The Arena and The Workshop

It’s been almost a month since stepping into the arena once again. With last month’s Uberman, known as the “World’s Toughest Ultra-Endurance Ironman”, I spent nearly a week completing a 21-mile swim, 400-mile cycling ride, and 135-mile run. It included two of the most exhausting and difficult days of my life fighting with the current and waves for 25+ hours, a bike crash, and a sprained ankle before the run even started. It was ugly at times, even unconventional, but thanks to an amazing support crew and persistence – my decision to not stop and keep moving forward – we did it.

For those of us who seek growth and continual and never ending improvement, the arena is our testing ground. It shows how much we’ve grown since our last push. Whether the event goes well or if we achieved our intended goal has little consequence to how we respond following the event. You lick your wounds, take assessment on your preparation and performance and you go back to the workshop to prepare for the next one.

While the arena is the expression of the work that’s already been done, I have learned to love the workshop because it’s the place where growth happens. Like in many things in life, people see the live performance, the final project, or the big break for an entrepreneur and often are completely unaware of the years of fine tuning that was necessary for that moment to take place. There is the perception that performers constantly live in those glory moments. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

People have been asking me what’s next. I keep telling them I’m taking two years off intentionally from multiple day ultra-endurance events. That doesn’t mean that I’m taking up the easy life and removing myself from the fray. I find myself already ramping back up. I’m doing active recovery on my sprained ankle and expect to reach full capacity in a few weeks.

The chosen arena for this year is a fast marathon distance: pursuing that elusive sub 3-hour mark. It’s a goal I’ve gone after before and I’m currently 0 – 3 in that pursuit. Does this mean it’s out of my reach and ability level? Or is it something I’m just not disciplined enough to execute on the training required ro meet the mark? This year will give me more answers to those questions. 

Regardless of how it plays out, I’m convinced the value and blessing happen in every small training workout, every time I make it out in the morning half-awake in less than ideal weather and push through to that next incrementally faster pace. It is the culmination of over 250 training runs, week-in and week-out focusing on nutrition and fueling to trim off an additional 20 pounds with the knowledge that each pound reduction drops my mile pace by approximately 2-3 seconds and puts me that much closer to that goal. 

I’m so excited for the journey – every one of those running sessions, every step of improvement in how to fuel for optimal nutrition, training and performance. Here’s to the unseen work, the time in preparation. I have grown to love the workshop almost as much as the arena, and I find that the more preparation I do, the better the outcome.