11 seconds

“C’mon, Jim” he screamed at himself.

The fatigue and pain from the last 95Km on the road etched all over his face. 

With 5Km to go, his dream was on a knife edge.

Pedal to the metal he found the last dregs of energy…

The finish line was speeding towards him but the record was slipping away. 

And he finished heartbreakingly short of a new WR.

The Jim in question here was Jim Walmsley.

Jim entered the Hoka Project Carbon X2 100Km race on 23rd January 2021 with the goal of setting a new world record. Only to fail by a measly 12 seconds!

The old record was 6:09:14.

And Jim finished in 6:09:25

12 gut wrenching seconds short.

And you might think, a heartbreaking disaster.

But Jim had plenty to be happy about.

For starters, a new PB. 

Jim broke his old one by an enormous 45 minutes.

He smashed the US record by over 18 minutes (6:09:25 vs 6:27:44).

And, more importantly...

He learned his training plan was spot on...

And you don’t smash PBs or national records if it isn’t. 

Even if you do (narrowly) miss out on a world record.

Sometimes it just isn’t your day.

Things won't always go as you hope. Even if your training is on-point.

Jim's a perfect example of that.

There's only so much you can plan for. Especially in a 100Km race.

A couple of re-fuel stops that were a few seconds too long.

A strong headwind towards the end of the race.

Or that he was unexpectedly the last man standing with 30Km to go.

All would have an impact.

But Jim now knew that he had a training framework that works. One he could use again.

And he did.

Finishing first in the Western State 100 and Ultra Trail Cape Town later in the year.

Because having a training plan that sets you up for success is invaluable. 

And running your business is exactly like tackling an ultra marathon…you need a plan

It cuts down the hassle when you know you’ve got a tried and tested plan of action that you can plug into.

It doesn’t need to be super sophisticated with complicated sales funnels either.

In fact, the simpler the better in my book, especially if you are a solo operator.

A Facebook advert for a genuinely valuable offer and email follow up is all you need.

And when I say “genuinely valuable” I mean something you’d be happy to charge anywhere between £30 - £100 for depending on what working with you costs.

No giving a shit because it’s free.

That’s a great way to piss people of and blow your chances of building the trust required to trun cold leads into buyers.

But the real secret sauce isn’t the freebie.

Yiur freebie is the honey pot to tempt them into your world.

Some will love what you give them so much they buy almost straight away but most won’t.

Most of your leads need to be charmed for a while longer before they’ll part with their cash and that’s where your emails come in.

And by appearing in their inbox a couple of times a week you break down their fears that you’re yet another charlatan.

Then, before you know it you’re picking up 3 or 4 clients a month from your ads and another 3 or 4 from your emails.

All from the simplest of plans.

So what are you waiting for go put it into action.

Record breaking months await.

Later ‘gater

Colin

P.S. Just in case you were wondering and hadn’t worked it out. Jim was running at ~3:40/Km or 5:57/Mile and ran the final 5Km in 19:31!