Rob Mackay :: Notes from the edge

Sean Fleming  (Kicker, Edmonton Eskies) retired yesterday to move on to a job at Price WaterhouseCoopers.

I played football at Vancouver College with Sean in high school and then he went to the University of Wyoming and I went to Colorado State U (both in the same conference at the time). While I crashed and burned, he managed to hang in and get drafted by the Eskimos. I have a ton of respect for him, knowing who he was and the tremendous amount of pressure that exists at that level of sport.

He has had a remarkable career at Edmonton. 16 years. Amazing.

Physical looks are so deceiving.

I found out the age of someone I work with (looks 45, actually 35) today and I almost fell over because she is a Director. Me, it’s the other way around - let me qualify that statement by emphasizing that it’s more often behaviour based.

In any case, we work together and she seems older but now I can see that she is playing the part. I have another friend who is the same age and when we get together it’s like having a coffee with Paul Martin, sans BS.

 It started me thinking about young CEO’s running large organizations in the US. I checked Forbes site and I found the CEO of Gymboree is 33. Amazing. They are a multi-million dollar company. The next quote is brilliant though, (it’s only missing the “Dude,…”) “I love to riff and bounce ideas off of people. Regardless of what their function is, [Gymboree’s employees] are all talented, bright people,” Matthew McCauley

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have C-level career goals but as a Sage once told me, “Act the part and you will be successful”.

If we have to eventually account for ‘what we did’ while stumbling through life, I’m doomed.  I’ve probably spent a considerable amount of time in my 30’s reading. Magazines, books, and blogs. The amount of knowledge I don’t know, and don’t know that I don’t know is overwhelming and I am in a constant place of trying to catch up, having spent most of my pre-30’s life in a blissed state of ignorance.

Is it better to be an SME? (Subject Matter Expert) Is it better to be a generalist? I’m not sure. SME’s, I find, lack personality BUT I am envious of the depth of their knowledge.  I seem to fall in the generalist basket - the people there are more interesting.

Here are a few online sources of writing I find worth visiting;

Gaping Void - Sharp, edgy and smart marketing.

Chris Kelsall - Chris has a talent for blog writing.

Scott Dunlap - Great interviews, great trail stuff.

I’ve mentioned her before but Jarhead sent me results on the North Face Endurance 50 miler held last week and she not only came in as the top female but she came 3rd overall beating the likes of Andy Nicol and Ryne Melcher (two well respected ultras).

Why?

1. She trains hard and smart.

2. She is one of toughest ultra runners out there (men and women) on the mental aspect of the game - a unique gift because ultras are all about the mind.

3. If you’ve met her you’ve experienced her quiet confidence. Unshakable.

I can’t believe she isn’t 100% sponsored.

Jarhead sent me an interesting fact yesterday - to run the WS100 under 24 hours you’d need to run 9min/kms.

To make the top 10 in most races over 50 miles (in BC) you need to be averaging 6min/kms.

You can see that speed isn’t a factor. Maintaining a consistent output is.

So, the question remains, how do you train to get into the top 10 of, let’s say, a 50 miler?  Run more miles on similar terrain without overtraining, taper properly and on race day, set the pace and stick to it.

Adolescent righteousness is a curse. With youth comes the perception that the world is black/white, right/wrong, left/right, and so on. Leading psychologists/leadership experts and other self-proclaimed human performance pundits believe that as we age, we start to see the nuances in life. This leads to a more balanced view on things and I believe a more, not less, stressful existence.

Get on with it.

In recent years I have begun to change my stance on monetary success - but not for the reasons you may think. Success soley in the world of ‘money’ is hollow in the same way success the world of ‘ultras’ is hollow. It’s success albeit narrowly defined.

In the current ‘grab-what-you-can’ culture, of which I am as guilty as anyone else in participating, we rarely define success by anything other than the ‘$’ symbol. The tragedy is that a singular focus, such as making a million dollars several times over, is maximizing only 1 aspect of your human existence.

Want to know who impresses me?

From the ultra world - Dean Karnazes. (Business savvy, physical prowess, good speaker, responds to email from the common Joe - responded to mine, Dad, etc)

Hammer him if you want but he is someone who from the outside looks as though he is striving for excellence in every aspect. (I’m sure he doesn’t see it that way)

Hierarchy exists even in the laid-back, cordial ultra world. It seems that when you progress to run your first ultra you come in as a ‘pacer’ - unless you have a hidden talent for long distance.  Most remain pacers for their entire ultrarunning career.

I’m not sure where the threshold starts/stops to be considered a ‘Racer’. Maybe it’s a year of top 10 finishes or winning an event. In any case, promotion comes from within the community, not by self-declaration.

Even calling yourself an ‘Ultramarathoner’ raises hackles of those who have gone before you an actually run a 100 miler under 24 hours.

For now, I’m a pacer.

