Shut up, legs!

The Tour de France is just a couple of weeks away and I can’t wait. I became enamored with this race after marrying an avid cyclist.

Not only is the French countryside breathtaking, the strategy of the peloton is fascinating.

A Tour de France cyclist will average 105.3 miles in one day of the 23 day race. There are 21 stages: 6 flat stages, 7 hilly stages, and 6 mountain stages. 

Each team of eight cyclists consists of different strengths. Some are climbers, some are all-rounders, some are domestiques, or servants, some are sprinters and one is the GC, or general classification. 

The domestiques are just as respected as the team leader, if not more. They put it all on the line to support their leader, sometimes riding themselves into the ground chasing a breakaway or pushing the pace of the peloton. 

Jens Voigt was a super domestique who had a 22-year professional cycling career. He is known for his attacks, leading breakways, and unrelenting power. He said during an interview that the reason he can keep going at grueling speeds is because he says to himself, “shut up legs!” 

You can see his pain cave grimace in this photograph.

Getty Images

The Kalenjin tribe in Kenya is home of the fastest runners on the planet. Some speculate that Kenyan marathoners are the fastest because of their diet, the altitude, or genetic predisposition. 

But that’s not the reason. It’s because the Kalenjin tribe in Kenya have a coming of age ritual that is all about enduring pain while maintaining a stoic, unflinching posture.

Their pain tolerance allows them to excel at a sport like running where pushing through the pain is fundamental to success.

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As you look at your career, what is fundamental to your success? 

If you are going to grow, you are, by definition, leaving the status quo.

Growth can be uncomfortable. Sometimes even painful. 

Do you embrace the discomfort or avoid it? 

What is your version of, “shut up legs?” 

What are you willing to embrace in order to play full out?

I’d love to know.