Happy Friday friends,
It’s been a long week filled with lots of workouts and runs — I’ve been running a lot more lately to prepare for an upcoming race sometime in October.
As part of preparation for my race, I’ve been trying to soak up as much info as I can about ultramarathons and part of that includes learning how elite athletes improve their mental game in sports. I’ve been binging on some podcast episodes which had Courtney Dauwalter as the guest speaker, absolutely loved them.
Courtney, on her way to winning the Hardrock 100 last week. Image taken from Courtney’s Instagram page
Courtney is one of the top athletes in the ultra running world and an amazing human being, always so humble. Dubbed the “Queen of the pain cave”, her impressive ultra running resume includes winning the first MOAB 240, a 240 mile race, and beating all the other competitors men included, by a whooping 10 hours.
Screenshot taken from wikipedia
In the various podcasts that Courtney spoke on, one common question kept emerging from the interviewers:
“What makes you different from other runners; what makes you so much better than everyone else?”
Being the humble lady she is, Courtney usually laughs this off and claims that she’s just like everyone else - but when probed further, she shares her secret sauce:
Enjoyment.
She clearly enjoys everything about ultra running - the good and the bad, the fun and the suffering.
At first thought, this kinda sounds like a no-brainer. You have to enjoy what you do to be great at it. But to think of it, so many people are choosing careers, making decisions and setting goals without taking into account whether or not they truly enjoy what they’re about to commit to. They go with the “practical” option instead of one that they like doing more. And then they wonder why they don’t get great at it.
Weird huh?
You see — when you truly enjoy doing something, that passion drives you through the good and bad times. When you’re having fun, all you can think of is “how can I continue to have more fun”. You’d naturally spend more time on what you enjoy, and it makes it easier to commit and work hard. When the tough times arrive inevitably, at least the fun keeps you in the game and you’re less likely to quit what you enjoy doing.
I find it insightful when Courtney shares how she trains for her races — zero training plans, all based on feel. For someone who’s competing on an elite level, she doesn’t even train with a heart rate monitor. While other runners are obsessing over VO2 max and other run statistics, Courtney is just busy focusing on having fun out there.
Of course, that might not be the best way to train, but if anything, my main takeaway from this is — make enjoyment a KPI.
Do you truly enjoy what you’re working on?
How can you have more fun while working on your goals?
Closing off with a question by Naval to ponder over:
Find work that looks like play.
Because that way, no one can compete with you.
Today’s Recommendations:
1/ A Quote by Pina Bausch, a renowned dancer and choreographer:
“Repetition is not repetition. The same action makes you feel something completely different by the end.”
One rep by itself doesn’t change things.
But accumulated consistently over time, reps produce magic.
Trust the process and keep going.
2/ Silencing voices and listening to yourself:
Here’s an interesting blog post on how to find your voice in a noisy world, by Nick Cave, the Australian singer-songwriter.
The Red Hand Files has definitely been one of my most exciting recent finds, with lots of gems scattered across the various blog posts that discuss different questions Nick gets from readers and followers.
Good stuff.
3/ Habit tracker
“What gets measured, gets managed.”
Looking to develop long-lasting habits? Track ‘em to manage them better.
Here’s a habit tracker that I’ve created to track habits more efficiently; it’s an adaptation of James Clear’s Habit Journal which I found really useful.
Happy tracking!
P.S.
If you found today’s newsletter useful in any way, I kindly ask that you share it with a friend and subscribe below.
I’m working on this newsletter this because I genuinely enjoy sharing my thoughts and what I learn. Your support would definitely keep me going!
Stay well & stay after it,
Chris 🤠