For elite sports, though (and some levels below elite!), position relative to others is the entire metric we use. Nobody cares exactly how many hours, minutes and seconds Peter Sagan takes to finish Paris-Roubaix next year: the only thing that matters, the the near-total exclusion of all else, is whether he's first across the line in the velodrome.
Similarly, if a talented amateur triathlete finishes an Ironman in nine hours, that's a hell of an achievement: however, for a lot of them, what matters vastly more is whether they've done well enough in their age category to qualify for Kona. The purpose of the training is to get that invite to the world championship: it's a completely legitimate approach not to care about anything except relative performance.
For what it's worth, I think this is a hugely healthy approach for a Mustachian: it can be very difficult to let go of that competitive drive to outdo your neighbour, and sublimating it into something that improves your health and gets you out into the fresh air is far better than letting it slip into your car purchases or your housing decisions.
