Sisu is the Finnish word for extreme persistence and endurance. This blog post is uncovering the sisu of Plan Brothers.
Lauri’s got SISU
We were gob-smacked when we learned, that last weekend, one of our Founders, Lauri Raivio did the tough endurance race of 131KM in Koli. We sat down with him to understand how he motivated himself to keep going.
Motivated Lauri only moments before starting the race.
You just ran 131 KM, are you insane?
L: I have done long endurance races previously. For example 3 years ago I ran 86 KM in Koli. This year they had the 131 KM race for the first time and it felt like the perfect opportunity to challenge myself.
What feelings did you have while doing the race?
L: I had my ups and downs. This was such a long race that sometimes you feel good and sometimes you feel really bad. I just tried to push through the darker times knowing that things would start to go smoother again. Overall I was able to remain pretty positive throughout the race.
How long time did it take you to complete?
L: Almost 25 hours (24H and 51 min). Time limit for the race was 26H, so I had to keep my pace up to finish in time.
The start was at 22.00 Friday evening, so I ran through the night and the whole Saturday as well.
Did you ever feel like giving up?
L: Yes, it was a tempting thought when I was feeling bad. It was tempting to think that maybe I just run to the next water point and then it's enough. Maybe 100 km is long enough. The terrain at Koli is so hard that there are no easy kilometers. But I tried to just take it one step at a time and not think about the whole distance. Just try to get to the next point in the race. That made it easier to not think about giving up.
Would you do this again?
L: (smiles) Yeah I might. I think I will take at least 1 year off from these really long races. But probably I will do it again, as I have been doing it in previous years. The temptation of challenging myself is probably too high to resist in the future. Next one could be a 100 mile race so about 161 KM. I might also do an Ironman triathlon before the next ultra run.
Happy but tired after completing 131 KM.
How do you compare this to your work as a Full-Stack Developer?
L: My work is maybe more demanding on the brain than on the feet but it has some similarities as well. Both at work and at these ultra races planning is very important. It's best to prepare and think ahead before taking the first steps. And all the time evaluate what's the best way forward.
One clear benefit of these races is that if you have a really strict deadline at work you know you can make it even if you have to work through the night.
At Falcony we work hard to give you the best quality involvement products as possible. Our team is therefore based on people with extreme sisu to ensure that.
We are building the world's first operational involvement platform. Our mission is to make the process of finding, sharing, fixing and learning from issues and observations as easy as thinking about them and as rewarding as being remembered for them.
By doing this, we are making work more meaningful for all parties involved.
More information at falcony.io.
