Here’s Why You Need A Robust Support Crew During Your Endurance Challenge
As I revisited my Everesting experience, I was reminded of a Thirkural (two-line poem in Tamil) which goes:
செவுக்குண வில்லாத போழ்து சிறிது
வயிற்றுக்கும் ஈயப் படும்.
The meaning of this poem is: “The most important wealth is the wisdom that one attains by asking questions and listening. When we stop listening, the food for your soul is reduced and only then would there be a need to feed the stomach.”
It is natural to wonder what is the connection. We spend a lot of time exploring the nutrition and hydration to be had before, during and after an endurance event. Where possible, the right food and drinks are kept at aid stations and we follow a routine. This is important and many times is the difference between a PB (Personal best) and DNF (Did not Finish).
However, we spend very little or no time in determining what thoughts are to be fed to us. What assertions are we going to make? Who are part of the support crew? What should they talk to you? In essence what do you feed your ears? And what would be your response to such external stimuli?
On my first marathon, around the 30km mark, I was very tired and running through a small village. An 8-year-old boy started running with me and asked me why I was running? In fact, I was asking the same question myself, albeit punctuated with some expletives. This phase only seemed to increase the suffering and made my legs even heavier as I had never thought why I wanted to do this marathon.
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I had learnt from this experience and knew that this question would arise during my Everesting. Since I was doing it to raise funds for a cycling academy, I had memorized the names and faces of some of the kids who would benefit from my ride. Even during the practice rides, I would visualize their faces and utter their names to draw energy. My Everesting ride lasted five times the duration of my first marathon. What should have been tougher was made easier by this practice.
The ‘why’ for doing an event is very important as that can be the fuel to your mind to get over the tough hills. Take time to decide your support crew, and speak to them on how they can motivate you or rather talk only things that will motivate you. The support crew should be the stakeholders in the answer to, “Why are you doing what you are doing?”. They should not be an afterthought.
A common marathon practice is to have friends and family along the route shouting your name, holding placards and encouraging you. This is the reason why teams playing at home have an advantage over their rivals.
Let your nutrition plan include food for your ears. Control this feed with careful thought and build a team to deliver this. This might be the fuel to boost your next ride or run. Enjoy.
