The longest I had ever run was a marathon. I have ran two. They weren’t fast, in fact, in the first the sag wagon was nipping at my heels and the course was being cleaned up as I crossed the finish line. The next one I moved so slow up the main climb of the trail race that my Garmin thought I had stopped moving and paused.
These races were a part of my annual tradition of doing a misogi, doing something so hard one day a year, that has an impact on the next 364 days.
This year, I knew I needed to step up the misogi to something I had never done before.
There was one event that just kept pulling me in, Hell on Hogsback. With a name like that it was pretty hard to forget, but it was more than the name that pulled me to this event. The founding story of the event was inspired by Pete Nelson Sr. and his journey through a cancer diagnosis, a 12 hour surgery that resulted in cancer being removed but also inducing a stroke. Waking up from the surgery and surviving the stroke Pete was faced with the fact that now he would need to re-learn how to walk and talk.
The Nelson family understood the ups and downs of the journey. How Pete Sr. was able to endure was unique, but they also knew that many families were facing similar daunting journeys. They started Hell on Hogsback as a friends and family event with the goal of giving back to a family facing medical bills that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to pay. A few years later this event has turned into a thriving community of over 300 participants that are embracing the ethos of “Endure for Cancer” as the race participants lap a 1.1 mile loop up and down a hill for hours.
Pete Sr. did relearn to walk and talk and is out there going stride for stride with the other participants on the 12 hour run. He is the most accomplished runner I have met with over 160 marathons or ultras to his name. Most impressively, he never let his diagnosis derail the drive to keep running and inspiring others.
Another reason I knew this event would be special was that it was started by his son, Pete Nelson II. I got to know Pete through his business Sisu Lifestyle. As I was looking for the highest quality sauna for our home gym, I consistently was referred to Sisu. I reached out to Pete on a few occasions and he has always taken the time to share about his business but to also learn about me and my family. When I was in the midst of my career change recently he was one of the first calls I made to share about my vision and to get his perspective. After listening to all the thoughts I had swirling about the business, he paused and simply said, 'What a privilege’. Those words have really changed how I approach my day with a focus on fully realizing the privileged position we are in and making the most of it.
Alright, now you know some of the reasons why I was crazy enough to sign up to run for 12 hours. The other reason is I have actually really started to enjoy running. It serves as a place of mental stillness where I can think, learn through podcasts and come up with my creative thoughts that don’t arise when I am in front of the screen.
I figured over the 12 hours I could solve all sorts of problems and my mind would go to new places in the unexplored pain cave. Surprisingly, that didn’t happen, really it didn’t happen at all. I thought about very little for 12 hours other than race planning and nutrition strategy. My only thought for the whole day was pretty much what do I need to eat and drink on my next lap.
The good news those thoughts helped me finish and I ate 5 gels, 2 packs of energy chews, 2 PBJ sandwiches, 3 bananas, a bag of grapes, 5 granola bars, 3 cups of overnight oats and endless amounts of electrolytes and carb drinks.
The bad news is that eating strategy isn’t really that interesting.
Now that the blisters and muscles have had a week to heal, (a couple toe nails will need longer than that to grow back) I have had some time to process the experience and come up with a couple things that will stick with me beyond the importance of crushing carbs.
Compounding:
Compounding prevents mediocrity.
There was one uniquely mentally difficult moment in the race when I had finished the marathon distance, ran for another hour, started to get really fatigued and then looked at my watch. I realized I was not even half way through the 12 hour race.
Luckily, as I mentioned I wasn’t thinking too deeply so I just grabbed a PBJ and turned the mind back off.
All I needed to do was continue the momentum and not focus on the finish that was still out of reach.
One foot in front of the other. In this case the result was 97,000 steps.
This new experience in compounding goes beyond investing or physical performance.
It is more clear than ever to me that consistent disciplined action can result in gains(z) that otherwise would never have been possible.
Community:
Make the community bigger than yourself.
The Nelson’s and the Hell on Hogsback team did this consistently through the weekend with extremely intentional hospitality.
At the end of the event Pete asked the group, “who ran farther than they every had today?”
90% of the hands went up.
What made that possible is that every person was running for reasons bigger than themselves. It wasn’t a race where the times are benchmarked against other performances. I went into the weekend thinking I was there for a solo run and it ended up being a joint experience with the rest of the community. We were all there to endure a unique pain that we had never put our bodies through with an understanding that we were all so privileged to be able to have this experience.
This has been my most unique and powerful misogi. There is no doubt it will impact the next 364 days. The lessons learned about community and compounding will stay with me. What a privilege.
Top Finds:
Joe Liemandt - Building Alpha School, and The Future of Education - Invest Like the Best podcast. - After completing 3 months with Boundless Life in Spain, our thoughts on education continue to evolve. This was a thoughtful discussion on the model of Alpha School and how they are incorporating AI and experiential learning for an education kids thrive in.
Arthur Brooks has been a virtual mentor of mine for years. His new book the Happiness Files has been great!