Racing the Quit Monkey: An ultra endurance journey

Racing the Quit Monkey: An ultra endurance journey

"The Quit Monkey is that little voice in our head that visits us when we are doing hard or unpleasant things. It might show up during a race, a training session, or, most commonly, in our everyday life. It is the little demon that everybody deals with. Sometimes, it jumps into our mind when we are pushing through the last interval of a hard training session. Other times, it just wants us to eat that extra piece of cake after a big meal. You can cope with the Quit Monkey pretty easily, but the harder you test yourself, the more you will have to face it, trying to understand how it behaves." In “Racing the Quit Monkey”, Paolo invites us inside his head. He takes us by the hand to the highs and lows of his career, the sacrifices and the glories. We join him on his board when he’s first discovering the wonders of the sea as a child, exploring the craggy coastlines of Italy. We find ourselves stuck in an airport lounge, and then another one, and another one, trying to make it to the legendary Battle of the Paddle in time to race. We glance up in the middle of his first ultra running race to take in sweeping views of Gran Canaria. We meet Paolo’s Quit Monkey, and struggle alongside him to learn how to fight it. Paolo’s Quit Monkey feels familiar. It’s that voice, when you’re struggling, that whispers: “just give up”. Perhaps you’re an elite athlete, trying to complete an ultra endurance challenge but your body is screaming in pain and exhaustion. Or you’re a part timer balancing sport with work and life, trying to get yourself out of bed for a morning training session when the rest of the day is already packed with responsibilities, and the Quit Monkey tries to nudge you back into bed... It whispers, ‘Wouldn’t it just be easier to skip the session today? Surely you have more important things to do.’