The role of psychology in performance, leadership, and the Soul Crusher trail race

In October, I ran the Soul Crusher ultra-style trail race. It’s described as “The toughest 5 mile loop you will find in the Midwest.” It did not disappoint. It also provided some powerful examples of the complex role psychology plays in performance.

Race designer Jeff Lenard was inspired by his participation in the Barkley Fall Classic, which will have meaning for endurance running enthusiasts. The Barkleys are known for their intense challenges, whimsical rules and unusual details. There are several great documentaries if you’re not familiar with this brand of race. Here's a trailer about the Barkley Marathons if you’re intrigued.

Soul Crusher is a fascinating blend of psychological play and torture. The physical challenge is only the foundation. The registration warns you that signing up is a really bad idea. This gets endurance athletes and contrarians who like a good challenge really excited. I’ll admit I’m one of those. The race itself though is designed to play with your mind in other ways—and not all of them good. It’s what makes the race so difficult.

The “secret” starting line was reached by a mile hike into the woods. The trails are lined with skeletons and other ghoulish characters holding signs with messages intended to get into your head. A sign promising “the last hill” is quickly followed by one that reads “We lied. It’s another hill!” If you allow these messages into your mind—which happens as easily as reading them—those external thoughts quickly become your own thoughts. And discouragement sets in quickly.

After some of us were halfway into the “5” mile race, we were all stopped and told that all 141 racers had gone the wrong way and we would all have to restart the race. Hiking as a group back through the forest to the starting line I couldn’t help but overhear racers muttering and echoing each other’s negativity. From experience I knew this line of thinking would drag my emotions down, hinder my ability to breathe, increase my cortisol and ultimately reduce my ability to perform at my best. I had to stay positive and treat the comments around me like unintelligible noise.

The race had started at 8 am and it now restarted at 8:41 am. This is the kind of race where you should expect the unexpected, and this fit that expectation just fine. Other racers had apparently expected a “normal” race deep down, despite the warnings.

The many steep hills of the course—repeating one after the other often with ropes—took their toll. I heard more than one racer mutter as they embarked on yet another hill, “I can’t do this.” Others may have only thought it.

But this is my point. Even the things we think will impact performance. A momentary thought like, “I can’t do this,” cultivates doubt that maybe that was a true thought. It temptingly stays around for the next hill—and the next. Each time, anxiety increases, breathing becomes less effective, and the body responds as if it should give up. This ”negative drag” acts like an extra layer of opposition—but it’s entirely mental.

What can we do in an environment with a lot of negative drag?

Having experienced these dynamics many times before in many contexts I knew I had to focus so that I could keep the negativity from becoming a source of friction. In some situations like this it’s possible to embrace the pain as a way to move through it. This time I felt I needed to find the joy more than embrace the pain.

Identify what brings you joy

I enjoy running and I enjoy challenges. I especially like these when I’m surrounded by nature. I also enjoy creativity, and the race organizers, Ornery Mule Racing, had put a lot of creativity into this race. I enjoy encouraging others, so each time I could sense a person behind me I made a point of encouraging them to let me know if they wanted to pass (especially on the narrow parts of the trail). Some did and some didn’t. Focusing on these things with each step and each breath let me tap into that joy and leave the negative messages far behind me.

Leading forward

One of the most important lessons I learned early in leadership was to pay close attention to the energy I was bringing into a room—whether that’s a physical room or a virtual one. Forward movement requires positive energy. That positive energy, when shared, generates momentum.

When a leader brings negativity into a meeting it quickly influences the entire team. I’ve seen this spiral downward to completely block forward motion of a team. Many times I’ve been in meetings where participants have some positive energy and are clearly looking forward to taking on the next challenge—and then the leader joins the meeting in a completely different style of energy. The team becomes cautious, reserves its energy, speculates about what’s going on with the leader, and by the end of the meeting everyone feels fearful, unsure and inactive.

No one can perform at their best in such an environment. It’s the responsibility of the leader to set the tone and create an environment where trust is the currency of collaboration. Leaders are recognizable by their influence more than their position. If you’re a leader without authority, do what you can to encourage those around you. Those with positional authority will typically throw more weight with their energy. If you have a position that confers you with authority take seriously the influence of your energy and be strategic with your energy.

If you do show up with negative energy, recognize your impact and correct it as soon as possible. Doing so will require awareness and transparency. Doing so will build trust and your team will better able to rally around you and each other.

This is the way. If you’re intrigued about the Soul Crusher event, check out this race “trailer”…

If you’ve experienced this dynamic as a leader or as a member of a team, please comment and share your own story of how you saw these dynamics at play.