The best rivals make you faster. The goal isn’t to beat them. It’s to not let them beat the old you.

A rival who is genuinely good does more for you than a comfortable group, because they set a standard you cannot argue your way out of. The mistake is making the whole thing about them, at which point your best week only counts if theirs went badly. That is a small target and it hands your progress to somebody else. The version worth beating is the one you were in March.

Write down where you are now so it is not left to memory. Train against that number, and treat whatever your rival does well as free instruction. Then say good game and mean it.