7 Days Later: Edition 60 – THE SIARGAO SESSION GOES LIVE.

It’s a wonderful feeling seeing a project come to life, particularly one that you’ve never done before or seen any of your peers do either. I’m not saying the latter of the previous sentence out of arrogance, more so, from a place of doing something completely unknown. The idea for The Siargao Session came to me over a smoothie bowl and juice last year in November. I was halfway through a fundraising campaign for the Bali-Hope SwimRun event I was about to compete in, and knew that in 6 months time I had to raise another $7500. 2018 was a big year of fundraising for me, raising nearly $10000 across various events.

I felt like I needed to fundraise in a new way; a way that wasn’t so demanding on my friends, family and social media following. The resulting idea was THE SIARGAO SESSION.

1. In my life, I have always been into training, sport and fitness. Currently, one of my biggest life passions is running. Any form of running, whether it be track athletics or ultra-distance running I find very interesting. I have competed in both ends of this spectrum and can say I enjoy aspects of both equally. Additionally, I am fascinated by people and positive psychology. Although I’m not a psychologist I feel that I am always learning about different ways, techniques and activities that can better my day to day approach to life. For me it is clear that without strong mental health, the rest of our life will suffer.

2. I believe I can teach people about running, in particular running smart and the decisions that we make towards training smart. Over the last year I have found there is a lot more to running than what you (me included) would initially think. Following on, I have also been very lucky to be surrounded by many incredible people in my life. Across my travels, in sport, at work and many more environments, I have fortunate enough to be influenced by many powerful and interesting minds. These influences in my life have had a profound impact on the person I am today and the values I hold. Not only this, there are many nuances in my life which carry a positive undertone to them which I believe would greatly benefit other people.

3. I answered a bit of question three in the answer above. To continue on, I think that running can have a hugely positive impact on someone’s life if it is consistently implemented. There are numerous reasons why I think this is the case.

– Every time you run, you put yourself in a slightly uncomfortable state.

– The running community is extremely positive.

– It is such a direct and easy way to see yourself progress and do things that you never thought possible. E.g. running a half, full or ultra marathon is a huge test both physically and mentally.

– The new endorphins that  come from running.

– Post run food and coffee, it’s a great time.

– The mental clarity and physical fitness as a by product of running.

The list goes on and on and on. The positives of running far outweigh the negatives which I why I wanted running to be a part of The Siargao Session. Hopefully I could spread my love of running a little further. I also think that my positivity and approaches to life are very transferable.

4. In my opinion, Bali is overdone. It’s busy and chaotic. I didn’t want to be running along crazy roads with 10 people trailing behind me. Not only would it be dangerous, nobody needs to breathe in fumes for 60 minutes of running. I remember my runs with Jackson in Siargao fondly from the first time I was there, it just made sense to me.

5. With the Bali-Hope Ultra requiring me to raise $7500 this year, I needed a new way to fundraise. I thought I would host an experience with part of the cost of entry going towards the fundraising. This way I didn’t need to ask my friends and family again to donate. For me, doing it this was way a new challenge and refreshing change up to my typical fundraising approach.

I couldn’t have been more excited for The Siargao Session to get underway. After months and months of hard work and organisation, it was finally time. I was beyond satisfied with the detail the team and I had put in the work behind the scenes and was ready to meet the crew.

It felt like I already knew the 10 participants. Since they signed up to be a part of the session, we had all been in touch across various different platforms. Across the morning and afternoon, everyone rolled in to find their room, settle and acclimatise to the tropical weather of Siargao.

Bringing together 10 people from all around the world, you never know how they are going to gel. Everyone clicked so well, and it often felt like were old friends. It is one of my favourites in life to connect people and see friendships develop. I have no doubt these relationships will last for many years to come, even a lifetime.

From here, we dived into the scheduled activities, meals and training. I won’t detail each and everyone of these situations but rather highlights from the mentioned.

