Pushing Lazy

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Congratulations to my TNF100 Duo buddy, Hui Koon for completing seven loops on Sunday’s MR25 Ultra-marathon! Each lap of the Macritchie Reservoir was 10.2K of trail with slopes and uneven surface. The seasonal downpour made it challenging for the later part of the 12-hour, beat-the-clock, and do-as-many-loops-as-you-can. Each lap of this popular year-end ultra-marathon was as hyphenated as my previous sentence, for it was a 5-loop sentence you subject your body to. Five loops spell the minimum for an exclusive t-shirt. I recall earning my first ultra-marathon badge of honour from MR25 and I still value it, as it holds deep memories of my self-directed, assault of my feet.

With the persistent rain and gloomy skies, it would be so easy to succumb to the sin of sloth. We tend to make excuses to be lazy when nature decides on the collective mood of the day. When you have a plan, it makes veering from it a less than easy decision. Miss a day of training, and you may forfeit on your body’s ability to engage its resources on race-day. Train as you race, we are taught.

Steven Covey, author and perpetrator of the highly lauded ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ and ‘The Eight Habit’ proposed his time management matrix. It is based on the axes/variables of Urgent and Important. If it is not urgent and unimportant, it has to be a time-waster. Crises fall under urgent and import tasks. During a marathon, treating a mild abrasion can be not urgent and but important, as a grain of miscreant sand can cause you to suffer a painful and bloody situation down the road. Taking unduly long for a bathroom break, or spending too much time enjoying the smorgasbord of snacks during the marathon phase of an Ironman triathlon can add up into a disappointing timing for your overall race.

You can ward off unnecessary laziness by focusing on the more important tasks at hand. Even celebration need not be a passive process. Engaging in enjoyable conversation, when interest in another person is expressed builds on your relationship. Engage others. Be engaging. Learn from another: just this morning, my buddy David Chambers sent me his IMNZ 2010 preparation strategy (he posted a sub-12-hour completion). He was stoked thinking about my mild question, whereby he spent the whole night writing out his pre-race and post-race thoughts for me. Thanks, mate!

Leadership Lessons: How do you deal with your procrastination? How much time do you waste each day? How much do you squeeze out of your waking hours? How do you push your laziness away? When is being lazy vital to your well-being? How much time do you put aside to learn? Make first things, first.