Last Saturday, I stood at the finish line of UTCT100–17 hours after starting what would become my longest distance yet. 100KM of rugged terrain. 5000M of elevation gain.

A test that pushed me far beyond what I thought possible.

You may be expecting a deep dive into my UTCT100 race and the lessons learned, but if I’m being completely honest with you — the true nature of what I learned hasn’t revealed itself to me yet.

I’m still digesting the experience — every step, every kilometre, every moment where my mind told me to stop but my heart said otherwise. I promise to share these insights with you, but right now, I’m doing something that many of us (myself included!) often resist — I’m recovering.

Truly recovering.

As I sit here writing this, looking out over the Cape Town coastline with surprisingly fresh legs but a tired mind, I’ve been reflecting on something that I believe is crucial for anyone pursuing ambitious goals.

We often talk about the grind, the hustle, the relentless pursuit of our dreams. But what we rarely discuss is the importance of what comes after these periods of intense hyper-focus and peak performance.

To me, this looks like not diving straight back into rigid training schedules and business expansion plans. I’m spending mornings at the beach, enjoying runs without my watch, having long conversations with friends, and allowing myself the space to think deeply about what’s next for 2025.

But most people most people — in particular the high performers — have a tendency to dive straight back in. To maintain the momentum. To keep pushing forward out of fear that if they slow down, they’ll lose everything they’ve worked so hard to achieve.

What I’m discovering, is that there’s profound wisdom in these periods of intentional recovery — something that took me far too long to learn (and if I’m honest, I’m still learning!).

After periods of hyperfocus — whether it’s training for an ultra, launching a business, closing a major deal, or any other demanding pursuit — we need to pay attention to more than just maintaining momentum. We need to master the art of strategic recovery.

But here’s where most of us (especially the ambitious ones!) get it wrong.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we’re not constantly pushing forward, someone else will overtake us. That success is a direct result of unrelenting effort. That rest is for the weak, or worse — a sign that we’re not committed enough to our goals.

I see this pattern in many of my clients — successful entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders who wear their 80-hour workweeks like badges of honour. They pride themselves on being “always on,” responding to emails at midnight, taking calls on weekends, and essentially living in a constant state of red-alert performance.

But when we refuse to take true recovery periods, we rob ourselves of the ability to operate at genuine peak performance. Instead, we get stuck in what I call the ‘grey zone’ — never fully resting, but also never truly pushing our limits.

We end up living in a constant state of partial recovery and partial effort, which inevitably leads to diminishing returns.

But more importantly, when we chronically overextend ourselves in one area of life, we create an unsustainable imbalance that inevitably leads to collapse — not just in that area, but in others we’ve neglected. This isn’t theory or metaphor. It’s reality.

The more you pour yourself into one pursuit while neglecting others, the more fragile your foundation becomes. First come the subtle signs — the constant fatigue, the difficulty sleeping, the growing irritability. Then the more serious ones — the anxiety, the health issues, the relationships that feel increasingly distant.

And the irony is that this chronic overextension eventually leads to collapse in the very area you’re focusing on most. Your decision-making becomes clouded, your performance suffers, and the success you’ve worked so hard to achieve starts to crumble.

This pattern repeats itself because these areas of our lives don’t operate in isolation. Your physical health affects your mental clarity. Your relationships impact your resilience. Your emotional well-being influences your decision-making. When one area suffers chronic neglect, the others inevitably follow.

This is why proper recovery isn’t just about taking a break from intense effort — it’s about consciously restoring balance to all areas of life that may have been neglected during periods of hyper-focus.

So the message that I’m trying to get across to you today, is to (learn to!) respect the natural cycle of peak performance and recovery.

Just as elite athletes plan their rest periods with the same precision as their training blocks, we need to approach our recovery with intention and purpose.

But most importantly, it means paying attention to the areas of life that received less attention during our periods of hyperfocus — the relationships, the long-term vision, and the other pursuits that make life rich and meaningful.

Your ability to sustain success isn’t just about how hard you can push — it’s about how wisely you can recover. It’s about understanding that periods of intense focus must be balanced with periods of intentional rest and restoration.

That sustainable performance isn’t just built on constant acceleration, but on knowing when to ease off the gas.

As I stand at the finish line of UTCT100, I invite you to consider yours.

What’s the mountain you’re currently climbing? And when you reach that summit — whether it’s scaling your business, closing that deal, or achieving that goal you’ve set for yourself — what would true, intentional recovery look like?

The choice is yours — continue pushing until something breaks, or learn to master the rhythm of peak performance and recovery. One leads to eventual collapse, the other to sustainable success.