Part III: Leadman Process Goals
This past week I listened to Sonja Wieck’s fantastic podcast - Tales of Toughness. Sonja is an adventure racer, triathlete, and uber-adventurer who interviews a number of similar likeminded athletes.
Neal - standing tall and ‘finishing strong’ at Run Rabbit Run 100.
In this particular podcast she interviewed Nathan Fa’avae, captain for Team New Zealand winner of the 2019 EcoChallenge. Team New Zealand didn’t just win the race. They repeated the win 17 years after they first won the race. They are consistently one of the top adventure racing teams in the world.
The thing that struck me the most about Nathan is the attitude he had to the outcome. Yes, they wanted to win, but that wasn’t the focus of their attention, in fact he seemed to care less if they won or not. What they wanted more than anything was to do it better.
In order to do it better -
They were completely immersed in the process.
Sonja says something that I thought was a fantastic metaphor during the interview:
“Hold on to the outcome like you would a small bunny.”
The best athletes - the world class athletes that win championship after championship focus on their system and the process, they are not as focused on the outcome as you might think...
Several weeks ago I started talking about some of my outcome goals for Leadman. One outcome goal discussed was finishing the 100 mile bike in under the 12-hour cutoff. So while that goal is the obvious desire, I can’t just focus on the outcome. For one, there are some many factors that are outside of my control in regards to that - weather, gear malfunction, crashes, and illness. (COVID being a great example.) I need to hold this outcome like I would a small bunny. If I put all my energy into the outcome it easy to get distracted, hooked and pulled in a direction that can lead me away from the here and now. Where the work is done.
What is totally in my control is the process - and that I can strive to do better every day.
These are all the little things that I can do to help give me the best chances on race day to reach that goal. They happen in the present and are for the most part controllable.
Process goals can look like this:
Make sure to drink 400-800ml of water for every hour riding.
Spend 10 minutes on mobility three times a week.
Utilize positive self-talk and mantra’s on every ride.
Check my bike, and clean my bike after every ride.
Make sure I know how to, and practice making minor fixes on my bike.
Ride at a consistent Rate of Perceived Effort.
To really make these implementable I need to be specific about where and when these will happen -
For example:
Immediately prior to bed I will go to my workout space and spend ten minutes on the foam roller.
Also, if I link it with something else I already do then it will be even easier to remember. Right after I brush my teeth I will go into my workout space and spend ten minutes on the foam roller.
Right after I get out of bed in the morning I will sit in meditation for ten minutes.
Right after I finish my run I’ll stretch my hip-flexor.
Create a routine for the process goals, make them habitual.
John Wooden the former basketball coach of UCLA spent time teaching his athletes to tie their shoes and put their socks on correctly. He went through this with them in fine detail. Why would a coach do this with collegiate athletes who presumably came to him knowing how to do this? It was the process that became habitual that geared them for success. Small things matter. Those processes win championships.
Like UCLA during Wooden’s tenure - who had ten national titles - you get better and better, you refine your processes. Nathan Fa’avae and Team New Zealand were able to come back not only years after their first EcoChallenge win, but they managed to win again in spite of what would be for some race ending catastrophe’s (like their boat fell apart and sank at night during the first event!).
How are you going to dial in your process goals and systems? Are you able to hold on to the outcome like a bunny?