I did it! I freaking did it!! It took five years and four attempts, but I finally did it.
Part of me still cannot believe I did it, but another part knows it was inevitable.
On Sunday, July 14, 2024, at 12:03 p.m., I crossed the finish line of the Sinister 7 100-mile ultramarathon. Today, I’ll share the story and a few lessons learned related to business and leadership.
The Sinister 7 100-mile race covers 100 miles through the mountains of Crowsnest Pass in southern Alberta. Racers gain over 6,200 meters (over 20,000 ft) of elevation and have 30 hours to complete the race.
I have attempted the 100-mile distance at Sinister three times before this year.
2018: On my first attempt by the top of leg 6, the summit of the hardest climb on the course and about 130 km into the race, the balls of my feet split open. What I initially thought to be blisters turned out to be trench foot from not managing my wet feet. I was moving so slowly on destroyed feet that I came in at 31:56, almost two full hours over the time limit.
Watch the race video here…
2019: I returned for redemption. However, this year, Mother Nature decided to dump as much rain on the course as she could, and Leg 5 was just a bog. I came off Leg 5 an hour behind where I needed to be to finish in time, wet and miserable, and pulled the plug, ending my race.
Watch the race video here…
2021: I came back after Covid, determined to finish this race. Going out onto leg 6, I was in good shape, 15 minutes ahead of my 2018 time and feeling good about finishing. About 10km into leg 6, my stomach stopped accepting food. No matter what I tried to eat, it came out either the top or bottom and with no energy in my legs, I timed out before getting to the transition to get me out on leg 7.
2022: I did not run
2023: I decided I needed a “win” on this course, so I opted for the 50-mile distance. I finished in 14:03, building confidence for a 100-mile return in 2024.
Watch the 50-mile video here…
2024: This was the year!
This brings us back to last weekend. I finally did it! I finished with almost an hour to spare! 29:03
I’ll write up a race report that describes my experience in more detail, but today, I wanted to focus on some of the parallels to business.
Here are some of the lessons and practices I used that relate to business.
I Hired a Coach
This was huge. My coach knows his stuff and has completed the race before. Sure, I might have been able to do it alone, but why should I attempt to? If I’d hired an experienced coach in year one… who knows? When it comes to your business, why risk delaying your performance? I may be a little biased, but I honestly believe that in order to attain your peak potential, you need to work with a coach.
I Had a Team
Michelle crewed me, and several friends were there this year to assist her. This was a massive help. It meant that Michelle could focus on taking care of me in the transition areas and have the rest of our crew take care of all of the tasks that needed to be done.
Learned From Experience
Every year we attempted, we took away new lessons. This year, we applied all of those lessons.
- We cleaned and dried off my feet at every Transition.
- We changed my nutrition.
- I came in well-trained.
- We managed the heat with ice and appropriate clothing.
A Commitment to the Process
While I have always trained for the race, this year’s commitment was much more focused. I did every single workout prescribed, most of my physical therapy (I’m still not 100% here), stretching, rolling, and yoga. I did not make any excuses for not getting the preparation done, and I stuck to the plan.
Mindset
There were two primary mental strategies I used to help get me to the finish line.
Early in the race, as my legs started to fatigue and I was tempted to walk at more intervals, my mantra became:
“Run this now so you don’t have to sprint at the finish line.”
This is what allowed me to finish strong. I did the work early so I would not have to try and make it up too late in the game. If I didn’t do the work early and was left to try and “make it up later” I would be setting myself up for failure. In the best case scenario, I would have had to push hard to make up time later in the race when I was much more fatigued, adding another level of stress to “getting the job done.” The last thing I wanted was to have to run a personal best on that final Leg 7 section, chasing that 30-hour cutoff.
The same holds true in business and leadership. Invest up front, put in the work, and the rest will come much more easily.
The second strategy was one I employed when I was getting down on myself for not being further ahead than I thought I should be.
“You don’t have to be fast; you just have to be consistent.”
This one is easy to forget in business. However, I can assure you that success is more likely to come from consistent effort over time than from a short burst of energy that fades quickly.
There are so many parallels in any type of high-performance environment. I will apply many of these lessons to my coaching practice for years to come. Does any of this resonate with you? Drop me a comment, and let me know.