I listened to the Endurance radio interview with Scott Jurek yesterday. Very interesting. From the interview I learned:

- When he trains, he trains very hard (4 miles uphill with 3300ft elevation gain!).

- When he recovers, he recovers very hard (2 runs per week at 45-70 minutes, granny slow)

- He doesn’t directly attribute his ultra success to vegan-ism.

- He is a far better runner than Dean Karnazes but seemed baffled as to why Dean get’s all the press. (The reason? Karnazes is a better marketer (and probably more marketable with his Hollywood looks.)

- He is EXTREMELY competitive.

I saw him at Chuckanut 2 years ago volunteering. Intimidating to say the least.

I was chatting with someone today about the lack of an ultra scene here in Victoria (and on the Island). It’s true, there are only a handful of people who actively run ultras. Thankfully this means that I’m mid-pack in most races, not back of the pack.

We have a ton of elite athletes here on the Island that dabble in ultras. Here is a top 4 list of people (Island folk) I hope never decide to seriously take up ultras and a #5 who is underrated as an ultra runner. If they take it on full time, we’re all doomed.

1. Nik Southwell-  Here is a guy who is made for very long trail running - his legs are like tree trunks. He won the Death Race (125km) a few years ago and was on to shatter the course record. Apparently to train for it he ran up and down Mt. Findlayson…10 times. He smoked Elk/Beaver this year as well. I know the money sport is marathoning so his sights are set but if he ever drifts back to ultras, I think he’d be one of the best in Canada.

2 . Peter Reid - I have a theory that triathletes are overall better conditioned for ultras than ultra runners. (I don’t have any scientific proof). I’ve run with tri’s that use long ultras for training and at Haney to Harrison I met 3 that didn’t train specifically for the race, just added it in to their calendar. Obviously Peter Reed is strong and rangy - like Scott Jurek.  He knows how to train and I bet he could just pick up and run.

3. Lucy Smith - From her site…‘She is a versatile competitor having achieved success over a range of events from 5000m on the track to the Ironman distance in triathlon.’No kidding. She also has a classic ultra body type and has the experience (she is in her 40’s) to train without overtraining. Also, her partner Lance Watson is probably one of the best endurance coaches in Canada.

4. Brendan Brazier- If you’ve been to any health food section of a Thrifty’s store, you’ve seen his VEGA product line. Like another great ultramarathoner, Dom Repta, Brendan is a vegan. Like Dom, he is also very fast over a long way. Actually, he has a very similar body type to Dom. Anyway, he is another triathlete who has proven himself at the ultra distance and would be formidable if he focused soley on long ultras.

AND

#5 Rob Fontaine- Rob is from Campbell River and typically comes in a top 5 in any ultra he enters. He still holds the course record for the Death Race. It’s disheartening to meet him at the start line because all you see is his back after the gun goes but he’s a nice guy so it’s not so bad! He is the one guy I think who could run in the Marathon Des Sables or Gobi desert race and win it. The reason: He is tall and lean but strong. Tall and lean enable heat to dissipate - key for taking the heat from the core and bringing it to the surface.

Any others that I am missing?

If you ever need to qualify ‘excellence’ take subsequent flights on <insert airline here - except AEROFLOT> and Air Canada. I’ll use Thai Airways as my example:

Thai Airways:

• On time
• 10 members of the cabin crew
• Constantly smiling
• Responding to your ‘needs’…before you think
• Displaying video ‘flight tracker’
• Food that actually tastes good

Air Canada:

• Delayed, cancelled and late - Actually, total chaos at the Gate….
• 3 Members of Cabin crew
• Constantly smiling (through clenched teeth)
• Responding to your ‘needs’…with a sigh
• Displaying CBC news..
• Food that has been overcooked (twice)

Air Canada is an easy target. Mea Culpa.

The question is “Why?” and a couple of ideas came to mind;

1) Labour costs are cheap in Asia.

2) Being a flight attendant in Thailand is probably a great job and respected profession. Anyone can chime in here.

3) The distance between poverty and wealth in Asia is visible. Walk down any street in KL, Bangkok, Beijing…People are happy to have work.

And on the Canadian side;

1) Labour costs are 90% of a typical P&L statement.

2) Being a flight attendant is a thankless (and soul-destroying) job. Being a bit dramatic here…

3) Most of us lead pretty fat lives in this country and lack the ‘fear’ edge of failing into poverty because we don’t see it - unless we are watching a World Vision commercial.

What is the fundamental reason, though?

Accountability is at the forefront.

A friend recently mentioned to me that he has a ‘tough but fair’ boss - someone who keeps him on his heels. Normally, my friend wouldn’t stand for it. In this case, he realized that his boss was actually 1) keeping him honest, 2) keeping him accountable, and 3) stretching him. If there is fairness in the mix, it’s not such a bad thing.