On June 7th, I will challenge a 100-mile ultra marathon through the San Diego hills.
I’ve never run 100 miles before, and although I have always been an athlete, this has been a step into brand new territory.
To prepare, I have been spending 10-20 hours per week for the last four months training.
I use the word “spending” very intentionally.
To attain—or purchase—the required level of fitness, I spent roughly 240 hours, paid out over the last 16 weeks.
It was not a cheap purchase… I have three kids and run two small businesses. I didn’t have 240 unencumbered hours hidden away somewhere.
I had to cut them from other departments of my life. And like any department that undergoes austerity measures, this created some discomfort and conflict.
I recall a stretch of weeks during my training camp when my kids became incredibly irritable. We generally have happy, easygoing kids, but for a period of time, all three turned into monsters. They were whiny, overly sensitive, and grumpy.
Every parent knows that children go through various phases of emotional development, but this seemed odd to me. I voiced my concern to my wife one evening after they had gone to bed.
She responded with a look you would give someone who just asked a very obvious question...
“They miss you”, she said. “They are only like that when you are around because lately, you are barely here.”
Yikes. Punch in the gut.
Of course, as a “responsible adult,” I had not let my training budget cut into my work budget. Allocating a big chunk of my day to training meant I needed to start earlier and finish later at the office.
Effective time budgeting... So I thought.
But while I had protected my work budget hours, I had unknowingly taken them from my family. Consequently, as soon as I walked in the door, my happy and balanced kids would act out for attention—and as soon as they saw me packing my bag for the day, they would lose it.
My goodness. I never want to be an absent father.
So, I corrected course immediately. I ensured I was home early enough for evening playtime, dinner, and books.
Problem solved.
Until… a few weeks later… I noticed how terrible my body had been feeling. I wasn’t recovering from workouts like I used to, and afternoon brain fog had me reaching for a fourth cup of coffee.
I mentioned this to my coach (who has access to all of my Garmin watch data), and he succinctly pointed out that I had been averaging 5 hours of sleep for the last few weeks.
Huh.
I had found the extra hours for my kids in the budget but had taken them from the sleep department.
For example, on May 11th, I ran a 100km training run after getting four hours of sleep.
(But as a bonus, I perfected the 2-minute ultra-runners nap.)
Not a good idea….
Time budgeting - it is a very real thing.
So, what is the grand takeaway?
Life can be very transactional - and this is a good thing. It keeps things simple.
There is no shocker here, but achievement comes down to determining the cost of the thing we want and whether or not we are willing to pay that cost.
I decided that I wanted to challenge a 100-mile mountain run. I determined the cost, decided that I was willing to pay it, and acquired the skill.
It wasn’t cheap, and it caused some pain elsewhere in the time budget.
But was it worth it? My wife says no. Absolutely ;)
This transactional nature of goal acquisition permeates everywhere in our lives.
For example. I would like to sell one of my businesses. I have a number in my mind that I would like to receive.
I am estimating this will cost me 2.5 more years of structuring and positioning. During that time, it will cost me 60-70 hours per week. And, of course, I expect to be disrupted by additional costs along the way.
If I could budget 80-90 hours per week could I get this done in 1.5 years instead of 2.5?
Possibly.
But with three kids and many more adventures I’d like to tackle, I am not willing to pay that cost.
Time budgeting. There are no shortcuts.
Now, my race isn’t for another two weeks, so if you are reading this and thinking, "Maybe you should do the thing before you talk about it?” I get that.
But as every athlete knows, there are always two events—training camp and the event itself. And if training camp goes well, you have made the purchase, regardless of what happens on race day.
Funny story - I’ve probably done twenty or so races of various types. For the last few years, my sports were off-road triathlon and the 50KM ultra.
I have never been more prepared for a race than for the Squamish Off-Road Triathlon in 2023. It was in my hometown, so I could train on the course trails for weeks in advance. I had the bike course nailed, every turn and drop. I ran on the running trails and even trained my swimming in the same lake I would be racing in.
By race day, I was super fit and had the home-field advantage.
And then I had my worst day on course - ever.
I got kicked in the head during the swim and lost my goggles. When I hopped on the bike I was flustered and dizzy. Trying to make up for lost time in the water, I peddled hard and crashed - twice.
When I finally got back to the transition area and started the run, I had already expelled so much adrenaline that every important muscle was cramped—quads and hamstrings, both legs. Everything seized. I crossed the finish line at a limp.
An absolute disaster.
I had spent all of the hours and made the purchase. But I had a horrible day on course.
A week later, I went back out to the race course solo. I nailed it. I had to admit to myself that I had acquired the skill. I just had a bad day.
If you’ve invested the time and acquired the skill, don’t get upset when life throws you a curveball. Just get back on course.
Remember - if you’ve made the purchase honestly, you own this now.
Markets
So where are investors spending hard dollars right now?
If you follow raw materials, you've been seeing the headlines about copper supply. You’ve likely seen the bids from the world’s largest mining companies as they scramble to acquire more copper. The world seems to have suddenly noticed that we can’t decarbonize anything without it.
Last week, I sat down with an entrepreneur who is focused on bringing more copper to the market and recently attracted a large investment from one of those major mining companies - Teck Resources.
Here are some highlights, with the video link below.
"The world already consumes 28 million tons of copper annually, and almost every forecast adds another 10 million tons within the next 10 years.”
"It takes 20 to 30 years for a new copper mine to make it to the market, and in the top 10 major copper mines in the world, three of them will expire in the next 15 years as we're moving into this copper crunch."
"Either the copper price increases to incentivize new mines, or the economy shuts down. What do you think is more likely?”
“We are witnessing the early innings of a truly global race for copper.”
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"But while I had protected my work budget hours, I had unknowingly taken them from my family. Come on, Jay, you had to know where your hours were being taken from if your work hours didn't diminish. "
Unknowingly? 10-20 hours per week and you are still at work regularly and you didn't know where those hours came from? Come on, Jay, is that believable? ;-)
Where would you draw your source of motivation from for this race? When I’m feeling lazy and unmotivated I throw on my headphones and head out the door listening to “David Goggins’s motivational playlists, ‘Stay hard’—David Goggins