Namibian Viking

Soon two weeks has passed since I took the final steps in the Al Andalus 250km. Looking back I must say that it was a fantastic event. If my knees and foot would have hold up I would have wanted to get out and do it again tomorrow.

Trying to summarise everything is difficult, but I have added up a few things that I have taken away from the race.

Structure your day
This was my first multi-day ultra. I had definitely benefited from a seminar Keith Evans held a few weeks before I left for Spain and Keith showed us how he would pack for Marathon des Sables. I had taken some of his advice when I packed for Spain. The ability to know exactly what to do every day when you come in after the run is really important for these races. First of all – continue to hydrate. Second – eat food so your recovery can start. Thirdly look after your feet and if you have access to showers have them and rinse your clothes. Fourth – eat more. Fifth – Get ready for next day. Sixth – get rest and sleep. And then do it all over again the next day.

To be structured and to have a plan is key to not miss important elements, time and to allow your body to recover as much as possible.

Nutrition
I was surprised how little I needed to eat during the day. I had as much as I could for breakfast, often two freeze-dried meals 90min before the race. For the race I had energy drink for the day and also quick energy in form of gummy bears, but a part from this I needed little more to get me to the end of the day. At the end of the day I once again tried to eat as much as possible before going off to bed.

“Run when you can, walk when you cant and crawl if you must”
This is a saying from Bill Bradley (on Twitter under epicbillbradley), but it is very true. It is so important to change the rhythm throughout a long race. There were times when I couldnt do anything but to walk. But then I start to run at a certain pace and when I cannot go on in that pace I can choose another way to shuffle along.

Many accounts from people running ultra events talk about them not being able to run and they are forced to walk. Then they start to run but can only manage 10 steps, and then they have to walk again. Next time they start to run and they can run for 20 steps. Continue to do this and before you know it you will be running again. A change of rhythm means so much and can pull you out of the deepest dark zone. There are times when you think that you will only be able to walk for the rest of the day, and five minutes later you are cruising along feeling great.

Ultra marathons tests your mental capacity as much as they push your physical ability.

Share your day with others
Maybe the most important lesson for me was how much easier it was when I was with other people. I have previously always tried to stay on my own and my reasoning has been that you have to go fast when you can and someone else would hold you back if they didnt feel as strong at that particular time. However at this race I shared different parts of my race with Arend, Jack, Joe, Andreas, Martine, Jeremy etc. To share the experience, the hardship, the highs and lows really helped me. It certainly spurred me on much more then being on my own. I shared stages in the race with Andreas from Germany and if someone had recorded our conversations I dont think anyone but Andreas and I would understand much. Andreas speaking German mixed up with some English, and I trying to take my Swedish and make it more like German, mixing it with French and English! Incredible that we were able to cover all the topics we did in our own, common made-up language!

Come prepared
I came down to Spain mentally prepared. However with my ITB injury I was now feeling great in my body and hence I could only walk 3 out of the 5 days. I felt so strong energy wise and in muscles, but my knees and eventually my foot really held me back. I promised myself not to come as unprepared for a race again. It was incredibly frustrated to be in an event and not able to perform at your best. Of course there will be times when you come to an event without feeling 100%, but that is different then to come to a race like the Al Andalus without having run for the past 3 months (well technically I had actually run once in the half-Ironman, and I had walked parts of the coastal path for two days)!

Mental an physical preparation is key, and to come to an event like this without being able to run is something I dont want to experience again.

I am sure I will though, knowing me

Thank you all for the comments I have got ahead of the race next week, it really helps!

Many of you have asked why am I doing this, especially with a slightly inflamed IT band in my knee.

Read the text below, and you will know why I do what I do…

Keep sending those messages through!

/Joakim

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“Peter, I’d like you to stay for a minute after class.” Calvin teaches my favorite body conditioning class at the gym.

“What’d I do?” I asked him.

“It’s what you didn’t do.”
“What didn’t I do?”

“Fail.”

“You kept me after class for not failing?”

“This,” he began to mimic my casual weight lifting style, using weights that were obviously too light, “is not going to get you anywhere. A muscle only grows if you work it till it fails. You eed to use more challenging weights. You need to fail.”

Calvin’s onto something.

