極限賽事中的企業高管 The Type A takeover of extreme endurance sport
On any weekday at 4.30am, when most of the business world is still fast asleep, Stef Oud, a senior partner at consultancy Deloitte, tiptoes through his house in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, quietly closes the front door and launches himself into a bracing 15km run with his pet Labrador at his side.
每個工作日的凌晨4點半，當多數商界人士還在沉睡時，諮詢機構德勤(Deloitte)的高級合夥人斯特夫伍德(Stef Oud)都會踮起腳尖穿過他位於荷蘭南部城市埃因霍溫的家，悄悄關上大門，在他的寵物拉布拉多犬的陪伴下，精神抖擻地跑上15公里。
“Most mornings it is still dark and often cold and raining,” says Mr Oud, who, at 50, has participated in seven triathlons, including four world championships.
“多數早晨天還黑着，往往很冷，還會下雨，”50歲的伍德說道。他曾參加過7次鐵人三項，包括4次世界錦標賽。
The kind of triathlon Mr Oud favours is called an Ironman 70.3, a torture test involving a 1.2 mile (1.9km) open-water swim, a 56-mile bike race, topped off with a 13.1 mile road race. Then there is the “full Ironman”, which is twice that distance.
伍德喜歡的一種鐵人三項名叫半程鐵人三項(Ironman 70.3)，這種耐力賽包括1.2英里（合1.9公里）的露天游泳、56英里的自行車騎行、最後是13.1英里的路跑。還有“全程鐵人三項”，賽程是半程賽的兩倍。
“A triathlon is a lot easier on the joints than just running,” notes Mr Oud, without any trace of irony.
伍德不帶任何諷刺意味地指出：“對於關節而言，鐵人三項要比只跑步容易多了。”
Mr Oud is one of a small but growing number of senior executives for whom the cut and thrust of the boardroom is not enough. They train intensively to take part in extreme endurance sports like triathlons, ultra-marathon runs through deserts and gruelling bike races.
有一些高管像伍德一樣，覺得董事會議上的短兵相接還不夠過癮，他們目前的人數還很少，但正在增多。他們進行高強度的訓練，參加各種極限耐力運動，包括鐵人三項、穿越沙漠的超級馬拉松跑以及艱苦的自行車騎行比賽。
One such event is the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, a 100-mile heart-pounding test in the Colorado Rockies that starts at an altitude of 2,800m and climbs another 1,000m to the finish. By contrast, the highest peak in the Tour de France is 2,600m.
類似的賽事包括萊德維爾100英里山地自行車賽(Leadville Trail 100 MTB)，這場令人心跳加速的賽事是在科羅拉多州落基山脈上騎行100英里，從海拔2800米開始，最後到達海拔3800米的地方。相比之下，環法自行車賽(Tour De France)的最高海拔是2600米。
Nate Orders, of West Virginia, a 35-year-old chief executive of a construction company, finished that race last year in eight hours and 20 minutes, which is considered to be nearly world class. He then went on to run the Boston Marathon.
西弗吉尼亞州的納特攠德斯(Nate Orders)現年35歲，是一家建築公司的首席執行官，他去年以8小時20分鐘完成了這項比賽，這一成績被認爲接近世界級水平。接着他又跑了波士頓馬拉松(Boston Marathon)。
“The word obsessive is an understatement,” says Alain Villeneuve, 48, a patent attorney in Chicago at global law firm Vedder Price who has run 10 marathons and competed in seven Ironman 70.3 races, posting photos online of his trophies.
48歲的芝加哥專利律師艾倫維爾納夫(Alain Villeneuve)表示：“迷戀這個詞還不夠。”他供職於跨國律師事務所Vedder Price，跑過10次馬拉松，參加過7次半程鐵人三項，還將他獲得獎盃的照片貼在網上。
For Mr Villeneuve, who travels constantly and is involved in legal battles over intellectual property, exercise provides stress relief.
