Obstacle Course Racing and Avoiding Injury

Happy Monday,

I have a bonus blog for you about obstacle course racing and avoiding injury.

Whenever I do a race, I have 3 goals: don’t get injured, enjoy myself, and finish. My safety and health always come first because not only do I want to be able to do more races, but I have a life outside of racing where I want to be a great husband, dad, and friend. When I began my race on Saturday, I started off running. Very quickly, I felt the pain in my leg, giving me a signal that something wasn’t quite right. I have a history of stress fractures and knew this could lead to an injury. At this point, I had a choice. I could keep running and risk injury or I could slow down and walk. The young and less wise Andrew would have kept running and likely hurt himself. I decided to slow down and walk. While I might have been slower than I had hoped, I enjoyed the trails, had fun tackling the obstacles, and overall had a great time. Best of all, my leg (and the rest of me) feels pretty good today!

What does this have to do with work? I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen and heard of a lot of people running themselves into the ground at work. It’s like they are running with leg pain and keep running until the bone eventually snaps. Have you seen this? Have you experienced this? I know I have.

In the story this week, I mention how there is more to my life than just races, which is why my health and safety is so important. In a similar way, while work is important, it’s not the only thing in our lives. We are more than just employees. When we push past exhaustion at work, not only are we less effective at work, but we’re not the spouse, partner, parent, friend, etc. that we’d like to be. At least that’s what I’ve found from first-hand experience.

The Challenge: How can we pay attention to the pain signals and adjust accordingly before we get injured?

The Leader Challenge: How are you creating an environment that protects people from being ran into the ground?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Finishing Strong, Resting, and Being Mindful of our Pace (11-20-24)

This week we are going to have a one-off entry about finishing the year strong and reflecting on running races, our pace, and finish lines.

Let’s say that I’m running a race. I just passed mile marker 12 and the next marker will be 13.1. Should I go all out and sprint until I hit 13.1 miles? It depends on how far the race is. If it’s a half marathon, then 13.1 miles is the finish line. I can go all out, because after that I’ll have days and weeks of recovery before I push myself that hard again. If it’s a marathon, then 13.1 miles is only halfway, and going all out will only exhaust me and decrease my chances of finishing strong without injuries.

What does this have to do with anything? How many times have you heard, “We need to finish the year strong!” during a staff meeting, a town hall, etc.? Per our race analogy, when we think about finishing strong, we need to understand where the finish line truly is. We need to adjust our pace and effort based on where the finish line is and our ability to rest and recover.

Earlier in my career, I felt like Q4 was a true a finish line. Finishing the year strong meant sprinting hard AND knowing that I’d have time to recover and would be able to ease into the next year before sprinting right away again. Over the past few years, I’ve come to feel like there really isn’t a clear finish line anymore. Just the other day someone was talking about how Q4 isn’t the end of the year but is really just the kick-off to having a strong Q1. It’s like everything blurs together into a frantic frenzy. I end up going all out in Q4 only to find myself spending the holidays sick, burned out, and exhausted both physically and mentally. By the time the new year rolls around, I’m still not recovered, and I’m being asked to start sprinting right away. Does that sound familiar? Somewhere there must be a happy medium, where we work hard without running ourselves into the ground and starting the next year burned out from the moment it starts. Somewhere, there has to be a happy medium where we take care of ourselves and each other.

Challenge 1: How can we all be more mindful of our pace and its sustainability as we close out the year?

Challenge 2: How can you lead and set a pace that is sustainable? (Ex: When is the last time you clearly told your team that you don’t want them to run themselves into the ground, and made trade-off decisions where you would be okay with some things not getting done?)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Shin Splints, Stress Fractures, and Paying Attention to Signs (8-24-22)

This week we are going to start a series on lessons I’ve learned dealing with a stress fracture over the past few months. This week is about paying attention to warning signs.

Many of you might remember that I started doing obstacle course races last year. Originally, I had planned to do more races April through July, but that didn’t quite pan out. Here is what happened. I had been training hard for months. I noticed that my shin hurt when I ran. It was inconvenient. I just kept running. Soon, it went from being inconvenient to hurting. I ignored it and just kept running. Soon, I got to the point that my shins were hurting even when I wasn’t running, and if I did run the pain would be sharp. I ignored all this, and just kept running. Finally, I got to the point where my shin hurt bad enough that I saw a doctor. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture.

