someone else’s good day does not make our run a…

People in this episode

Host: Kyle Walker

Topics covered

  • comparison in running
  • mental health
  • personal progress
  • runfluencer culture
  • technology in training
  • defining success

Keywords

  • running
  • comparison trap
  • personal records
  • training
  • mental health
  • Strava
  • Garmin
  • success
  • runfluencer
  • self-acceptance

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