維爾納夫總是出差，處理知識產權法律糾紛案件，對他而言，鍛鍊是一種解壓方式。
“You beat the crap out of yourself because sports releases endorphins,” the brain hormones that are the body’s natural opiates. “All the high-powered people I train with are exactly the same. I t’s their little island of peacefulness. It’s the way Type A people like myself relax.”
“你會把身體內的疲憊都趕走，因爲運動會釋放內啡肽。”內啡肽是一種大腦荷爾蒙，是人體的天然麻醉劑。“所有與我一起訓練的精力旺盛的人們都完全一樣。這是他們的一小塊寧靜樂土。這是像我這樣的A型人的一種放鬆方式。”
Rich Williams, chief executive of Groupon, the daily deal website, was motivated to resume training following an eight-year break when he noticed that his weight had ballooned 9kg (20lb) after years of working 90-hour weeks.
團購網站Groupon首席執行官裏奇威廉姆斯(Rich Williams)注意到，在多年每週工作90個小時以後，他的體重增加了9公斤（20磅），這促使他在中斷8年後恢復訓練。
Now, he tries to participate in two to four endurance events a year, including the Leadville race.
如今，他盡力每年參加2到4場耐力賽，包括萊德維爾100英里山地自行車賽。
“These events give you something to focus your training on and they make a great destination, so we make these races into family vacations,” Mr Williams says.
威廉姆斯表示：“這些賽事讓你的訓練有的放矢，它們會爲你樹立偉大的目標，因此，我們把這些比賽變成了家庭度假。”
The one question that keeps coming up is when do these super busy executives find the time to properly train for an event?
人們一直想問的一個問題是這些超級忙碌的首席執行官們怎麼找到時間爲比賽進行適當的訓練呢？
Harri Sundvik, vice-chairman of Nordic corporate and investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London, asks his PA to put workouts into his diary as meetings so that they are not crowded out in his schedule. Many other people start or end their day very early or very late.
美銀美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)駐倫敦北歐公司和投行業務副主席哈里縠德維克(Harri Sundvik)要他的助理把健身計劃像會議一樣放入每天的日誌中，這樣它們就不會從他的時間表上被擠掉了。還有很多人要麼早起，要麼晚睡。
Sami Inkinen, co-founder of Trulia, the real estate website sold for $3.5bn to competitor Zillow, trains one to two hours a day even while travelling.
房地產網站Trulia聯合創始人薩米因基寧(Sami Inkinen)每天訓練一到兩個小時，甚至在出差時也是如此。Trulia以35億美元的價格出售給了競爭對手Zillow。
“There’s plenty of scientific evidence that physically fit people have the healthiest brain, least stress and best ability to focus,” says Mr Inkinen, a triathlon competitor and self-described nerd who tracks every data point of his life in Excel spreadsheets.
因基寧表示：“很多的科學證據顯示，身體健康的人大腦最健康、壓力最少且專注力最佳。”他是鐵人三項選手，稱自己爲書呆子，會用Excel表格記錄自己生活中的所有數據點。
“I would think carefully how well somebody can do their job if their lifestyle is very unhealthy. I think of that when hiring people.”
“我會認真思考，如果生活方式非常不健康，人們怎麼能很好地工作。我在招聘員工時會想到這個問題。”
During the working week, Mr Williams puts his road bike on a contraption called a Wahoo Fitness Kickr, which replaces his bike’s rear wheel and allows him to simulate cycling at 11 different levels of difficulty without leaving his house.
在工作周內，威廉姆斯會把他的公路自行車安裝到一個名爲Wahoo Fitness Kickr的裝置上，這個裝置取代了他的自行車後輪，他可以在不離開房間的情況下模擬11個不同難度水平的騎行。
“You have to make a conscious decision not to let your training slip,” Mr Williams says. “Because I care about my family as well as doing my job, that means I do it before they wake up. I’m usually up around 4.30am and do 90 minutes on my trainer,” he says.