For me there were two personal highlights when it came to running. The week before, my friend GP from the local airbnb I was staying at told me about a trail run loop in the area. I trialled and tested it and gave the course a tick of approval. For sunrise one morning we set out to the train, stockpiling into some local tri-cycles. We ventured into the route as the sun rose up amongst the thousands of palm trees, it was truly a sight to behold. Meandering through the fields in single file, I was buzzing as the crew ran along smiling.

The Siargao Challenge was a half-marathon from General Luna to one of the most iconic view-points on the island, also know as ‘The palm tree forest’ amongst tourists.

I kept “The Siargao Challenge” a secret from the crew the whole week. This is what they had been training for without knowing. In the lead up to The Siargao Session, I prescribed running training programs which would build everyone up so they could get through a half marathon. Some of the participants were more ready than others to run a half-marathon, so I focused on different things with each of them. Part of the crew were able to focus on pace, others mindset and some just wanted to finish.

What unfolded was fantastic. Two of the boys, Jack and Noah set off at a respectable pace. Without saying, it was clear that they were secretly competing against each other. The middle pack consisted of about 5 runners who would eventually string out over the course of the 21km and up the back was Meg and Alyssa. Before the session, Meg and Alyssa had little to no distance running experience. When Alyssa signed up for The Siargao Session, I started her with a 3km run. Meg was also in a similar boat, starting out with a 5km run. Meg and Alyssa, paced themselves remarkably. Understanding that 21km was considerably longer than anything they’d done before, they went out slow. They stayed at the back of the pack, but there was never a doubt in my mind or theirs that they wouldn’t finish. I was on the bike keeping track of the runners, and it was inspiring to see their positivity as they ticker over kilometres by kilometres. Meg and Alyssa completed their half marathon in approximately 3 hours, striding in towards our makeshift finish line with huge smiles.

I was very fortunate to have a personal chef come in for The Siargao Session. With many vegetarian and vegan participants, The Greenhouse brought on board a chef to design specific vegan meals. They were an absolute hit. By far the best vegan meals I’ve ever eaten, and the others would agree. We had sit down, family style meals for breakfast lunch and dinner. I believe ‘dinner table discussion’ is some of the best. Everyone is happy when they’re eating and often ideas flow freely around a dinner table. People aren’t afraid express themselves or tell stories. I’ll fondly remember some of the stories around the table in Siargao.

Incorporating the workshops into The Siargao Session added a degree of uniqueness. When the adventures and running for the day was over, we delved into some of life’s big questions. I wanted the participants to take the opportunity to analyse and look deeper into themselves. In our busy, fast paced lifestyles we don’t set aside enough time to reflect on ourselves.

My vision before the workshop was that the participants would leave the week with a heightened sense of self-belief and a plan for the next 6-12 months ahead of them. Across the week we worked through 6-7 different workshops.

A highlight that will stick with me was from one of the boys;

He said: “I really enjoy running but I haven’t opened a notebook in a longtime. It’s refreshing to start learning again, learning about myself.”

This hit home for me. Learning is so important, without it we don’t improve. Self-improvement is one of the most empowering feelings somebody can have.

I was going to leave it there.. but there was another moment that was really powerful for me.

As a group, we all went to the lawns and sat down in pairs. Sitting cross legged, we took it turns to talk to our partner for 3 minutes. The person who wasn’t talking wasn’t allowed to say a single word or ask a question. They had to sit and listen. It’s harder than it seems, for both parties. Those 6 minutes were extremely raw and held a certain purity to them. At the dinner table that night, many people said that was the highlight of their day.

Across the week we also went island-hopping and on a land tour to see the astounding tropical beauty of Siargao. These adventures were also a great time for the crew to unravel and let some of their deep thinking sink in.

Here is the video from the week made by Nic Morley @nics_mindset. It makes me so happy every time I watch it. I can’t wait for the next Siargao Session.

Big Love,

Josh Lynott