Looking back, I wish I would have paid attention to my body earlier. At the first sign of pain, I wish I would have stopped to better understand the situation, so I could have made adjustments to help me recover before it became a substantial problem. However, I didn’t pause, so what likely started as a shin splint became a stress fracture. What started as a minor issue, became something more intense that sidelined me from running and physical activity for 3-4 months. Luckily for me, the leg has healed and I’m back to running and things again.

What does this have to do with anything? How often do you keep “running” despite the pain and all the warning signs telling you that you need to stop and figure out what is going on? Maybe the “running” is working yourself to the point of burnout and not functioning well. Maybe the “running” is continuing to operate in a culture where there are signs that something isn’t quite working. Maybe the “running” is continuing to press forward with the project even though there are signs that people aren’t exactly aligned. Maybe the “running” is doing everything else on your own and not having the right support around you. I’ve done all of these things. Have you? In all those situations there are initial signs that indicate that things might not be going well. If we can pause when we first see the signs, we can often fix things before any real harm is done. However, far too often we put our head down and keep pushing, believing that pausing is weakness. We keep pushing, ignoring the warning lights until something finally breaks. I know I’m guilty of this and am trying to do better.

The challenge: Will you listen to the initial warnings when they come?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Running, Personal Records, and Doing your Best (8-21-19)

This will be the last in the series about running. We started with gutting out tough runs, and then looked at refueling and giving fuel to others. From there we focused on understanding where the finish line is, and how we might need to train to get there. Last week was about accepting that we are worthy. This week is about running, doing your best, and striving for growth.

A few months ago, I finished a race. When I got home Alice (7), asked me, “Daddy, did you win?” I chuckled at the question, because the only way I’d ever win a race is if all the runners were miraculously hit by a magic spell that made them run backwards. Anyway, I told Alice that I didn’t win, and that most of the other runners are faster and better than I am. Then Alice said, “Okay. Well, did you beat your personal score? (She meant personal record aka PR) Did you do your best? Those are the things that matter, right?” I smiled a ridiculously proud smile, and let her know that I had done my best and today doing my best also meant beating my personal record. Then, I told her I agreed that trying to get better and doing your best are the main things that matter, and those are the main things we can control.

You probably see where this is going. We are all running our own race, and we are all facing obstacles, many of which are out of our control. When we face these obstacles, it’s so easy to get focused on them that we lose sight of what we can control. One thing we can control is the amount of effort we put in. We can control whether we come in and give it our all every single day. We can control the energy and effort we give to our projects and our relationships. The other thing we can control is our drive to improve and grow. It’s easy to get into a routine. It’s easy to fall into the rhythm of a role where things are going smoothly. I don’t know about you, but when this happens it’s easy to be content with getting by vs. being focused on improving. I’ve mentioned in previous blogs that I spend a decent amount of time reflecting. One of the reasons I do this is because it helps me understand where I currently am, where I’m still falling short, and what I can do to beat my personal best. Each day is another run, another race, and another chance to get better.

The challenge: Keep running. Keep striving. Keep beating your personal records.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Running and being Worthy (8-14-19)

Last week was about adjusting your training for new goals. This week is about accepting that you are worthy.

After I finished my first marathon a friend sent me a message that said, “You can’t say you’re not a runner now.” (#lovedoublenegatives) This made me laugh, but it also hit me in a powerful way. I’ve been running for years, but for the longest time I never claimed to be a runner, because I had decided that all runners were graceful elks effortlessly bounding on their runs. I didn’t fit that mold, so I wasn’t a runner. At my core, I refused to call myself a runner, because I felt I wasn’t worthy. With that in my mind my friend’s comments basically said, “Only runners do what you just did. If that doesn’t make you a runner, nothing will. You are worthy of being called a runner.” My friend was right.

What does this have to do with anything? I kept shrugging off the title of “runner” because I didn’t feel worthy. I sometimes do that with compliments and kind words, even if they are objectively true, because deep down I don’t know if I’m worthy of the praise. Do you do anything similar? Embry poetry example. If you’d look at the evidence (won slam competitions, participated in nationals, received standing ovations and countless positive comments, continue to get asked to perform) objectively you’d say that I must be a pretty good poet. Still, for the longest time when people gave me compliments, I would shrug it off and say things like, “Thanks. I don’t know if I’m a good poet. I think I’m just a good performer.” I did this because the visual in my head of what a good poet is was something unattainable. I didn’t feel I was worthy of being called a good poet.

This happens at work too.Throughout my career I’ve had people say, “Bob, Susie, and Joe all believe you are really good at X, so they sent me to get your perspective on X.” Objectively speaking, that means multiple people thought I was good at something, which means at least to them my opinions had real value. I’d often respond with, “Oh thanks. I don’t know about that. I don’t know if I’m really all that good of a X or good at Y…” It’s another case of not feeling worthy enough to accept the compliment, accept who/what I am, and accept that others see me as worthy. Over time I learned that I am in fact worthy, and could accept the kind words.

