A Letter from Chris Suarez
ON THE NIGHT AFTER THE MARATHON
One of the hardest things to do in life is to acknowledge, admit, or talk about failure publicly. Presidential concession speeches are the shortest speeches, most often just acknowledging the other candidates win and avoiding the topic of personal loss. Press conferences after the championship game are remarkably short after a loss. Again, mostly acknowledging how surprisingly well the other team played.
Well the night after the marathon for me was remarkably different. I sent a short note to my partners - many of whom were tracking the race at home. I started with a simple statement:
“I had the worst competitive run of my life today.”
That was the plain truth. I had some time - and by “some time” I mean an extra two hours during the race - to think about what I learned through failure and thought I’d share those lessons with you today. Of course, as I think through them on the running front, I have applied business lessons to each for us to take with us into 2023
Lesson 1: Failure should never be a surprise.
Failure shows up after a series of poor decisions or unaccounted for circumstances. As I reflected on the race after the finish line, I found myself finding multiple instances before and during the race where I made poor decisions. I own that and regret not noticing or adjusting in the moment. Although I may have been initially surprised when things started going wrong, with even the slightest reflection, I can not be surprised I had a failed race. I’ll recount many of those poor decisions here.
Application: It’s never just one decision that will lead to a failed month or failed quarter or failed year in business. After the race, a good friend told me that in aviation when a plane crashes, on average there were a combined 7 poor decisions, equipment issues, or circumstantial challenges the pilot had to deal with. It’s never one thing. Look for those decisions and mistakes along the way and correct quickly before another gets added to your list. If you find yourself in a place of failure, go back and uncover what led up to it, in lieu of looking for one thing to blame.
Lesson 2: Over-indexing on confidence and optimism leads to sure failure.
It’s important in any competition to not over-index in either confidence or optimism. I am not a great cold weather runner due to exercise induced asthma. The thought of a marathon on November 6th in New York definitely had me concerned. When I heard that the weather was to be in the low 70’s and overcast, I was grateful for the perfect day to run. It gave me renewed confidence in my ability to have a great race day and spurred my optimism in my physical capacity to perform. Adrenaline played a role in driving optimism and confidence as well. I was so sure I would finish as planned, I had set up a zoom call for 45 minutes after my expected ending time.
I started the race running 7 minute miles - even running mile three in 6 minutes and 50 seconds. This was not abnormally fast for me, as I had trained to hit a certain number of 7 minute miles and then pull back to 8 minute miles which would provide some strong relief. However, I felt great and kept pushing that pace. It was too fast, especially given what was to come. It drained some energy that I am certain would have been better used later in the race when I hit some unexpected challenges.
Application: To be successful in any business we have to be both confident and optimistic. But either of those two without a filter of current reality is deadly. We can’t continue charging ahead with our plan as the market changes, the environment changes, the competition changes, or the consumer changes. There will be many “game-time” decisions to make in 2023. Be flexible and add a dose of reality to your confidence this year.
Lesson 3: Not all that glitters is gold.
A month before the race I needed to get a new pair of running shoes. I had put hundreds of miles on my training shoes, loved them, had performed well in them, and planned to get to the running store and just get a new pair of the same brand and style of my go-to shoe. Life happens and I didn’t make that a priority. Although I kept telling myself to get to the store to get the shoes, I kept putting it off for other seemingly more important things. Finally, ten days before the race I ran into the store. The salesman convinced me that the shoes I had been training in were not great racing shoes. And so I switched from my On Clouds to some fancy carbon Hokas. I was told if I wanted to run for speed I should definitely consider running in the Hokas. So opted to make the change. I was assured if I could get 30-35 miles on those shoes before race day I’d be fine. Rookie mistake #1. As I think back now, I had already told myself I was going to be happy with any time. I was hitting practice runs of 18 and 20 miles well faster than I thought I’d be able to ever run my first marathon in over 16 years. So why did I get lured by a shoe that potentially would cut some time off my mile? Why take a chance on something that promised to shave off a few seconds, when those few seconds weren’t consequential to the goal I had set for myself?
That new shoe resulted in some foot problems during the race that led to bleeding just 7 miles into the race. What started with my left foot led to my right foot. My fancy white Hoka was red by mile 10, a sign I had lost way too much blood. But still I ran through it. I was pacing at a personal best even through the first half of the race.
Application: If you have a successful business today, don’t be fooled by glitter that doesn’t turn into gold. There are always promises of sources of new business, new fancy marketing programs, someone to sell you something, new lead sources that magically hand you buyers or sellers, or new products that are sure to make the phone ring. Keep focused on your core business. Don’t get distracted by the glitter.
Lesson 4: When it’s time to perform, it’s too late to practice.
