In trail running as in a leader's life

This is what trail running looks like. It's hard, messy, unpredictable and a lot of fun! Just like life. Just like work, and even more, just like being a leader.?

Becoming a trail runner, I realized that many of the personality traits that I apply to train and race, are very similar to the ones I use every day as a leader.?

Let me tell you why.

Dream!?

I didn’t become a runner until my mid 30’s. Looking back, I liked running from when I was in high school, where I hated sports but loved the resistance running tests we got once in a while. Back then, running wasn’t a very common thing unless you were a pro, so I never really paid attention to it.

In my mid 30's I had some life changing moments, and somehow this long forgotten and never really acknowledged love came back.

But at that point, it was only a dream… I had no training whatsoever and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to start at that point in my life. I thought I was old. Silly me.

Despite all this, I allowed myself to dream and envision myself doing it. It already felt like freedom.

Set incremental goals!?

I didn’t become a trail runner overnight.

I started running almost 10 years ago, at the gim I was going to back then, using the treadmill and getting bored staring at the TV in front of me. That was my first round at the sport. My inception. But very fast, I realized I wasn’t really enjoying the sport as I did back in high school, when I was super motivated to be the last one standing in the resistance test.? I used to accomplish that by the way :)

I realized I needed a goal that would motivate me, some milestone to look forward to.

So talking to a friend, we decided to enroll in a 5k street race. That was my first of many, many goals in running, most of them incremental.

Plan!

That first race was crazy.. I had no real idea of what I was doing, so I started running at whatever pace and got to the finish line at some point.

I was ecstatic because I had accomplished my goal, but had no idea of how well I had done or how much faster I could be. Even so, I learned so much!

So for my next goal, a 10k race a couple of months later, I decided to use that knowledge to make a plan.

I found out that as a runner, you can plan yourself, search for suggestions on the internet or enroll in a running team where you can get coaching from pros. I did them all, and whatever the way, planning definitely got me better. Not only in that 10k race I had, but ever since.

As with any planning, it requires to know the goal, learn about the race and about the environment, and know yourself at that moment, so you can define your training to get there.?

Do!

After I few weeks into the training for that 10K, and even more over the years, I realized that the must haves for race training are: dedication, continuity, motivation - self obtained or provided by a group -, ability to take risks, acceptance that you might fall down, openness to learn from you falls, and a high will to rise again and grow.

As we usually hear, life is not about the destination but the journey. The journey is sometimes hard, but so rewarding!

Same goes for running, I’ve had the best laughs training with friends, great weekends spent on some mountain training retirement sharing runs, meals and space, that amazing feeling of accomplishment when you finish a long training session and you are sore but so much certain you’ll make it on the race, the feeling of complete peace when you are in the middle of a mountain, alone because you haven’t crossed anyone for a few minutes, and you connect with nature and hear the silence, and the most important of all, the overall gratefulness of being able to do all of it.

So, although hard, in running as in life, the execution is key, is when you learn, when you share and where you grow, and the larger part of the process.?

It’s so important to enjoy it!

Oh boy when you cross the line!

I have run so many races in all these years.. Probably over 40, each of them longer or harder, each of them a challenge.

All of them start the same:? the energy of the start line, the cheering, the nervousness, the fear of the unknown ahead, the fear of not setting your watch when you cross the star line :)

Will you make it? Will you accomplish your desired speed and time? Will there be obstacles?

Your head is a whirlwind of emotions and you want to go now!

And then you run, you concentrate on your plan, you keep focused, and you get there! The finish line!

I can remember so many moments crossing the line… The feeling of accomplishment, happiness, pride and self love and the realization that I had made it! The feeling I had overcame it all and made it!

The love of all the people cheering along the last meters and the love of my people greeting me at the other side.

It’s such an amazing feeling! It’s such a learning instance! It has really transformed me over time.

But it doesn’t end there, once you’ve made it, you are ready to go again.

Start all over again!

It happens to me as to most runners, once I’ve crossed the line and have my medal on, I’m already thinking of the next race.

Accomplishing a goal brings you to review your win, take your learnings and want to apply them to your next round.

After the race we runners need to do the regenerative run, a slow, short running session in which we let our muscles rest and regenerate.

Such as in life and in work, you slow down to reload and restart. You take your learnings, you process, and you think of what’s next.

So far, I have never stopped at a win, I have kept on going to get better.

Some reflections

Not everybody is a runner as much as not everybody is a leader.

I know so many people that hate running, or can’t understand how I can spend so much time and energy on it, or how on earth I can run those distances on the mountains.

Others like running and run often, but are not interested at all in enrolling in a race.

The same goes to leaders.

You can like the game of doing things, and also to learn and train and get better on execution, but you need to be able to dream, get thrilled by the goal, and love planning and taking on the process of executing to really be a leader. Moreover, you need the endurance and the strength to put in the work to not only accomplish your objective, but helping others work on their contributions to that objective. You need to be able to face obstacles and falls and be able to stand up and restart, and stay open to learn from the process.

I feel my process and growth as a runner has reflected positively on how I perform as a leader. It has given me the conviction that I can dream and set a goal and get there, and the discipline to plan and do the work to accomplish it.

It has taught me about resilience, endurance, strength and being able to make your dreams happen.

Those are my bases for how I face my life, personal and work.?

From there, it is just about building and sharing it with others to make you a leader.