Change the storyline in your mind [NQM031]

“In the past, I viewed the pain cave as a place I wanted to put off for as long as possible. In a race, I wanted to place my pain cave as far away from me as I could, and once I arrived to it, I wanted to just sit in it and try to survive it. Over the last few years, I learned that it is just a mindset, it is all in our heads. I started to believe it is the place I want to get to. I changed it to a place I wanted to get to and celebrate that I made it there, since that is where the work actually happens. I view it as making the pain cave bigger instead of trying to avoid it and pushing it away. Our minds are so powerful, so even something simple as changing the story line about a place that hurts so bad, makes it a whole different game. Once I get to the pain cave, I visualize making it bigger. I get out a chisel and create more space, and more tunnels, in my brain. Visualizing makes it visceral.” - Courtney Dauwalter

One of the (many) great things about ultra running is that it is a type of sport that can be dominated by both men and women, especially the longer the race goes. Given the same course difficulty and weather conditions, it is often a toss-up whether a man or woman will win the overall race. One of the greatest ultra runners of all time is Courtney Dauwalter. She has set numerous outright course records, and won the 2017 Moab 240 mile race ahead of second place Sean Nakamura (an accomplished ultra runner in his own right), by more than 10 hours (!). She emphasizes a unique mental approach to her big efforts, one that we can all learn something from to push ourselves in every day life, no matter how big or small the challenge.

The depths to which one has to dig to even complete a 200+ mile race, let along compete for first place, is perfectly documented in the 2018 Tahoe 200, where Courtney had the lead for much of the race until being overtaken by Kyle Curtin in the last quarter, still managing to finish over 10 hours ahead of 3rd place.

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I watched this documentary on my cross-country flight the day before my first 10 mile open water swim attempt, and I learned a lot from her mental approach to massive efforts. Courtney has been on a number of podcasts including Joe Rogan, Training for Ultra, Running for Real (R4R), Bare Performance Podcast, and the Rich Roll podcast to share some of her lessons learned. A few highlights below:

On how to view the pain cave:  In the past, I viewed the pain cave as a place I wanted to put off for as long as possible. In a race, I wanted to place my paincave as far away from me as I could, and once I arrived to it, I wanted to just sit in it and try to survive it. Over the last few years, I learned that it is just a mindset, it is all in our heads. I started to believe it is the place I want to get to. I changed it to a place I wanted to get to and celebrate that I made it there, since that is where the work actually happens. I view it as making the pain cave bigger instead of trying to avoid it and pushing it away. Our minds are so powerful, so even something simple as changing the story line about a place that hurts so bad, makes it a whole different game. Once I get to the pain cave, I visualize making it bigger. I get out a chisel and create more space, and more tunnels, in my brain. Visualizing makes it visceral.

On our own perceived limits: People are selling themselves short and setting their bars to low of what they could actually do if they went all in on something. Whatever they are psyched about, to see what happens if they invest just a little bit more time and energy into it. Our minds are so powerful, even just changing the storyline makes it a whole different game.

Understanding the power of positivity: What you project out matters. You hear it in your head, but once you say it out loud it can make a huge difference. It makes it more real. I tell my crew to not ask me how it is going during a race. Because if it is going bad I don’t need to tell you that. If it is going good, I don’t need to say that either, lets just carry forward. It does nothing for me to tell you how bad my legs are hurting.

The role of psychological endurance: As the distance increases, the difference between men & women does diminish, because the longer the distance, to more it plays out in your head. It is about persistence and problem solving and some stubbornness. It becomes a battle of will as much as anything else.

Building real-life experience through ultra-running: The longer the race format, the more problems will pop up that you have to solve. That problem solving aspect results in a tremendous amount of experience. You end up having this filing cabinet in your brain that holds all the possible cases that have gone wrong along with a solution. This can help you not only for future races but also for everyday life. The exact same problem may never show up again, but you build this foundation of capability that can be used across almost any type of problem that may show up in the future. It also provides a baseline for what you have been able to accomplish in the past in times where the going gets tough.

On always moving the goal post: I thought I would never finish my first marathon, but when I actually did, it flipped a switch that asked myself: “If I was able to do this, what else is there that sounds too hard that I could try”. I tried a tough mudder then, and then stumbled upon these races that were just a smidge longer than a road marathon. When I signed up for my first 50K, I wanted to see if that extra 5 miles would kill me. And then it didn’t. I try to keep emotions out of the equation and just focus on the facts. Then I focus only on the things I can control.

On the next chapter: This chapter in my life will not go on forever, it will come to an end. I am doing everything in my control to keep an open mind and to learn new things, so that when I flip to the next chapter, I can be just as excited about that one as I am about the current one