An Athlete At Work
My husband and I enjoy watching this show called Boundless¹. It is about two friends who are competing in the toughest endurance races all over the world. First, I was drawn to the show because of the amazingly beautiful pictures of these amazing places they travelled to. I love expanding my knowledge about how vast our Earth is and how many places I haven’t heard of yet. I am also a lover of different cultures, traditions, people, and languages. From a young age, I dreamt about going places and seeing the wonders of the world.
[On how that dream came true, read more here: https://www.andreaclough.com/idea-party ]
Yet, as I kept watching, I found myself cheering for Simon and Turbo at a deeper level. Their willingness to push themselves to their perceived limits and beyond, and their attitude during the struggles and challenges to achieve their goals were puzzling and intriguing for me. Thus, I got really curious.
What are they doing that allows them to keep choosing to go beyond their limits, despite pain, fear, and disappointment?
How can such an experience combined with new skills be used in our everyday lives?
So, I set out to learn more and the next two episodes of the show became part of this exploratory work.
Simon and Turbo were getting ready to race in the Marathon des Sables².
Marathon des Sables, or MdS, is a six-day, 251 kilometers or 160 miles ultramarathon, which is approximately the distance of six regular marathons. The longest single stage is 91 kilometers or 56.5 miles km long. This multiday race is held every year in southern Morocco, in the Sahara Desert. It has been regarded as the toughest foot race on Earth. https://marathondessables.co.uk/
The landscape was amazing, and the pictures of Morocco and the Sahara Desert reminded me of one of my favorite movies, The English Patient.
Here’s what I have found while watching the race:
The amazing attention to details both athletes have put into preparing for the race.
Both Simon and Turbo had amazing knowledge about what equipment to use, what food to consume and when to consume it, and what the race details were.
During the race, your minimum food intake is 2,000 calories a day, but you may need more. With a diet composed of 15 % protein, 30 % fats and 55 % carbs (with at least half of those slow-burning carbohydrates), water consumption should be between 6 and 7 liters per day. To that water it is necessary to add electrolytes and vitamins. Consequently, food should be salted correctly and potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin C, B1, B2, B12, supplements are indispensable.
I have never seen anybody wearing desert gaiters before and Simon’s bright pink desert gaiters (that covered his whole shoe and extended slightly higher up the calf, to keep out sand when stepping deep into a dune) were very memorable and served the purpose of easily identifying him. So, if you are going to wear something that 120 others are also wearing, it’s a good idea to choose a color that will make you stand out from the crowd.
Also as impressive was their knowledge about how to prepare mentally and physically for winning a race like that. They landed a few days before to get their bodies accommodated to the weather. They scheduled intentional fun activities to take their minds off thinking about the race and to create memories. They went and tested their knowledge, their skills, and their gear about running in the sand by actually running in the sand. They talked to each other about how they felt and what support they wanted from each other. And they discussed what would happen if one of them couldn’t finish the race, what would the other one need and what role could he play to support the runner still in the race.
They memorized the race map and visualized what they would do at each check station and at the end of each stage. Even if it was to visualize a disappointing day with unexpected results. Visualizing their responses helped them be aware of their mental models that would weaken them and not serve them to achieve their goals of winning.
Sometimes visualizing how we are going to respond to a disappointment and how we would push through it, can be just as valuable as visualizing a moment of joy and accomplishment.
The amazing wisdom about how their bodies worked and how to read the signs of the body.
At some point, during the race, Simon said, “If you don’t let your mind give up when you reach that moment when your body just wants to stop and give up, and if you are able to push through that, every athlete knows, you will be able to finish the race.”
Being aware of our triggers, our bodies’ signs when we are getting closer to danger and having the confidence that we will be able to push through it – is an amazing human ability. We all have access to it; we have just forgotten how to use this ability and have to discover it again.
I found it inspiring how these athletes knew that the only way to get better and stronger (and finish a tough race like that) was to go back and experience the same level of pain they have experienced last time (in the last race) where their bodies wanted to shut down to ensure their survival. And, despite reaching that point where the pain was so strong, almost unbearable yet still familiar, continue running to break their bodies’ limits again.
I thought about it afterwards. Why would anyone want to do that?
You are alone in the desert, the temperature is close to 50° Celsius or 122 Fahrenheit, and there is nothing familiar in sight.
You are it. It is you. You and your thoughts. Moving in a direction that points towards more sand and sand sculptures. A direction only, without knowing what is beyond the next sand dune.
Then it hit me. How powerful it is to let go of the worldly concerns, problems, and troubles of our lives!
You don’t have to pick up the kids, make dinner, fix the car, work late, do the dishes, write a presentation, or buy dog food on Amazon.
