Endurance

This episode starts from a coffee shop in Frankfurt-am-Main Airport where I am about to have my first morning meeting. While I am awaiting my companion to arrive, I am thinking my upcoming Ironman 70.3 Barcelona race that will take place exactly in four weeks of time from that very moment. Fourteen months ago I had suffered a stress fracture in my left foot. Now after some pins, strings and bone marrow transplant needed to fix the second one, I was recovering from the third fracture that hit the same leg. At that time, it felt I would not be able to go the distance in Barcelona. I was also worried about my perspective. I felt I was squeezed into a microscopic world of anatomy instead of wide and open eagle-eye view from the top!

Going the distance requires endurance. It is usually associated with our physical capability to move longer distances as fast as possible, but in my IM 70.3 I discover a totally new aspect of that word. I had always merely thought about combination of an extreme physical performance combined with the “fighter attitude” when thinking of endurance. On that early Mediterranean morning, the race ahead it was however, 100% about mental perseverance to do something that seemed quite easy for my body but challenging to my mind – the traditional Finnish “SISU” redefined. Why should I bother to swim and bike with my injured leg and then walk a half marathon on the top? Based on the medical analysis prior to the race I was capable of doing that without causing more harm to myself but what was the point?

Few weeks later in mid June I was about to start the 300 km renowned bike ride “Vätternrunda” around lake Vättern in Sweden with some 20,000 other cyclists. This time I knew it would be all about endurance in the traditional sense of the word. I would get my share of the physical challenge glazed with mental endeavour to push hard all the way to the finish line. At the start at 7:50 pm I knew the night would be long and there would be some serious pedalling to be done prior to the first rays of sunlight would start to pamper our tortured bodies and build faith to the lost souls. I also knew the “SISU” would kick in at some point in a very traditional fashion.

In late July I woke up in a hospital after a pretty impressive surgery on my left tibia, which had been completely fixed. It appeared (after one brave limping style sprint distance triathlon) that the bone was pretty much just about to give up. With some new bone marrow borrowed from the hip and some orthopaedic magic and spells (and skills) there was (and is) hope I will run again someday. At that point it was inevitable that my hopes for my first IM distance race in Louisville (KY) for this year would be buried, no matter what I would think about my mental endurance. I found myself wondering had I advanced enough distance to have perspective to deal with this new situation?

I did not have time to dive in my mental abyss at that point, as my main race for the year was just a few weeks away. Eleven months before we had launched a project concerning the development of a major city triathlon race in my hometown of Turku, Finland and the project had avalanched gathering mass and speed, faster and faster along the months.  The jury would be soon out and back in to declare the verdict concerning the inaugural Turku Triathlon Weekend or as we call it, the “TTW”.

The project was not anymore just a race; it had generated a full-fledged start-up focusing on wellness and wellbeing concepts and event management, related content generation and communication as well as expert advisory and coaching services (among other things). The whole past year felt all of a sudden like a long race; the whole spectrum of emotions packed with moments of success, faith, doubt, highs and lows experienced and the last mile was still to be run. The closer the finish line was coming, I started to feel the lactic acid generating in my soul trying to slow me down no matter how hard I tried to command myself.

^{© Aarni Lehto / Valonhiljaisuus}

And it was not just this project; I had been fortuned to be involved in a few other major gigs during the year in the “dark side” of my freelance career as an attorney and a corporate advisor. Whereas I had once stepped out from a major partnership to lead a generation flux lifestyle I was discovering myself working now harder than ever before hitting 80 hour working weeks month after month and training regularly on the top still quite respectful amounts. Awareness was rising that the last weeks and days preceding the TTW would be all about endurance and in all possible aspects. I also knew that the “finish line” weekend would be a final spurt out of this world.

My last blog writing (which was published embarrassingly long ago) kicked off by sharing my conversations with Timo Bracht, who is one of the iconic triathletes of our time. We had just completed our first TTW Training Camp in January and the whole TTW journey was still ahead of us. This time I was enjoying Timo’s and his lovely family’s company at the dinner in Helsinki a few days after the TTW. Empowered by our vivid and inspirational discussions about life, parenting, sports and pretty much everything, we said goodbye again. We had both completed the same race and I knew it was the time to look forward. After dropping the Bracht family to the hotel, I retired to our city hideout and buried myself in comfortable cool sheets.  In the aftermath of our discussions I could not resist the temptation to look back just for a moment before letting Mr Sandman to enter in. 

^{© Heikki Jaatinen}

I realised that the distance I had travelled from January had been meaningful. Actually, all the sudden I drifted back three years in time when I decided to unleash my potential and, quoting Rich Roll, to become a better , true and authentic version of myself. Looking back that journey (and beyond) right there and right then the past and the future was compressed into that precious moment and I was lifted up to the heights one can be sometimes mentally catapulted in the transient minute. Endurance, as I now understood, is a life long metaphor to keep going with such a pace that you would be able to put things in a perspective, enjoy the journey and meet the ultimate finish line celebrating with your hands raised in the air.

Knowing that you did your best.