Every time I ask a room of executives to list the top five moments their career took a leap forward — not just a step, but a leap — failure is always on the list. For some it was the loss of a job. For others it was a project gone bad. And for others still it was the failure of a larger system, like an economic downturn, that required them to step up.

Yet most of us spend a tremendous effort trying to avoid even the possibility of failure.

According to Dr. Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford University, we have a mindset problem. Dweck has done a tremendous amount of research to understand what makes someone give up in the face of adversity versus strive to overcome it.

It turns out the answer is deceptively simple. It’s all in your head.

If you believe that your talents are inborn or fixed, then you will try to avoid failure at all costs because failure is proof of your limitation. People with a fixed mindset like to solve the same problems over and over again. It reinforces their sense of competence.

Children with fixed mindsets would rather redo an easy jigsaw puzzle than try a harder one. Students with fixed mindsets would rather not learn new languages. CEOs with fixed mindsets will surround themselves with people who agree with them. They feel smart when they get it right.

But if you believe your talent grows with persistence and effort, then you seek failure as an opportunity to improve. People with a growth mindset feel smart when they’re learning, not when they’re flawless.

Michael Jordan, arguably the world’s best basketball player, has a growth mindset. Most successful people do. In high school he was cut from the basketball team but that obviously didn’t discourage him: “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career, I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game wining shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

If you have a growth mindset, then you use your failures to improve. If you have a fixed mindset, you may never fail, but neither do you learn or grow.
In business, we have to be discriminating about when we choose to challenge ourselves. In high risk, high leverage situations, it’s better to stay within your current capability. In lower risk situations, where the consequences of failure are less, better to push the envelope. The important point is to know that pushing the envelope, that failing, is how you learn and grow and succeed. It’s your opportunity.

Here’s the good news: you can change your success by changing your mindset. When Dweck trained children to view themselves as capable of growing their intelligence, they worked harder, more persistently, and with greater success on math problems they had previously abandoned as unsolvable.

A growth mindset is the secret to maximizing potential. Want to grow your staff? Give them tasks above their ability. They don’t think they could do it? Tell them you expect them to work at it for a while, struggle with it. That it will take more time than the tasks they’re used to doing. That you expect they’ll make some mistakes along the way. But you know they could do it.

Want to increase your own performance? Set high goals where you have a 50-70% chance of success. According to Psychologist and Harvard researcher the late David McClelland, that’s the sweet spot for high achievers. Then, when you fail half the time, figure out what you should do differently and try again. That’s practice. And according to recent studies, 10,000 hours of that kind of practice will make you an expert in anything. No matter where you start.

The next class I did with Calvin, I doubled the weight I was using. Yeah, that’s right. Unfortunately, that gave me tendonitis in my elbow, which I’m nursing with rest and ice. Sometimes you can even fail when you’re trying to fail.

Hey, I’m learning.

#####

I am doubting myself… and it doesn’t feel good… Normally ahead of a race I am filled with anticipation, race nerves and want to get going, but this time is different. My second race in my 5 event race series, a half-Ironman Triathlon starts on Sunday at 7am or so… 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and then a 21km run; and looking at my weeks leading up to the race I haven’t been able to put myself in the position I want to be.

First it was the IT-band that after Namibia kept me off the road and off the bike, and now the last 5 days I have had a deep cough and chest infection. Fortunately on the mend, so should be ok for Sunday, but still.

Benjamin Franklin said “when in doubt, don’t”, but what did he actually mean? Did he mean that one should not do it? or that one should not doubt?

Having considered this in my bike ride home tonight I think I know what to think. I know for sure that I dont want to follow up the race in Namibia with another (do I dare to write the three letters?) DNF…

I set myself a difficult task this year. It has proven that this year I have had more injuries and more illnesses then ever. Is this related. Well I will try to go out with a positive mental attitude on Sunday. We are at a beautiful venue, last year I loved the race, anticipation will fill the air and it will be a very very special feeling to walk down towards the lake again on Sunday morning… I can feel it now, race nerves start to come back! Bring on Sunday!!

I got some new health and fitness advice the other day, and I thought I should share them with you! Enjoy!!

Q:  Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A:  Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it…don’t waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually.  Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.

Q:  Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A:  You must grasp logistical efficiencies.  What does a cow eat?  Hay and corn. And what are these?  Vegetables.  So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system.  Need grain?  Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q:  Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A:   No, not at all.  Wine is made from fruit.  Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way.  Beer is also made out of grain.  Bottoms up!

Q:  How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A:  Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q:  What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A:  Can’t think of a single one, sorry.  My philosophy is:  No Pain…Good!

Q:  Aren’t fried foods bad for you?
A:  YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!!…..Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q:  Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A:  Definitely not!  When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.

Q:  Is chocolate bad for me?
A:  Are you crazy?  HELLO!  Cocoa beans!  Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around!

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?
A:  If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q:  Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A:  Hey!  ‘Round’ is a shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And remember:
‘Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ‘WOO HOO, What a Ride’

AND…..

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health.
It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Iguess I’m just lucky enough to tala svenska y hablar Espanol!

I knew something was wrong. My guide, Andrey, and his wife should only have been some 15min behind me. It had now been 30min since I last saw them and we said we would meet at the waterhole. My heart started to race, what should I do, I dont have a map of the route we should take and how should I get out of here?

I was in Naukluft National Park in Namibia and we had been hiking for the whole day. It was now less then 2h left to sunset and I had just lost my guide. I put some stones down on the ground saying “Andrey, wait here” and walked back 20min to see if I could meet him. But no sign of him.

What do I do? At least I have water and fire steel (Thank you Bear Grylls!). I started to descend quickly, at the water hole I changed the stones to say “Joakim has gone down”, should Andrey be further back, but somehow I knew this was not the case. He should have been here by now. I came to a big waterfall and started to climb down. 5m down and I felt that I was rushing into things, climbing a 20m waterfall with no ropes might not be the best idea. Am I acting rationally?  The questions kept rushing through my mind. I climbed up and got my backpack off my back. I looked through what I got: All kinds of camera equipment (great for being able to document, but not great for survival), fire steel, knife, some dried sausages, fruit, energy powder, sun screen etc. I guess the only thing I was lacking was warm clothing and a back pack. The desert gets cold at night, about 5 degrees or so but worst case I would just start a fire. Thank god for my two weeks last August with Kobus when I lit the fire every evening with only the fire steel and dried grass, and thank god for all the hours I have watched Bear Grylls!

I put my backpack back on and I found the right route to descend the waterfall and did so, after about 2hours on my own I hear a faint whistle, it has got to be Andrey and I shouted back. I found him!

Well, what could have been an even greater adventure of having to sleep rough in the national park was to an end. Together we did the last 45 min hike back to camp and I got a warm meal.

I still slept rough though. Africa’s stars, the sounds at night and the feeling that if a jackal, snake or scorpion wanted to, they could come and join my sleeping bag is just a too good opportunity to say no to. Having said that, 5 nights into my holiday and so far the only thing that has joined me were some ants (mental note to one self – always check if there is an ant trail before you put your sleeping bag down!).

Over and out form Namibia, next time you hear form me will be after the race.

Four days of grueling sun has prepared me for the heat of the mid-day during the Namibian Ultra Marathon. I have been in Namibia since Saturday and have had 2 days hiking in the mountains and 2 days in an absolutely magical place called Soussusvlei, an area with red sand dunes and the most amazing scenary.

Tomorrow I join the rest of the group and I hope that these four days have prepared me well for the challange to come.

When I have been out here my memories from last year’s race have come back. The heat of the day, the feeling that your heart is going to jump out of your chest and the inability of pushing your body like you normally can is something that will be there on Saturday. Hopefully I can control it better and my body can be slightly adjusted to the heat.

In three days I will know.

Tomorrow I go out in the desert.

Excitment and feeling scared.

I have packed my bags, prepared my race food, packed my race backpack and charged my camera batteries.

I have a peace in my body tonight that I have not had for the past ten days or so. I have past the point of no return. I stand in front of my challenge, and (knowing that some of you, Martin in particular, will now roll your eyes) I feel such presence. Maybe it is because I have been to the event before, I know what it is going to take away from me. But I also feel prepared, and I feel strong.

I made a quick balance sheet with comparison from last year:

+ I know what is waiting for me

- I know what is waiting for me and how hard it is

+ I have trained more and harder this year

- I have run less miles (but also been swimming and cycling)

+ I have done a series of tough races, more so then last year

- I just had a stomach bug, and I have some tendence problems

I think, all in all, that I stand better prepared then last year. I know how much in my head the race will be and a strong race head will see me through the race. Any weakness needs to be filtered out, because for sure, but body will look for the option to stop, many times, over and over again.

Now there is only one way to go, forwards, and until the end. I spoke with Ben today and said that I would give an arm and a leg to know that I would 100% be able to make the race. But I feel different now. The packing process has been a kind of a meditative process where I now feel at ease and I am even looking forward to the race! Sounds crazy, but it is the truth, now I cannot wait, bring the race on and take me to that start line. I know that I will make it and I will be there on the finnish line.

One day left for you to give me comments. Last year’s comments truly lifted me up at dark times, so please, keep your comments coming through, especially with small race thoughts, they will be helping me this year too!

I cannot believe my unfortune… I have been flat out in bed during the weekend. A tummy bug has put a dent in my preparations!

I guess I should be careful what I wish for, a couple of weeks ago I told some friends it would be good if I could loose a couple of kg before the race, so that I could race lighter. Well mission accomplished, but not really the way I planned it.

I am now less then two weeks away from the race and I can not eat much, and definitely not run. Well from here on it can only gets better I think… Trying to stay positive at the moment is not the easiest. I have trained harder then last year, and I am in better shape, but something like this I had not planned for. I usually feel strong and able and today when I got the tube into work I felt that even that was a struggle!

Watch this space, the race is getting close, and I am leaving on Friday!

Any tips, help or thoughts along the way are much appreciated.

You close your eyes, feel the wind on your face, cold air on your nose. Open your eyes and you see the most amazing set of stars, as many and as clear as you have ever seen before. That is what I will feel every night when I go to Namibia. Last year during the race I slept in the tent and heard the animal noises from the (relative) safety of the tent. However during my two week trek I slept outside and that is what I am now looking forward to. 

What else is there in store for me for this Namibia trip? Well most importantly there is the race of course. It is very difficult to really remember what the race is all about. When I try to remember last year’s race I can only think of good things. Yet still I have had times during my training when I have had glimpse of flash backs. One of these was yesterday when I was completely depleted of all energy and still had to keep going; another was the late night walk last month. They all add up to what are miles of experience I bring with me. 

A better way to remember last year’s race is to read my race report. When I do this and go stage by stage through the race I can remember individual moments and that makes me scared for what is in store for me. I will go to some very dark places in my mind. I will have to dig incredibly deep to even stand a chance of completing the race.

But I also have learnt things from last year. I know that my will is strong and if I am determined to do something I can do it. I know what will happen if you dont prepare properly from my failed race last year in northern England. 

I tried to balance up good and bad and came up with this list:

Good – That I know the race and what is expected of me

Bad – That I know the race, how will I react when I have been going for 8 hours, am about to collapse, and still know that I have 14-15 hours to go!

Good – I have another year of hard racing and regular physical exercise to help me

Bad – I have run less miles then I did last year

Good – The last 3 months I have pushed myself harder and trained more then last year. I have in average done 5 days a week, but I have mixed swimming, running and cycling

Bad – I know how important it is to train with a race back pack. I have told everyone going how important this is, and yet I have not done enough training with a full race back pack

Good – I will have more days to acclimatise. I will arrive on the 3 April, and the race is on the 11 April. Last year I only arrived two days before the race.

What do you think, will I make it? Do you have any tips or mind games that could help me along the way? Please keep your comments coming!

It has start to become apparent to me what I have set out to do. It has taken me 11 weeks to reach 815km (the total km I have set out to race over 5 races). It has taken me 11 weeks to cover that distance in training! During the first 11 weeks of this year I have in average been doing some form of sport  5 days per week. Is it then humanly possible to do the same distance, but over 5 days? In total I will race 9 days (The race in Andalucia is 5 days) and I will have to cover the distance it has taken me 11 weeks!

Is my race schedule to ambitious? Can I climb this mountain of kilometres?

I guess it is a good thing that my Namibia departure is only two weeks away! No turning back now, I am commited to do this and now I will go out and prove it. But it will be tough.

What are your thoughts on my race schedule? I really do appreciate your comments, so please keep them coming