In September 2017, Isabelle and Noah set forth a long term challenge that neither ever before tackled - completing an Ötillö race. Ötillö (in Swedish) means "island to island" and in our case would involve about 2 miles of swimming and 6 miles of running. Determined to succeed, failure was not an option...it was our destiny.
We trained all winter long for this, and have never been in such good physical shape and aerobic capacity. When we got to Georgia however, all that hard work and training went right out the window. In fact, we were completely unprepared to race in freezing air temperatures (34 degrees F) and icy waters (56 degrees F). The ugly head of reality set in, and we were devastated, actually we were terrified, to face our fears.
We wish we could say this story ended happily, but most stories ending in hypothermia, aren't fairy tale endings, and neither is this one. Most of all, at our lowest of lows in the race we felt shock, terror, complete self doubt.
However, in those darkest hours, we learned a few incredible things about ourselves. Our mental fortitude to persevere until physically we could no more. The deep relationship building spawn out of training countless hours. The sense of pride in seeing the other partner improve. Committing to other goals we never would've otherwise been inspired to achieve - we proudly raised over $3,500 for the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary as an impromptu side gig.
In today's episode, our reflection is two-fold. First, we recognize our failure to make it through an extremely difficult physical and mental challenge we set for ourselves. Second, we identify the unexpected positive consequences of setting goals and pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones.
We are grateful we embarked on this journey, because we learned that one failure can lead to multiple successes. It is what we do with this failure afterward that defines who we really are. Knowing us, you could probably guess that we are ready for a second crack at the Ötillö nut, and may very well have another event in the hopper...
Other episodes you might enjoy: TPP 020 our interview with Marc Wood (health coach and plant-based nutrition expert) and TPP 017 where we reflect on setting and reaching goals.
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Book we are reading now on testing the limits of the human body and mind is Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson.
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