A few days ago I checked off one of the items on my lifelist by completing a 30 mile mountain ultramarathon (BC’s ‘Kneeknacker’) with 8,000 feet of elevation gain and 8,000 feet of elevation loss.
But instead of doing it in the summer we decided to do it on the shortest day of the year. Without support. In the snow.
We started with headlamps in the rain before dawn, and finished with headlamps in the rain shortly before midnight.
The picture at the bottom of this post is from a couple of hours into the trek, halfway up the big climb to the first peak.
The whole thing took 16 3/4 hours to complete. My legs and feet were absolutely trashed by the end, and 2 days later it still hurts to get out of a chair or go up and down stairs. But I’m still glowing!
How on earth does this relate to BJJ? Well, I honestly believe that without the years of training in BJJ and other martial arts I wouldn’t have been able to complete it.
By going to class, training, and intentionally suffering in small increments you’re building the mental toughness that you then draw on when it’s time for the big push. And that big push can be in any area of your life because mental toughness is transferrable.
If BJJ training helped me complete the 30 mile mountain race then it can help you land that dream job, complete that big project, get through a health crisis, finish your degree, take care of your family, or any number of other big challenges.
Train hard on the mats – there’s a huge carryover effect to the rest of your life!!
Take care
Stephan Kesting
