Virtuosity is “performing the common, uncommonly well” expressed Greg Glassman. I just became the first woman to run the Infinitus 888k Trail Race designed by The Endurance Society in Vermont USA. Am I superhuman? No. I am an ordinary person who believes in the extraordinary. I am the culmination of all my victories and failures combined. Along my journey as an endurance athlete and coach, I forged and refined valuable tools any runner can use to conquer the next race, whether it is a 5k, a marathon or more. Running 888k requires massive physical capacities, yes, but the brain has the commander’s rights. Let me share with you 10 secret tools you need to know above all:
1. Dream big
Forget what is realistic, let your passions take control and start dreaming big. Then dream even bigger. Only authentic motivation coming from the heart will make you jump out of bed at 5AM, even if you are not a morning person! Every thought and action should be directed to fulfil this goal. Nothing calls you? Pick a challenge and make it your ultimate reason for living, undeniably certain you will get so much by taking on this journey. We can’t connect the dots looking forward. We can only connect them looking back. Believe in it, especially when your chances of success are less than 50%… or even unknown. You may be able to fool others but you can’t fool yourself as this will show in your performance. Adopt my motto “It is not a matter of if, but a matter of how it will happen.”
2. Know yourself
This is the heavy lifting you do behind the curtains. You can’t bypass all the experience you must gain by training, learning, testing, failing… all the work you do people don’t see. Building yourself to be an expression of your full potential implies to find the best nutrition strategy for you, personalize your training sessions, know your sleep cycle and plan the appropriate rest for you. Behind the best athletic performance, there is a smart, wise and devoted person.
3. Plan your work, work your plan
To finish first, you first have to finish. Race director Andy Weinberg said: “Helene, you were so dialed in.” Every aspect of my race was calculated. There was no room for improvisation, only pure execution while using the skill of constant adaptability. My plan included: pace on the course, transition durations, sleep schedules, stress management, foot care, nutrition and hydration strategies. My life was on a stopwatch (or “like a Swiss watch”) for 10 days.
Twenty-four hours before cap time, Andy wondered why I was not out there running. “Quiet!“ said my chief crew Caroline, “She has 26 minutes left to sleep.” Virtuosity: performing the common, uncommonly well. When everything is planned, everything becomes common, even running 888k.
4. Get an A-team crew
I cannot thank my support crew enough. People think I alone finished this grueling race… WE as a team finished this grueling race. Because my support crew knew and understood my WHY. We became one, looking through the same lens, in the same direction. They learned my plan and executed it with me. Smart, experienced, very sensitive and very generous, they understood it is not about them nor what they think I should or should not do. The opposite of overshadowing, they perfectly walked (or ran!) in my shadow. They were my shadow. I spent many hours with Caroline going through every possible detail so that she knew my thought process and could think for me instead during the event. Enroll your crew so they can think and breathe like you do.
5. Know your enemy
The Endurance Society’s logo depicts the answer: The wording on it means Physical Strength & Mental Fortitude. The skeleton crawling is symbolic to endurance races and athletes who push beyond their limits. The sword is pointed towards the skeleton instead of away. In battle you would typically point the sword at your opponent, but in an endurance event (and also in life) the battle is within, so the skeleton crawling with the sword pointing towards the athlete signifies the battle within. In essence, we are battling ourselves.
6. Visualize your success
I visualized my finish so clearly I could taste it! This is how powerful visualization can be. Give it as much importance as running sessions. It can be done at any time and anywhere. I visualized my finish to be “palpable all along” so that when I did finish, it felt like “coming home”.
7. Embrace your new reality
As soon as you pass the start line, you must look forward and embrace the discomfort, the pain, the fatigue, and that inner voice of nonsense… These should all become comforting as if it was a prison you don’t know if you will ever escape from; so to stay alive, you must execute the plan to keep moving forward. A friend shared how it was when she gave birth to her daughter: You must care for her, feed her, watch her, be there for her day and night… no matter how tired you are! Infinitus became this baby I had to keep alive and deliver to some desperate mom waiting for her some 888 kilometers further. No pain, no hunger and no obstacle is big enough to win over an infant’s life. Get to the finish line, no matter what it takes. Period.
8. Do your gear check
Run and compete with the best gear out there: Osprey packs. Then pack the most important piece of equipment: your head. Stay focused and master the ability to adapt. Finally, pack that extra layer, the most lightweight and the most useful one: courage. I guarantee you will need that extra layer of courage at some point if you want to create bigger results for yourself.
9. Prepare to face your Wheady Mile
A wheady mile is the last mile or so of a journey that, for some reason, seems to take much longer than it should. It feels as though you're about to cross the finish line and collapse in the dirt, but instead there are still more twists and turns and then, even when the race is over, you still have to walk to your car and drive home. Discipline and perseverance can get you through your wheady mile. The ability to run the extra mile lies in between your ears. What separates you from the mass is your determination to push through the wheady mile. A good thing is there are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
10. Be responsible for your success
You have the power to be the author and the hero of your own adventures. So first, own everything that you are and everything that got you here, victories and failures. Then invent the path that will lead you to success. Be instinctive. Trust your full potential. Learn from others but be innovative too as there is a lot of space that hasn’t been explored yet. Take responsibility for making it happen. Own your power of making the impossible possible. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said : “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
Comments