The fact is that we are all more worthy than we ever can readily admit, and we just need to be willing to embrace this fact. In case no one has told you lately… If you influence people, bring out the best in them, engage their hearts and minds, and achieve results that wouldn’t be possible without you, then you are worthy of being called a leader. If your children know that you love them, and you invest your time and energy into helping them grow, you are worthy of being called a good mom/dad. (<-Parents, read this one twice.) If you are a person, you are worthy of love, kindness, and compassion.

The challenge: Will you accept that you are worthy?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Adjust Training to Reach New Goals (8-7-19)

Last week was about knowing where the finish line is. This week is about knowing your destination and training accordingly.

Last year I had a goal to complete a half-marathon in under 2 hours. This was quite a stretch for me. In order to run a half-marathon under 2 hours, I would need to run approximately 9 minute miles, and my normal pace for a mile is around 11 minutes. As I trained for this, I had to force myself to train faster than what I was accustomed to running, so I could build up the speed and stamina to carry me through. In November of 2018, I reached my goal and finished a half-marathon in about 1 hour 59 minutes. (#skinofmyteeth #itstillcounts). A few months after that I decided to run a full marathon. My goal was to just finish the marathon. I knew that if I ran the marathon at my half-marathon pace, I wouldn’t be able to safely complete the race. As I trained, I ran slow and steady (around a 12 min 30 sec) pace, and I built up my endurance over time. I also spent more time stretching and doing yoga to keep my body relatively fresh and healthy. I finished my first marathon in April in about 5 hours and 30 minutes. (#turtlepower)

What does this have to do with anything? The thing that led to me having a successful half-marathon would not be the same thing that would make me have a successful marathon. In the story above I had to change my training and the way I operated based on the goal I had. Think about work for a moment. Think about the times that you’ve started a new role or a new project. What did it take for you to be successful in that new role vs. your old role? What did it take as your responsibilities changed? How did you have to adapt to deliver on these new responsibilities? What I’ve found throughout my career is that there are always things that transfer from one role to the next. At the same time if I leveraged ONLY what I did in my old role in my new role, I’d never reach my new goals, because new challenges require new skills.

Embry example, before my current role I worked in market research, where I spent a lot of my time thinking about big picture strategy, defining problems, and figuring out how to answer questions. In my new role, half my job is strategy, which leverages previous skills, and the other half of my job is more operational focused. This operational component has caused me to think more about timelines, processes, and how things work at a more detailed level than I’m accustomed to. This has caused me to stretch and use muscles I haven’t used as often in the past. If I attacked this job the same way I did my market research job I would fail. I’ve had to adapt based on my new goals. My main goal right now is to not get fired for being incompetent 😉 #sofarsogoodbutit’sstillearly. Actually, one of my goals is to figure out how to operationalize things in a way that causes the least amount of swirl and wasted effort possible. I haven’t mastered this yet, but am learning things and adapting in ways that might help me reach this goal in the future.

The challenge: Are you adapting your “training” to new goals or are you stuck doing “old things” that will only help you meet old goals?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Running, Fuel, and Water Stations (7-24-19)

Last week we kicked off a series about running by looking at gutting out tough runs. This week is about running and water stations. It’s inspired by one of the responses to last week’s blog.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned since I began running is the importance of fueling up as you run. It can make or break your run or race. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some runs and races where things started out okay, and then everything started falling apart. All of a sudden it was like my body was out of rhythm, and my legs turned into cement. Often that happened to me because I didn’t fuel up during the race. I didn’t drink enough water and/or I didn’t eat and give my body the calories it needed to keep going. Has this ever happened to you, either during a race, a run, a workout, or another activity?

What does this have to do with anything? Last week was about tough runs, and someone responded to me and said, “But I will not quit. I will keep running – despite the bruises, bumps, scrapes, and then some. I do love it – my family, my career, my life. Just some days I need someone at the water station to give me that cheer and cup of water – telling me to keep running!”

I found this insightful and inspiring, and I think it connect to us in two ways. First, it speaks to the importance of taking the time to refuel. We all are in the middle of our own tough run, but how often are we taking the time to refuel? How often are we taking the time to pause for a moment to make sure we get some “water” and “fuel” into our system? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so caught up in running around in work and life that I don’t pause to refuel. While I can run for a long time, sooner or later it all catches up and I end up crashing hard and falling apart. We all do.

