Be Unreasonable (Does That Mean Me, Too?)

Blog #227

I love saying things like, “Extraordinary often lives in the unreasonable, so be unreasonable,” “Good enough sucks,” or, to use my favorite Henry Ford quote, “Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t, you’re right.” I push the teams I work with to be unreasonable, to be great, and to believe they can.

Sometimes, this comes back to haunt me. What I mean is that I also have to the walk the walk. If I don’t, I would not be living up to my potential. Last year, I leaned into this thinking, especially around my health and what I could or could not do. I ended up completing three ultra-marathon trail runs, one marathon, and a 140-mile hike through the Alps. For me, these were all unreasonable, and I had to work my ass off. I had never done even a marathon before, so I was unfamiliar with the world of endurance training. To boot, I have a prosthetic hip and knee, which give me problems from time to time. I knew I needed to push myself, so I hired a coach and put in the training time. As a result, I made the cut-off times and completed all of these events. That was my objective.

For 2020, I wanted to do something big, but I received some fairly strenuous advice from my surgeon, who suggested I would wear out my prosthetics by continuing to run long distances. So, for the new year, I decided to keep striving for the unreasonable – but on a bicycle. After speaking with a friend, who happens to be the medical race director for the Leadville 100, I found myself signing up for the 100-mile mountain bike race in Colorado. This extreme race starts at 10,250 feet and climbs to about 12,500 feet, all on winding mountain roads and forest trails. This is one the baddest, hardest, highest profile, and oldest endurance races on the planet, which is why it is reserved for pros and the select few who win the entrance lottery. As I talked with my colleague, he pointed out that as the medical race director and with his involvement with the charity First Descents, he could secure me a spot in the race.

Crap, this is not what I was thinking. I was thinking something big, but not this! My friend had fun teasing my about going big or going home, essentially using some of my own quotes against me. I realized I was squirming in my chair. I had seen this before with other people in my session space when I had pushed them, and now I was the one getting squirmy. I was uncomfortable. I realized then that I had to do it. I needed to step up, dig in, and make it happen. This was going to require me to lose some weight, get serious about my strengthening, re-learn the ins and outs of cycling, and keep my butt in the saddle in 2020. 

So, here goes nothing…

I will be participating in the Leadville 100 Endurance Mountain Biking Race on August 15, 2020. For all those I push, I give you permission to hold me accountable. I will be video blogging this journey and hope it will help others to be unreasonable with their goals. Here is a link to the first few videos.

I will be riding for the First Descents charity, which provides life-changing outdoor adventures for young adults (ages 18 - 39) impacted by cancer and other serious health conditions. I will match all donations up to the first $3,500 raised. If you are interested in putting additional pressure on me and donating to this very worthy cause, you can do so at my GoFundMe page.

Do you want to learn to be more intentionally unreasonable with your goal setting? You are in the right place. Contact us today to find out how we can help you dream bigger!

Keep Smiling,

Kris

If you would like more information on goal setting, check out our blog series beginning with The Power of Setting Goals posted January 10, 2018 through February 21, 2018.