“你必須做出慎重的決定，不讓訓練出錯，”威廉姆斯表示，“我既在乎我的工作，也在乎我的家庭，這意味着我會在他們醒來之前訓練。我通常在早晨4點半起牀，在我的訓練器上訓練90分鐘。”
Ted Kennedy, who organises events for executives within larger competitions such as the New York and Chicago triathlons, says he often asks when executives find the time to train and the answer is boringly the same. “They get up at 4.30, they’re in the pool at 5 and at their desk by 7.30. They just get up before everyone else.”
在更大規模賽事（比如紐約和芝加哥鐵人三項）中爲高管提供組織服務的特德肯尼迪(Ted Kennedy)表示，他經常問高管們怎麼找到時間訓練，答案無一例外地一樣。“他們早晨4點半起牀，5點游泳，7點半工作。他們比其他人起牀都早。”
Mr Kennedy’s organisation, CEO Challenges, offers senior executives special handling and logistics at endurance races, and now helps 1,200 CEOs and business owners to participate in events, with some taking part in up to 10 races a year.
肯尼迪所在的組織CEO Challenges在耐力賽中爲高管提供特殊招待和後勤服務，如今正幫助1200名首席執行官和企業所有者參加比賽，一些人每年參加的賽事多達10場。
While 80 per cent of Mr Kennedy’s clients are American, the competitions are held in such places as Tuscany and Havana. Surprisingly, only rarely does he encounter an executive who is not adequately prepared.
肯尼迪80%的客戶是美國人，而比賽在托斯卡納和哈瓦那等地舉行。令人意外的是，他很少碰到沒有做好充分準備的首席執行官。
At some events like the Leadville Race, CEO Challenges provides mechanics to assemble executives’ bicycles and a house to shower and change after the race.
在萊德維爾100英里山地自行車賽等一些賽事中，CEO Challenges會配備技師來爲高管組裝自行車，還會準備一個房子，用於賽後淋浴和更衣。
At triathlons, Mr Kennedy handles all of the executives’ logistics, including securing good starting times to ensure that the CEOs are not kept waiting for several chilly hours.
在鐵人三項中，肯尼迪負責所有首席執行官的後勤，包括爭取到良好的出發時間，以保證首席執行官們不會在寒冷的天氣裏等上好幾個小時。
Catering to top sporting executives is becoming a big business. CEO Challenges was once part of the races hosted by the organisation that owns the Ironman brand, the World Triathlon Corporation, which was acquired by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda last year.
滿足愛好運動的高管們的需求正成爲一筆大生意。CEO Challenges曾是擁有鐵人品牌的世界鐵人公司(World Triathlon Corporation)舉辦的賽事的一部分，去年，世界鐵人公司被中國企業集團大連萬達(Dalian Wanda)收購。
After the Ironman organisation offered its own executive programme in 2009, Mr Kennedy went his own way and CEO Challenges was eventually acquired by Life Time Fitness, a Chicago-based maker of sporting goods that also sponsors endurance races.
在世界鐵人公司於2009年推出自己的高管項目後，肯尼迪離職，CEO Challenges最終被總部位於芝加哥的運動器材製造商Life Time Fitness收購，後者也是耐力賽的贊助商。
One recent trend is that older executives are now joining the endurance competitions despite the wear and tear on their bodies.
最近的趨勢是，年紀較大的高管儘管體能不足，但也正在加入耐力賽。
“It used to be that most competitors were in their 30s, but 40 per cent of the CEO competitors are now over 50. That was a real rarity 10 years ago,” Mr Kennedy says.
肯尼迪表示：“過去，多數參賽者是30多歲，但如今40%的參賽首席執行官超過50歲。10年前，這種現象確實少見。”
He adds that executives often use the events to network with like-minded businessmen.
他補充稱，高管們經常利用賽事與志趣相投的商界人士交往。
“They start talking about lactate thresholds and heart rates but often end up doing a lot of business with each other because they enjoy each other’s company.”
“他們開始會討論乳酸門檻和心率，但到最後往往都會與對方做很多生意，因爲他們都感到一起相處很愉快。”