The other connection is that we can all be the person at the water station giving encouragement and water to other people. As I reflect, I realize that I have no idea what kind of race other people are running. I don’t know if it’s a tough run for them or a smooth one. I don’t know if they are tired or if their legs are still fresh. Regardless, what I do know is that everyone needs fuel, and we all have the ability to give each other a little fuel in the form of a smile, a kind word, encouragement, and any other gifts we have to offer.

Challenge 1: Will you slow down and refuel?

Challenge 2: Will you give fuel to others?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Heat and Hard Running (7-17-19)

This week I’d like to start a series inspired by running by looking at lessons learned from tough runs. Normally, I get enjoyment from running, but with the heat that hasn’t lately been the case. I remember a recent run. It was hot. I’m out of shape and sweating like crazy, thirsty as heck and out of water. My entire body was sore and cramping. The sun was frying my skin like an egg, and my eyes were itching from pollen and allergies. Bugs kept flying in my mouth. Not fun.

As I’m hobbling along like an elephant with bad knee caps, I start talking to myself. “Why am I doing this? What is this going to do for me? Did I make the right choice to be doing this? Am I going to make it? Does this mean I’m a horrible runner? How much longer is this going to last? This sucks!” I finally finished the run. I’d like to say at that moment I hit some amazing runner’s high, but I didn’t. I was exhausted and banged up. Nothing about that run was enjoyable. I still run though. I don’t run because it’s always fun. I run because sometimes it sucks. I run because whether it’s fun or whether it’s difficult, it makes me stronger and more prepared for my next race.

You might be wondering where this is going. Think about life/work for a moment. Have you ever been in a situation where you weren’t having fun, but you knew you were growing? It’s hard being in these places, but it is these moments that make us stronger. With all that said, that’s where I am right now in work. Recently, a friend asked me if I was having fun in my role. My gut instinct was to say, “Yeah, everything’s great,” like we always do. However, I hesitated for a moment and then decided to be honest. I told her that I wasn’t having fun, and I kind of felt guilty about admitting that things weren’t care free and perfect. *(#probablybeingtoohonest)

Why wasn’t I having fun? We all have our runs in the hot sun. Lately mine has consisted of working on a complicated launch brand on an alliance while trying (and sometimes failing) to skillfully and smoothly navigate customer planning, company processes, cultures, surprises, and people across the two companies. It’s a struggle. It’s exhausting. It’s not always care free fun and easy. In the midst of gutting out this tough run, I find myself asking all of the same questions I asked when I ran in the sun, “Why am I dong this? What is this doing for me? Did I make the right choice? Am I going to make it? If it’s this hard, does it mean I’m horrible or I lack the skills to do this?”

It’s okay to be honest. It’s okay to admit that things are tough from time to time. I can’t tell you that I’m having care free fun right now, but I know with certainty that I’m growing. These last 7 months have consisted of a lot of bruises and scrapes, but I’m stronger for it. I feel my leadership skills, understanding of marketing, thinking, and tolerance for ambiguity have improved more in the past few months than they have in the past few years, because they had to. So while it’s not all smiles and rainbows, I keep showing up. I show up, not because it’s fun, but because sometimes it sucks. I show up and keep running, because it makes me stronger and more prepared for everything moving forward. I keep showing up, because I have an awesome team and people who need me. You do too. I see you gutting out your own hot run, whatever it is. You got this! You’re strong. Keep running!

The challenge: Can you embrace the tough times for what they are and what they give you?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Do you know where the finish line is? (7-31-19)

Last week was about refueling while running and giving fuel to others. This entry is about running races and knowing where the finish line is.

Let’s pretend for a moment that I talked you into doing a race, but I never told you how far we were running. Now imagine, it’s a hot day and a tough course. Imagine we are running and we hit the 5k mark and there is a big sign and you think you’re done. You start to slow down and I say, “What are you doing? We still have miles to run.” We keep going and going, and you quickly realize that if you knew the race was going to be this long you probably would have prepared differently. Now in real life this would never happen. You wouldn’t run with me until you had an idea of how far we were going.

So what does this have to do with anything? How often do we dive into a situation before we have any idea where the finish line is and what the end goal looks like? This has happened to me before. I’ve jumped right into something, thought it was going well, thought I was done, and then realized I still had miles and miles to go. Why does this happen? I’d argue that this happens because we often don’t take the time to pause to understand where the finish line is before we start running. We don’t always take the time to pause and define what good looks like to a degree where we know whether or not we have hit that mark.

