11/12/2015
Part 2/3: A short story from the early days of parkour. The 15 day challenge...
The 15 days challenge: Part 2/3
At that stage David set a very simple drill for me...
As simple as a two parallel bars set up.
"Go over and under the bars, in and out, 50 times, fast and without stopping" he said. So I executed. Basically vaulting over the first one and going under the second one, then back inside over and under...As I said a very simple task in appearance.
He was there keeping the pace and making sure I was always moving, because not moving meant quitting. He increased the speed of the reps half way through and even more towards the end and kept pushing me until I reached the 50. When I stopped, something weird happened. I felt pressure on my chest and throat, I could not breathe. Something was blocked as if my throat shrank and the air could not circulate. I collapsed on the grass, covered by snow...still shirtless. It took me few minutes to recover, lying on the snow, trying to breathe normally again. I assumed (in my mind) at this stage, after the long hours from the morning, plus that incident and knowing we would have a night session later in the day, I was deserving of a rest now.
David showed a bit of compassion, congratulated me for the effort this morning (he rarely praises) and the fact that I gave all I had until I collapsed and said: "ok you're good for this morning, let's go home"! As we were walking towards my car, JUST before we reached it he said: "oh just one more thing". Bang. That's it. And the whole morning session was just turning into a nightmare now. I had no idea what he would add but the simple fact that I started to picture a shower and bed before the "one more thing" happened, was quite painful. But I did not show it. Showing weakness at this point would give him ammunition to try harder to make me quit.
He then pointed at a long line of small steps along the road at ground level. The steps were around 50cm long and 10cm with a space of about 1.5m between each of them, which went on for about 400 meters.
He added: "You will only go home once you complete that distance without falling off the steps. If you fall off one step, you start again from the beginning until you make it right".
My legs were weak, my balance and concentration gone because of the tiredness from the previous hours. He was giving me the right mental challenge at this point. All I had to do was walk in balance on those steps, for the entire distance. Any fresh day the task would have been easy. But on that day the atmosphere was different. It took me a lot effort and time. Really taking the time and being sure in between each step before I'd do a stride that I was 100% sure.
I could not afford to fall off and start again. Each stride was intense and a long moment in my mind. I was not talking nor smiling, completely immersed in the task.
Somehow after taking quite some time I made it to the end without falling once. "Now we can go home", he said, with a smile on his face. I was confused between hating the guy but also being grateful for him taking the time to share that experience with me.
Once in the car, I could barely hold the steering wheel. David looked at me and said "If this is too hard, you can quit Steph. Have a nice rest at home, some hot chocolate and croissant. And you don't have to come back tonight for the second session". I asked if he'd buy the croissant but he would not even do that he said, while laughing, so I'd rather not complain and get ready for the evening session I decided.
This anecdote reflects one side of the huge mental aspect of those 15 days. It happened near the end of week one and I was not even half way through when I discovered that I could actually stop breathing and pass out from over intense training. Good time...not. It is all about the context and the situation of course and, put out of context, a lot of those drills are way less intense. The combination of it all, and how David masters the art of making training really mental and rising in intensity, gave the challenge that mesmerising touch.
Part of the 15 days I also recall that time when David was away and could not be there with me physically delivering his daily pain so he gave me a challenge for the day. And he meant for the day. Literally. I thought not having him around would result in some sort of a break half way through the 15 days challenge. One of those silly thoughts you have when you're young...So he left me with a note and a routine to execute every hour for 12 hours. From 8am till 8pm, every new hour I had to do that combination of exercises. And of course rest in between. The note was saying:...
