Some lessons you can only learn when you are not 100%, and you do it anyway.
A few weeks ago I sprained my ankle badly on a Wednesday night. I was in Melbourne for work and thought playing a game of basketball with friends would be a great opportunity to achieve a boost to my physical, mental, and social health all at once. Less than 10 minutes into the match, I went over my ankle badly when I was driving the ball into the key and stood on a defender’s foot. By 7am the next morning I was on a plane to Hamilton Island.
When I arrived, I spent the next few days rolling around in a golf buggy, or otherwise resting with my foot elevated, ice and compression on. I was doing everything I could to get myself to the start line of the Hilly Hammo Half, scheduled for the Sunday morning. That race was going to be my first race back in 20 months since finishing my run around Australia. And nothing, including a badly sprained ankle, was going to take that away from me.
On the Friday, 2 days out from the race, I posted that photo of my ankle, along with a poll on my Instagram story, and 65% of my audience said don’t race. The other 35% know who I am.
Here is the truth. My ankle was nowhere near 100%. It was sore, and I knew I’d have to strap it heavily just to get to the start line. But as race day drew closer, I felt that pull. That deep, familiar feeling every driven athlete knows. The one that lives somewhere in your chest and reminds you exactly why you do what you do. The Run Within was calling. I wasn’t going to ignore it.
I’ve been here before. When I was running around Australia, stabbing forefoot pain hit my left foot all the way back in the Northern Territory. I ran another 100+ consecutive ultra marathons on that foot before my mission was complete. An MRI would have told me to stop… (At the end of the run I found out it was Freiberg’s disease, which is where the bone at the base of my second toe started to die and collapse due to poor blood supply, causing pain and stiffness in the front of my foot). But I knew a stint on the sidelines was coming regardless. So I said forget it. I ran through it to find out what I was made of.
I know that’s extreme. It won’t resonate with everyone, and that’s okay. What matters to me is being authentic and pushing my limits. And that is exactly what The Run Within is about, because it is not a story about running. It’s a story about what you discover about yourself when you’re not at full strength. When the conditions are against you. When the easy option is right there, and every sensible voice around you is telling you to take it. The Run Within is about finding that thing inside you that refuses to drop its standard even when everything around you is giving you permission to.
Race day came and the moment I crossed that start line something shifted. I told my mind that my ankle was fine, to embrace the moment and give it everything I’ve got. It was nice to lock back in and race hard. I took a wrong turn at one point… AGAIN… just like day 82 on my run around Australia which you may have read about last week 😂. I ran 300 metres uphill and 300 metres back downhill, which was character building to say the least, but I loved every single minute of it. I finished 27th out of 206 runners on one fit leg and I will take that all day long!
Photos taken before and during Hamilton Island Hilly Half Marathon.
A snapshot of the race. Follow my training on Strava here 👉 https://www.strava.com/athletes/27429918
Racing alongside Geelong Cats superstar Joel Selwood. Loved meeting Joel and seeing him on the trails!
What made it even more special was the uncertainty leading into it. Not knowing whether my ankle would hold up made crossing that finish line feel like something I had truly earned. I have thought about that race a lot since. It made me hungry for more, and reminded me that the mindset that led me to running an ultra marathon for 165 consecutive days around Australia, is not going anywhere. This is just the start of a bigger journey back.
Here is the lesson I keep coming back to though. The race didn’t teach me anything when I was comfortable. It taught me everything in the moments I was not. The wrong turn. The doubt before the start line. The ankle screaming at me through the first few kilometres. Those were the moments that showed me exactly what I was made of. And that is the part people don’t talk about enough. Because it is easier to share the finish line, than it is to share the doubt that came before it.
This goes beyond running. It is what I talk about on stage with business leaders and sporting teams all around the country. Conditions will never be perfect. There will always be moments in your season, your quarter, your team, where an unexpected setback gives you, and everyone around you, the perfect excuse to drop their standard and check out. Where the pressure of a hard week makes ownership feel optional
That moment is not a crisis. That moment is the opportunity.
The best leaders and the best teams I have worked with do not wait for perfect conditions before they perform. They find the run within and they show up before they feel ready. They hold their standard even when it is hard, and they own their performance when it hurts. This is what separates the teams who talk about their culture from the teams who actually live it.
Some lessons you can only learn when you are not 100%. When your back is against the wall. When the plan has fallen apart and you have to find something deeper to keep going. Those are the moments that build the kind of character no training program, no workshop and no strategy session can manufacture.
I was not ready a few weeks ago. Not physically anyway. But I showed up and it became one of the most memorable and enjoyable races of my life.
So I want to leave you with one question this week. When things are breaking down around you, when the pressure is on and the conditions are far from perfect, are you and your team still showing up?
Because that answer will define everything.
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Sean