This idea of not knowing where the finish line is could apply to anything. The other day I had a conversation with a friend, and we were talking about all of this as it relates to being an inclusive leader. Inclusive leadership is such a big term that often we dive in without ever trying to break it down and operationalize how to be an inclusive leader. As a result, people often think they are more inclusive than they actually are. I believe there are a lot of people who are nice people, who fail to realize that being a nice person only gets you to mile 8 in a 26.2 mile (marathon) race to truly being inclusive. These people fail to realize that until you hit at least mile 18, you aren’t even close to what being a truly inclusive leader is. If you’re falling short, this doesn’t mean you are bad. It just means you still have more miles to run and more milestones to pass.

The challenge: Do you know where your finish line is? Do you know where you are in relation to the finish line?

Bonus thoughts: I’m passionate about inclusive leadership and being a great human. In case you’re curious, I’d love to share where my finish line is in those areas. I’ll know that I’m the leader I want to be when everyone I work with knows that I have love for them and that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I care about them and the work we do together.So what are my mile markers (behaviors to show) on the way to the finish line? In order to get to the finish, I know I’ll have to pass certain things. I’ll have to be a good listener, be vulnerable, proactively reach out to folks early and often, be welcoming, actively bring different people in and together, seek to understand without passing judgment, give praise regularly, build people up, make it safe for them to give input, extend more grace, be real, share tough feedback in a loving way, and a few other things I can’t think of right now. Most importantly, when it comes to DOING all of those things, I’ll need to do them 100% of the time, every single day. I’m not there yet. I still have miles to run. Luckily, I have plenty of water, good shoes, great socks, and people to help cheer me on along the way. 😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Running and Homeostasis (6-28-17)

This week I’d like to kick off a series inspired by the miraculous wonder that is the human body. Over the next few blog entries I’ll use my basic understanding of the way our bodies work to draw some parallels to life. We’ll start this series by thinking about homeostasis and running. Please don’t report my writings with medical. They already know I’m not on their level 😉

I run. Actually, I more or less trample across moderate distances. My goal whenever I run is to survive the first 30 minutes. If I can make it that long then I can usually get in a good 60 minutes without too much additional difficulty. I believe the reason this happens is because the body is always trying to find a state of homeostasis, a balance or rhythm if you will. When I run I introduce activities that disrupt the balance I had sitting on the couch. This makes my body work really hard until it can get back into the rhythm of doing things.

Let me give you a play by play if my body could talk whenever I go out on a run. First, I get ready and I do a walking warm-up. My body is all like, “Wait a minute. We were comfortable where we were. We had everything figured out. Now he’s on the move. This isn’t too bad though.” After a short warm-up walk I begin jogging and my body starts by saying, “Oh, this is funny. He’s running. He’s not serious about this, is he? I mean, the dude runs like a baby hippo. He can’t run for too long, right?” After about 5 minutes my body is screaming at me, “What are you doing? Are you an idiot? Running sucks! We were just fine hanging out before. This takes effort. This is ugly.” Eventually my body decides that it’s actually going to run for a while, so then it starts barking orders like it’s a sinking ship under attack by pirates, “Release the adrenaline. Raise the heart rate. Get his legs more energy now!” My body continues that cycle for the first 30 minutes and then all of a sudden my body says, “Hey, now we got the rhythm. You’re good. Just keep going. You got this!”

You’re probably wondering how this connects to work. At work I think we are always trying to maintain some kind of homeostasis, some kind of rhythm. The problem is that this rhythm gets disrupted all the time. I don’t know about you, but whenever I start work on anything new it’s ugly. Maybe it’s a new role. Maybe it’s a new project. Maybe it’s a draft of a blog. Whatever it is, it’s slow moving. It’s clunky. I feel uncoordinated and like I don’t know what I’m doing. This is kind of like my first 30 minutes of running. Before I started the project I was in a form of homeostasis and that got all messed up when I started stretching myself in new directions. After a while, I begin to get into the flow of things and then things start to fall into place and become easier. Sure it still requires effort, but by that time I’m at least in some kind of a rhythm. Do you ever feel like this? The main reason I bring this up is because if you’re in the beginning clunky phase it’s easy to get frustrated and think it will never get better. It’s easy to want to stop, because you feel this ugly work isn’t going to go anywhere. This is when we all need to take a deep breath and remember that in this phase we are in the first 30 minutes of our run, and if we can just gut it out for a little bit longer things will finally start to go smoother.

The challenge: Can you gut it out for those “first 30 minutes”? Here’s to us being okay with being a little clunky until we hit our stride 😉

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry