Making the best of mistakes reaps rewards
Let’s face it: how often does everything go just as you’d expect? Life ain’t like that, is it? A smooth, totally-predictable ride on the old roller coaster of the day-to-day grind is just a dream, right? That’s often the way with running, too.
I’ve been in plenty of races where my ideas of how it would unfold have disappeared faster than a gulp of water at an aid station.
And it happens to the superstars too. Jeff Browning is one of the best mountain trail runners in the world. Last year, he out-paced everyone who had turned up at Hardrock, a
160 kilometre United States race that has exalted status among trail runners globally. It’s just one of a clutch of outstanding results in his career. So, he’s damn good at this running lark.
This month, he was in New Zealand for a race that is fast becoming famous worldwide, too, the Tarawera Ultra’s stunning journey through the central North Island, starting and finishing in Rotorua.
It’s become a big deal. Browning was one of the favourites and, so, off he set, with expectations about how his day would go. And those expectations were dead wrong.
Just 26km into his 160km day, Browning took a wrong turn and went on a 7km loop instead of staying on the course. His main competitor, the incredible Camille Herron, who recently set records for 100 miles and 24 hours, got a 40-minute jump on him.
Now, understandably, Browning was pretty darned annoyed (he may not have used those exact words…)
After all, giving up 40 minutes to a phenomenal competitor like Herron, a woman who is helping re-write ultra running’s story, could well have been the end of his day.
‘‘I was p***ed at myself for being an idiot,’’ Browning told me and co-host Matt Rayment on the Dirt Church Radio podcast this week. ‘‘I couldn’t believe I just did that because the course was marked but I didn’t take the time to look at the signs real well.’’
But rather than let that mistake define his race, Browning made a crucial decision: he calmed down and figured out that, ‘‘OK, it’s a long way, you’ve got a lot of miles to make it up’’.
And, in the end, Browning’s mistake, and his reaction to it, may have made the difference for him.
‘‘Sometimes those weird scenarios are a blessing in disguise because it ends up making you push way harder than you would have.’’
He ended up winning the race in course record time, having eventually caught Herron about 30km from the finish. She came second overall – an extraordinary performance, that earned her a course record, too.
There are plenty of lessons in what unfolded at Tarawera, of how it pays to be calm in the face of adversity, and deal with what’s in front of you, not dwell on what has happened.
Also on the podcast this week was trail runner and mindfulness proponent Kelton Wright, editorial director of movement and sport for Headspace, the mindfulness and meditation app. Wright says that on the trails she often feels at one with nature and her body.
‘‘But other times I’m going up a climb and it’s humid and my heart rate feels higher than it’s supposed to and I get in my head again. And I have all these
racing thoughts about, ‘Oh, did I eat right? Did I sleep enough? What’s causing this?’ ’’
For Wright, the answer has been meditation, a practice that gives her ‘‘the ability to stop that onslaught of thoughts’’.
It’s important to find whatever tools you need to be able to take control when things go wrong – because you can guarantee that, sooner or later, they will. The trick is how you deal with it. Eugene Bingham and Matt Rayment are hosts of a trail running podcast Dirt Church Radio. Learn more at dirtchurchradio.com or get in touch via email dirtchurchradio@gmail.com
‘‘Sometimes those weird scenarios are a blessing in disguise because it ends up making you push way harder than you would have.’’
Jeff Browning