How freeing it is to be so focused on one thing that there is no room for anything else in your head!
And then to let go of all the thoughts and truly clear your mind.
The only focus is on the legs and feet, putting one in front of the other. And once that is mastered, focusing on the pure joy of not focusing on anything.
Both Simon and Turbo would be running along in the sea of the Sahara’s sand and then they would turn their heads and notice the beautiful landscape they were in. They suddenly saw themselves as part of nature and understood the real beauty of life. In nature everything belongs, and everything constantly is growing, shifting, or changing. Even in the desert, the sand they stepped on would not be there the next day. The moment is the moment, and it will never be recreated again. Thus, the best time to enjoy life is now a.k.a. in this very moment.
The amazing communion with each other and with oneself.
Despite that Simon and Turbo were race participants, it came a point in every race when they stopped competing with other racer or with each other, and started competing against who they thought they were, and against what they thought their capabilities were. “I am doing this for myself. I want to finish the race not to beat [the runner who was challenging Simon], but for me.”
It was amazing to see that our human nature could support us to both compete with others and to highly respect our fellow racers. It wasn’t a conflict because of what Olympic athletes have discovered awhile back. When we race against others with the intention to measure what we are capable of, we always want and are dependent on having a better competitor than ourselves.
“Want to be better? Compete with someone better than you.” I used to hear.
Others can literally bring the best out of us – if we don’t reject or undermine them. When we respect others’ abilities and understand how they can grow us, letting them do what they do best and letting them be the best they can be, creates a safety net for our own growth and development.
Turbo was in second place overall when he decided to drop out of the race. Despite how hard that might have been, he was welcomed by everyone – race organizers, racers, and Simon – with grace and understanding. They knew it took a lot of confidence and self-trust to decide he wouldn’t compete anymore. Sometimes being brave to say no is just as brave as saying yes. Accepting the no can be followed by respect and dignity; doesn’t have to be followed by pity and shame.
The truth is we cannot do what we do without others support and couldn’t have become who we are today without others.
Yet, we had to also do it on our own, at some point, to prove to ourselves we can do and be anything we put our minds to.
“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”
I remember early in our relationship, my husband took me for a hike in the desert in Arizona. We lived in Page and we both worked inside the Glenn Canyon National Park, at Lake Powell.
We drove for a while when he pulled into this place filled with these tall and amazing looking rocks. My first thought was I wanted to sit on top of them. So, as soon as I got out of the car, I started climbing and looking for a path to the top. My husband (boyfriend back then) was following me but did not show as much enthusiasm towards these rocks as I did.
I remember reaching a point where there was a gap between the rocks and in order to sit on the edge I had to take a huge step to jump the gap. I thought about it for a moment and then went for it. Then I sat down and felt like I was sitting on the top of the world. I have never seen a landscape like that before in my life, and definitely it looked even more amazing from the top than from the ground level. I thought for a minute, how far I had come to be able to sit on that edge. It was unbelievable.
In that moment my husband pulled out the camera and took a picture of me sitting there.
Today, when I look at that picture, I think “Wow, that’s a dangerous place to sit. It’s pretty high up there.” Then, I realize that girl in the picture is me. And suddenly I remember my drive, my strength, and my boldness.
I believe we all have such moments in our lives when we have experienced this super focused mindset and behavior while doing something that really mattered to us.
You don’t have to run endurance races or climb high rocks. Any moment that got you out of your head and into your heart will do.
I wonder what would it take to bring that sense of being, that focus and energy to the workplace.
When I worked at my corporate job, I took a leap - like on that rock - and tried it out. It was possible because I had already had it in me.
Thus I believe we all could be an athlete at work. If we choose to.
¹Boundless is an adrenaline-charged Canadian reality documentary series. The series follows the adventures of friends/fierce competitors Simon Donato and Paul "Turbo" Trebilcock in their worldwide quest to challenge their limits in some of the most extreme competitive events on Earth From single and multi-day ultra marathons, to open-ocean standup paddling, to multi-day class 3+ kayak races, canyon bike races, and grueling triathlons, the events range from very well known to totally obscure Boundless is a riveting character study of two friends competing among themselves and others, revealing all the conflicts they encounter, incredible characters they meet, and set in the unforgettable backdrops of their surroundings.
²Marathon des Sables was filmed as part of the RacingThePlanet series. RacingThePlanet and the 4 Deserts Ultramarathon Series is widely recognized as the most prestigious outdoor footrace series in the world. The series consists of the Namib Race (Namibia), the Gobi March (Mongolia), the Atacama Crossing (Chile) and The Last Desert (Antarctica). Due to the political instability in North Africa, the Sahara Race was relocated to Jordan and then Namibia, and the Gobi March from China to Mongolia.