Today on the podcast:
Ger is an Ultra Endurance Triathlete, a personal trainer, and a fitness coach.
In October 2017 Ger competed in and won one of the world’s toughest ultra-endurance events, DECA UK—10 Ironman distance triathlons in 10 days—completing it more than four hours ahead of his closest competitor.
In 2018 Ger took on another challenge. After the loss of his brother-in-law to suicide, Ger teamed up with Mental Health Ireland to help raise funding and awareness for mental health. He tasked himself with completing 52 Ironmans in 52 weeks for 2018. In May 2018 he also completed a 100 Mile run in 20 hours on a 550 meter loop.
Ger believes his vegan plant based diet is a huge contributor to his ability to complete these events, challenges and races. After becoming blinded in one eye when he was a kid, he is a firm believer that we choose to play the cards we’re dealt in life. If you’re looking to build mental toughness, improve your resilience or rewire your relationship with failure, this is the episode for you.
Episode Outline
- 06:36 Ger’s backstory in the world of fitness
- 14:07 What led Ger to the world of triathlons and eventually competing in DECA
- 19:28 Balancing training and family
- 22:34 His crazy challenges and what he gets from them (or why he does them)
- 26:04 The toughest challenge Ger has ever done
- 31:31 How anyone can build mental toughness and resilience and rewiring your relationship with failure
- 41:47 Why day 7 of DECA was the most grueling
- 47:41 The highs and lows from his 2017 DECA UK win
- 50:45 Ger’s upcoming challenges
Key Points
- Do something big just for yourself. As much as you should set big goals for the sake of your family (particularly if you’re married), go chase after something that you’re passionate about for no one other than yourself. You’re solely responsible for your own physical and mental growth, and only you know the types of challenges and goals that will push you past your current limits.
- Failure is feedback. Mental strength is gained more from failures than from wins. By failing, you pinpoint, tangibly, where your physical limits are. Your mental growth in part depends on pushing past those physical barriers. Extract valuable lessons from those failures and give it another go knowing what to expect and use your newfound mental resolve to break through that barrier.
- Tackling almost overwhelming challenges is hugely important for both your mental and physical health. Carrying on from the previous two points, growth is always on the other side of fear or, in this case, failure. Therefore, if you really want to grow both physically and mentally, you need to set challenges for yourself every once in a while that absolutely terrify you, because you know that you’ll only be able to level up upon facing your limits head-on.
Powerful Quotes by Ger
- Family first. You’ve got to make sure that your house is in order, first and foremost.
- Increasing your mental strength is like increasing your physical strength. It’s just another muscle to build.
- You get more of that mental strength from failing than you do from winning.
- Setting almost overwhelming challenges is hugely important for both your mental health and physical health.
Guest Info