You can never put in too much practice. Sure at a certain time too close to race day you may be over-preparing and risking injury. But done at the right time, you can never prepare too much. In my circumstance I believed I was ready and prepared for this race. I had put in literally hundreds of miles of training - following a very specific schedule. I flew out to New York 4 weeks before the race and ran 21 miles of the actual course - at 7 minute 45 second miles - faster than my target pace. Although I had put in some practice, I had failed to prepare with changed circumstances in mind. I had failed to prepare in warmer temperatures, in higher humidity. I had failed to prepare with the same diet I expected to use pre-race and during the race. By mile 4 I had sweat completely through my shirt and shorts. I had previously run 10 and 15 and 20 miles without sweating nearly as much. I noticed it in the moment, however I didn’t adjust. I hadn’t run that play. I hadn’t practiced that. I hadn’t scripted through that in my mind. So, I didn’t think twice about it and just kept running my old script. I didn’t have the foresight to realize I was going to rob my body of almost all minerals. Based on that, by mile 14 my legs began seizing up. Every leg muscle began to cramp, leaving me physically incapable of running. Every step I was dragging either leg forward. I started to drink Gatorade - again a rookie mistake. I felt I needed to drink it out of necessity. I hadn’t put any sugar in my body for over 19 months prior to that and my body rejected it. I had not practiced that. For the entire rest of the race I was throwing up 2 or three times every mile. Lack of preparation for alternative situations led to a miserably failed performance.
Application: We often think that once we know how to do something, we are good. We can go out and get on the phone, knock on the door, sit in front of the prospect. We stop role playing and practicing. It’s that practicing that allows us to pivot and call the right audibles in the moment. I had crafted too many perfect training environments either on my Tread or outside on perfect running days. I didn’t account for the environmental change. I didn’t practice how to overcome unique objections. On the phone, and on the appointment, it’s too late to practice.
Lesson 5: Don’t throw away failure.
There was one moment between mile 18 and 19 that I remember asking myself briefly if I should call it. This was not my race. I was not running a marathon. It was very clear to me that I had walked the previous 3 miles and would need to walk the remaining 7. At that point a policeman had already asked me to step out and get some medical help. I was clearly in pain, not able to walk in a straight line, and had some signs of dehydration. But I reminded myself that I had already promised I was going to disconnect from my time to finish. If I was being congruent with that statement, the only thing I had to do was to take every step for the next 7 miles and think about this failure on my way to the finish line. Some may challenge that mindset. But it was healthy for me. At this point I could already see where I went wrong. I could already see the mistakes that I made. Not all of them were clear to me at that moment, but enough of them were that I told myself that I was going to take every step it required to finish this race and walk thru this failure. Every runner that ran by me - and there were thousands - was a reminder of what I had done wrong. I had thrown away my normal “winner’s mantras” and began to tell myself “Don’t fall out of love with running,” and “You love running,” and “You are a runner.” I was failing in the moment at all of those mantras. I didn’t love it at the moment and I was a walker - not a runner. And that was ok. But I was able to end the race still in love with the sport.
Application: You will face some failure this year. I promise. Perhaps you won’t be used to it. Maybe even after reading this you won’t expect it. When it comes, don’t fall out of love with what you are doing. 16 years ago I had a tough marathon - not nearly as difficult as this one - and it caused me to lose my love for running. I went 16 years without running competitively because I fell out of love with it in just one race. Losing doesn’t mean we should quit and give up. Look for the moments that you feel like you are failing the year, and then re-sign up for tomorrow. On the night after the marathon, I signed up for three more upcoming marathons. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t submit to failure.
Lesson 6: Make your life about someone other than yourself.
My wife and 11 year old daughter were there to support me the entire race. They were at mile 8 when I was killing it. They were at mile 17 when I looked literally more dead than alive. And they were there at the end of the race. My daughter had made me a little sign. It wasn’t professional. It wasn’t flashy. It was small. It simply said “Go Papa Go.” And for her, I went. I had a little girl waiting for me to finish the race. She wasn’t tracking my time. She wasn’t comparing me to others. In small letters on the bottom of the sign it said “The fastest runner.” Well, I wasn’t. And I never was going to be. That’s ok. To her I was or could have been. She hugged me after the race and said, “I’m sorry you hurt yourself Papa. If you hadn’t gotten hurt, I think you would have won.” I’ll work to keep her dream alive and live into who she needs me to be.
Application: We will work harder for those that we truly love than we will even work for ourselves. That’s ok. That isn’t a self-worth issue. Put simply, know what and who you are running for. It will cause you to do the hard things that you absolutely will have to do in the coming months in order to make it across the finish line of 2023. You won’t do what you need to do next year only for yourself. Reconnect with something larger and more important than you.
November 6th, 2022 was not my day. After I finished I was upset. I was upset at myself for making poor decisions. I was upset at myself for not making needed adjustments. I was upset at myself for missing an opportunity to perform well. There were some upset tears behind my sunglasses as I crossed the finish line. What I expected to be a 3 hour and 20 minute race turned into an almost a 5 1/2 hour race. I was upset that I physically couldn’t do something that I had done so many times before.
I have good days and bad days. I win days and I lose days. It’s important that I can tell myself that and I can tell those around me that. It keeps my personal expectations in check, and keeps other’s expectations of myself in check as well.
On the night after the marathon I was grateful that I ran and proud that I still want to.
Chris