Monday Musing 12: What are we doing here?

Having an idea is like a tight muscle. Maybe I say that because, as a runner, my muscles are always wound and taut. Perhaps a surfer would say it’s the tension in the water before a big swell. The energy primed to coil and release onto the sand or reef.

The tight muscle could translate to ripe fitness and a springy stride. The power of the swell into a glassy barrel. But the same potential energy that can create magic can also create chaos. An injury. A blown-out wave too unpredictable or too dangerous.

Ideas are potential energy. Building in the mind, rippling into effect before releasing into the world. Reinforced by hard work and consistency. Controlled by the maker, but only to an extent. You can change the spot you surf. You cannot change the swell.

Method Seven Ultra Trail is in a place of beautiful tension. New and wonderful and full of potential. When the swell rises, we scramble. Not to reel it in, but to adapt and grow and ride the wave into what is next. When we feel a muscle pulling, we get to the bottom of why so we can correct it before it impacts the whole stride - the machine we at Method Seved work within.

Our potential energy is palpable. The momentum is moving us quickly. But we are still at the point where a pebble in our tracks will make us stumble.

The Beta Team is a ripple. Hopefully cascading into many ripples that reverberate throughout the sea of trail runners, making waves. Spreading the word of what we are creating one interaction at a time. The idea is that our eyewear is so good that the Beta Team members feel compelled to share with anyone who will listen because we changed their perception of how well eyewear can perform on trails. The potential is that we grow.

Again, I ramble. Old habits die hard. But I think these are the beautiful things that happen behind the scenes of building a new company. It could be chaos! It sometimes is chaos. And it is hard.

This week, we had a company-wide meeting, AKA a “Group Hug.” A chance for our CEO to instill the Method Seven vision (pun intended) and an opportunity for us to update the group on our progress. While we celebrate our feats, it is also apparent that we are in the thick of it. Our success depends on keeping the momentum harnessed between the guardrails of our relentless, hard work. We need to follow through. Which takes time, and energy, and resources, and risk.

But when I wonder if it’s worth it, I think about the risk of training for a 100-mile race. My body hurts. Like, all the time. I am sitting here, writing this with a lacrosse ball under my hamstring because I just ran an eighty-mile week, and I am hobbling. It is risky and uncomfortable. But the thrill of crossing the finish line will make this discomfort feel medial. I have dropped into more unsuccessful waves than I have caught, and the steep plummet only to be held under may not seem worth it when I am thrashing under the weight of the white water. But then I catch one and stand up. The drop that hollows out my stomach is flooded with exhilarated pride and excitement instead of water. It is FUN! I smile and paddle back out for more. Either more punishment or more thrill. Only the tides will tell. But the finish line is worth it. The ride is worth it.

Am I an adrenaline junky? Maybe. Or just addicted to the extremes. Ultra-running. The ocean. A start-up. But I think that is engrained in the culture at Method Seven. We are a gaggle of different personalities and assets. That extends to our Beta Team. No two Beta Team members are remotely the same. Frankly, that was important in the selection process because all facets of the sport must be understood to fulfill.

And so, help us create and maintain the guardrails of our potential at Method Seven with your feedback. Be the force behind the wave propelling us into something magical with your willingness to listen. Be the reason we fulfill your need by telling us what it is! And if you’re shopping for sunglasses, move on. We do not make sunglasses. We make equipment. Equipment that untaps potential, releasing the pressure of what could be to what is, and flooding you with true experience and thrill. No, we are not sunglasses. We are the unrealized.