Tales from Barr Trail - Through the Storm of Radical Commitment: Never Quit on the Uphill

Dr. Travis M. Hearne, EdD 

Founder and CEO,  Titanium Consulting Group

​​Back in 2019, I signed up for a half marathon. Now, this doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment - tons of people have completed this with little effort but this race was different, especially for me. Those of you who know me, know that I'm more of a pack mule than a distance runner. If you put a load of 80 pounds on my back, I'll saunter my way to any finish line over any distance - much like the buffalo that this article is influenced by. I won't break any land speed records, but I'll finish. I'll push through the storm... But a race where there's actual running involved is very tough for me to push through.
 
The half marathon I signed up for was called the Pikes Peak Ascent and is one of the toughest half marathons in the world. The starting elevation for the race is 6,707 feet above sea level, culminating at over 14,000 feet! You are literally running up a mountain with 2,000 of your closest friends. Now, I'm not really sure why I signed up for this craziness, but I did, and I decided to radically commit to the training process and finishing the race. So, I began a training regimen that I found online and got to work. Over the next six months, I would run up hills for long distances and over several hours. I would lift lighter weights to improve my leg strength and stamina, focus on my nutrition, and pump myself up with whatever music or motivational speeches I could find. I felt pretty good!
 
After training my butt off, race day finally came. For those of you that have participated in these wild and crazy events I don't need to tell you that I was PUMPED!! The starting line before any race is electrifying. People are laughing, talking about their strategies, and are all so full of joy, knowing that they are about to endure a ton of pain! Yeah, it doesn't make much sense to me either. The contagious energy and motivation were everywhere, and I couldn't help but join in on the excitement. I checked my water levels and made sure I had by two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a spot that I could easily reach. I was focused, driven, and completely unaware of the torment that I was about to endure.
 
The gun went off and we all jolted out of our starting zones like young gazelles. I started at a good pace that I thought I could sustain until the climb got really tough. We started on the asphalt running through a small town before we got to the trailhead where the race really started. Once we hit the dirt everything changed. the uphill got more uphillier and the terrain got more treacherous with every mile. At each aid station I saw people tapping out and quitting the race. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I was still ahead of my goal time. After about 7 miles up, I found myself walking and thinking... "Why in the world did I sign up for this thing?". I had only ever completed one half-marathon prior to this, and it was flat and at a much lower elevation. Now I was 10,000 feet above sea level regretting my life's decisions up until this point. There was still 6 miles left, and 4,000 more feet left to climb. Those aid stations were looking mighty comfortable.
 
The easy thing would have been for me to just throw in the towel. Heck, only a small percentage of the world’s population made it as far as I had - this was good enough, right? But I remembered that I had made a promise to myself. I was committed to finishing this race. I was committed to crossing that finish line and doing something that I'd never done before. It was pushing me WAY outside of my comfort zone but that's where real change happens. "Suck it up buttercup! Don't you dare quit", I told myself repeatedly. I got myself moving again and made my way up the mountain all the way to the top. I crossed the finish line, grabbed some Gatorade and a banana, gave a few motivated high fives to other finishers and volunteers, and got on the bus back to the bottom of the mountain. I finished!

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Photo Credit: Scott Rokis

Here are the lessons I pulled out of this experience. The first is that if we are going to commit to something, we have to be committed to seeing it through. No matter what happens on the climb toward completion, we have to see it through. What we are to become is a direct reflection of what we are willing to endure! Nobody has ever won anything or accomplished any task by quitting half-way through. Commit to the process and understand that there WILL be really hard things that come with being radically committed. You will stub your toe along the way and get pissed off at the people in your way, but the suffering and the trials that you are going through weigh only ounces compared to the weight of quitting.
 
The second thing is that you have to prepare for the uphill. If you are interviewing for a new job or building a new culture in an organization or going through a difficult time in your marriage, you have to prepare for what is to come. The better you prepare, whether that's education, counseling, business courses, mentorship, or anything in between, the better equipped you will be to conquer the uphill. In a conversation I had with General David Petraeus, he told me that luck is the convergence of preparation and opportunity. The more prepared you are the better equipped you will be to take advantage of any opportunity.
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The third thing I learned surprised me. Just because you are radically committed to the process, doesn't mean that you stay when it gets unhealthy. If I decided to keep going after my race was over, I would have caused significant damage to my body and my mind. Yes, we have to be radically committed to doing what we said we were going to do, but when the race is over, there is always time for reflection. If you have accomplished a task or made major change in your professional world and you find out that the environment is still unhealthy or that it's not the place for you, there is no need to keep going. At that point, the race is over, and you can decide if you want to sign up for the next one. Be radically committed to your word and what you agree to but be wise and discerning about what's healthy.
 
So, in closing, sign up for the race. Take on the challenge. Volunteer for the task. These things are how we grow and how we craft our lives into what we want them to be. If we go through life and never push ourselves to do something more, we will always be the same. Do this with your herd, with wisdom, with motivation, and commitment, and never quit on the uphill!

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