7/15 Mental Toughness Thursday

Micah at the end of lap 15 of his endurance adventure of the steep side of the M. James completed 5 laps with him and I joined him for 2.

Facing Down The Unknown 

Greg Mallory, the first person to attempt to climb Mount Everest was once asked, "Why did you want to climb Mount Everest?" Mallory retorted, "Because it's there",
Micah embodied Mallory's spirit on Sunday as he attempted to hike the steep side of the M 20 times. Micah is no stranger to hard work, endurance, and difficult things. He spent 5 years in the Marine Corps as a Radio Reconnaissance Operator. He hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail in less than 4 months. Last summer he completed one lap of the steep side of the M every hour on the hour for 12 hours.
This 20 lap test of his endurance had been treading in the deep waters of his primal brain for some time. 
He told me and Nick has was going to do it on Friday. Not much time to plan and not much time to do anything but just to go do it. 
He started on Sunday at just past 5am. Nanook and I met him at the top of his third lap at 7am. He was fresh and excited, eager to lean into the unknown. James joined him about 10am and completed laps 8, 9, & 10 with him. Once he completed 10 laps he took a break and we had a chance to chat about why he was doing this. 
​Micah is open and honest about his mental health journey. Doing hard endurance events helps him validate his mental toughness. Endurance is more than physical effort and he is not afraid to confront the places most of us want to shut out. Darkness doesn't scare him and he is drawn towards hard physical events because they prove to him that he is who he thinks he is. He is tough both physically and mentally. 
After a short break he was back at it. "Oops I did it again" by Brittany Spears played over and over in his brain as he kept his pace of 20 mins to the top. Bargaining for "just one more lap" began at lap 12. James finished laps 14 and 16 with him. I joined him for lap 15 and I was sure he was going to call it at the end. The downhills were torturous and he was hobbling more than walking. But, like I said, Micah is tough. He also created momentum and that drove him to continue.
Nick joined us for lap 17 and that's when I saw Micah make the smartest decision.  After 15 hours and 17 laps he had pulled back the layers to reveal what he needed to see in himself. He called the effort good and we descended with him. It was a beautiful moment.

Nick and MIcah at the top of lap 17

Micah and me at the top of lap 17

Micah is a realist and also very pragmatic about his effort. It was successful. He did what he set out to do, which was to learn about his mental toughness. For Micah it's more than just being hardcore. Mental toughness includes emotional intelligence and adaptability. It also includes knowing versus doing or what he calls theory vs. execution. You can think you can do something but, can you actually do it? You'll never know until you try and the best reason to climb the mountain is because it's there.