Taking Souls

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Taking Souls

How does this relate to farming? It does, I promise.

I ran my first Ultra marathon last weekend. 50 kilometers (31.07 miles for the American non-runners).

How did I end up there? Last year I ran my first marathon and it went okay, so why not a few more miles, right? Never mind getting a few marathons under my belt or improving my time. After I checked off the challenge it was time for something to push me in a different way.

Ultra running has become my 5th hobby of sorts over the past 6 months (after parenting, lending, farming, and Farm640). I’m very grateful I gave it the attention I did, because it was nothing like any other race I have competed in before, even if it is only 5 miles further than a marathon.

Preparation

I have run over 350 miles over the past 6 months in training for the event.
My nutrition has changed to keep energy levels up and my body from falling apart.
I’m working with a life/business coach.
The equipment I use to run, especially over the winter months, has completely changed. Having the right tools for the job continues to prove to be a gamechanger.

Even with all those improvements, the wheels still fell off during the race.

The Race

Here is how it happened (and how it relates to farming):

Miles 1-2: I forced myself to go slow during a warming up period=11:00/mile pace

Miles 3-7: It took a while to find a running groove, pace bounced all over the place=10:30-10:50/mile pace

Miles 8-12: Really smooth running. Locked into a steady pace=10:41/mile pace

Miles 13-17: Some fatigue setting in. Motivation to keep going was knowing my kids were waiting for me at miles 14 & 17=10:35/mile pace

Miles 18-22: Often the most dangerous portion of the race, the 3rd quarter. Runners frequently see their times fall off as focus is lost and fatigue sets in. At this point I was feeling great! I was approaching the marathon pace I had run the year prior when I corked off sub 10:00/miles for the last 6 miles. I picked up the speed with the hopes of a top 10 finish and sub 5 hour, 30 minute 50k Ultra. I begin passing runners that are falling off=10:20-10:30 pace

The Fall

Mile 23 (8 miles to go): A lot of things started to happen around here (for the record, this is where my memory gets slightly blurry around what was going on). In no particular order:

· I came to the last aid station where my running crew (family) is waiting for me. They asked me what I needed, and I mentioned I had no clue. My wife would tell me after the race the water I handed her to swap out was nearly full and my running gait had changed.

· I couldn’t stomach any more nutrients and was 100% sick of consuming electrolytes.

· Tendonitis started to flare up in my right knee, something I have never experienced before.

· I left that aid station in a hurry because I had two runners in front of me I could finally see had started to walk (one in yellow, the other in blue), and I was going to pass them. I told my wife, “I’ve been chasing yellow for 20 miles”.

· I stopped checking my pace. Pace no longer mattered, just getting to the finish line before yellow and blue.

Mile 24 (7 miles to go): Tendonitis fully sets in. I can barely run 400 yards without having to slow to a walk until the pain subsides. Up to this point it is the first time I have ever walked in a race (outside of aid stations). 7 miles left & 90 minutes ahead of you is a seems like climbing a mountain after you are 24 miles in. I started chanting the mantra, ‘You don’t lose’ with every stride as I inch towards yellow.

Mile 25 (6 miles to go): 400 yards is way too far to run without pain flaring up. Instead, you pick a tree 75 yards ahead of you and run to that tree. You aren’t allowed to walk until you get to that tree. Then you have permission (from myself) to walk 15 meters before you find your next tree.

Mile 26 (5 miles to go): I pass yellow with my tree strategy. Blue is nowhere in sight.

Mile 27 (4 miles to go): Last water “aid” station. Away from the back of a pickup, getting aid, comes a hobbling runner wearing blue. This isn’t the blue runner I had been chasing, but he is in blue. New target acquired. He is 75 yards ahead of me and I have 4 miles to catch him.

Okay, at this point you might be laughing at me. 75 yards?! Just go catch the guy. Let me make this clear. Watching a few middle of the pack runners at the end of an Ultra race must be duller than watching paint dry. We were waddling all over the place. It would have been the equivalent of seeing if your 85 year old grandma in a walker can close a 1-mile gap on your 90 year old grandpa in a walker. It felt impossible for me.

Taking Souls

If blue could have widened that gap by 20 yards, I would have given up.

I was slowing to a walk 3 times for every time blue slowed for a walk, but I was still gaining due to shorter walks and a faster ‘run’. It was at this point I adopted a new mantra, ‘capture his soul’.

If you aren’t familiar with ‘taking souls’, it comes from David Goggins’ book “Can’t Hurt Me”. Here is a brief summary:

Pushing Beyond Limits:

Goggins uses "taking souls" to describe the act of pushing oneself beyond what is considered physically and mentally possible. He believes that the human mind often sets artificial boundaries, and by challenging those boundaries, individuals can achieve remarkable feats.

Taking Souls as a Mental Game:

Goggins often talks about the mental aspect of overcoming challenges, emphasizing that the mind often gives up before the body does. "Taking souls" becomes a way to rewire the mind to persevere and not give up.

Let me stress that again, the mind often gives up before the body does. In ‘taking souls’, if you obliterate someone mentally, you can defeat them physically. I started the process of taking blue’s soul.

Mile 28 (3 miles to go): Blue knows I am behind me. Every once in a while, he would look back. I would NOT let him catch me walking. Oh, I would sneak walks in, but if he started to look back I would be running. Every time he looks back, I would close the gap.

Mile 29 (2 miles to go): Blue takes a longer walk. I forget my tree picking technique and get close enough for him to hear my shoes on the gravel. It is way past time for me to walk with my leg throbbing. I slow for 2 steps and know I can’t take his soul that way. Running again. I pass blue and make sure I run the next 500 yards regardless of the pain. That is how you take a soul.

Mile 30 (1 mile to go): Running near some trees and curves, I put enough distance between us that blue cannot see me. If I am out of sight, there is no way he will have the will power to chase me down.

Mile 31.07. 5:48:34. Done. This was good enough for 11th place. 1 minute, 41 seconds ahead of blue. 10 minutes, 50 seconds ahead of yellow. Souls taken.

Conclusion

How does this relate to farming? I’ll give you two ways:

1. You can plan for everything. You can be as prepared as you will ever be. However, if you aren’t mentally strong enough to take on the challenge when everything falls apart and things aren’t going well, it won’t matter how much you planned. Sometimes getting through a tough day, week, or season on the farm just takes guts.

2. Auctions! I have believed in the ‘taking souls’ strategy at land auctions before I read about it in a book. What does that mean? I deploy the 3 Mississippi strategy when bidding. When someone places a counter offer to outbid you, place your next bid within 3 seconds (counting to 3 Mississippi). The confidence of a quick bid makes it appear to other bidders that you aren’t even close to your top bid and can go way higher. Too often individuals check their phone, run numbers, ask for a break, or don’t bid until they are begged to. Obviously, the stress of the situation and potential financial burden has them worried. You know your top bid. Place it with confidence and take their soul.

P.S. If the realtor starts raising the amount per bid (say from $100/a to $250/a) due to the quick bids, or if the total purchase price has risen too rapidly after around 5-7 ‘taking souls’ bids, I prefer to take a break. Let the realtor slow down and make your opponent process how high the bid has gotten. Once you are ready to begin again, keep taking those souls.

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