289 At Scality, we take our work hard and play hard motto seriously. And for some of us, that includes jumping into some of the most grueling physical challenges in the world. After tackling last year’s IRONMAN European Championship 2022, Scality’s platforms product owner Jean-Brice Combebias’ qualifying time moves him on to the World Championship! Normally the event takes place in Hawaii, but this year, Jean-Brice has the chance to compete in his home country of France. Jean-Brice recently shared some of what he’s learned as he prepares to take on this competition and how working at Scality helps him achieve his goals. So, tell us what exactly the IRONMAN is. If you’re not familiar with the IRONMAN series of events, it’s a triathlon but to the nth degree. It’s what’s described as an “ultra-triathlon,” consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.8 km) swim, a 112 mile (180 km) bike ride and a 26.2 mile (42.2 km) run. Yes, it culminates with an entire marathon. To put it mildly, this is no walk in the park. Events are held all over the world and this year, the global championship takes place in Nice, France, where male triathletes from all over will convene to race across the Cote d’Azure and soak up the beauty of the French Riviera. In some ways, my participation in the IRONMAN events runs parallel to my work at Scality. I like to build things, and that’s a major part of my role within the company as we work on creating new and improved solutions to best fit out customers’ unique needs. Much like any solution goes through a product life cycle, there a “lifecycle” of each competition. Each race represents a new 6 to 9 month building process, with results achieved following a serious and consistent investment — not that different from how I approach development of our Scality offerings. How did you qualify for the IRONMAN world championship? I finished 25th in my age category during the event in Cascais, Portugal, which got me a slot for the world event. Historically, the IRONMAN world championship event has been held in Hawaii, but this year, the women’s event will be held there while the men’s is being held in France. The fact that the world championship typically takes place in Hawaii has made it difficult for me due to the distance, but the stars aligned and I get to participate here in my home country. I am very conscientious about my own efforts to reduce my carbon footprint and climate impact, so not having to fly to the competition was a major benefit for me. It’s humbling to have earned a spot in this event. It’s said that the chance to qualify for the world championship is less than 10% for most age groups, and for many of the other IRONMAN qualifiers it’s less than 5%. Last year’s men’s record was set by Norway’s Gustav Iden at 7 hours, 40 minutes and 24 seconds. I took part in my first IRONMAN event in 2017 and finished in 10 hours, 47 minutes. At last year’s event that qualified me for the world championship, I finished at 10 hours and 23 minutes. At the most recent event, in Spain’s Basque country in July, my time was 9 hours and 48 minutes, which exceeded my goal of finishing between 10 hours and 10 hours, 30 minutes. My training is paying off! As I prepare for this fall, I am aiming to finish in under 10 hours. To say I’m in elite company would be an understatement. I’ll be competing with an impressive and talented group of athletes from around the world. That alone is more than a little nerve-wracking! But the journey is the destination and while the competition is certainly fierce, the person I’m really competing against is myself. This is a true test of my own strength and determination. What inspired you to try the IRONMAN event? I’ve always been into sports. When I was younger, I was really into handball. It wasn’t until about six years ago that I tried a triathlon. I started with smaller races, and I got really into the process of training. It brought me back to my student athlete days, and I found I really enjoyed the mental and physical rigor that went into training multiple times per week. Eventually, that led me to the IRONMAN challenges. Scality has been very supportive of my endeavors. The company’s wellness program promotes all forms of wellness — including physical and mental. They’ve helped with financial support for enrollment fees for these events, too, and provided the time off I’ve needed to attend various competitions. What’s your training regimen? As you might imagine, the training process is intense. I train between 10 and 15 hours per week. I typically don’t like to listen to music; I prefer to really concentrate on my body and my spirit when I am doing very intensive or specific training like running fast or force training in biking. I like to avoid distractions. But during less intensive training, I like to listen to music or watch videos, although my preference is podcasts so I can learn something while I exercise. There are a few sports training and philosophy podcasts I enjoy, as well as some IT and computing-centric ones. Gotta keep the mind in tip-top shape, too! Part of my training process also includes participating in other IRONMAN events along the way. For instance, in July, I took part in the IRONMAN in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in Spain’s Basque Country. I also participated in a smaller event in Luxembourg last month. Balancing my training with my work at Scality represents another component of the challenge as I strive to give my all in both of these facets of my life. What have you learned from the experience? I believe this will be my eighth IRONMAN experience, which is crazy. When I did my first event, it was about the challenge, but now it’s become something more. There’s something I really enjoy about the process of training and the level of focus it requires. That’s true during the event as well. It’s a long race that can take 10 or 11 hours at least, starting at 6 AM.. I am what I’d call a really proactive kind of person. I’m always thinking about things, worrying and planning. And during these events, it’s a chance for me to press pause on that mode of thinking. As I mentioned in my previous blog, it’s like an appointment with myself — an opportunity to focus entirely on my body, my feelings and my surroundings. It’s almost like meditation and that’s become so valuable to me, especially in our always-busy world. It’s a moment of synchronization between my body and my soul, and with time. It’s a full day to stop thinking about everything else and just enjoy this day on earth in my own skin. And during that time, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster. You start out feeling great and then you eventually hit a point where you start to have doubts, but that’s all part of the learning journey. As I said before, it’s really about competing with yourself. One last question: How do you like to celebrate after an event? After my first event, I was just relieved to be done. But these days, I often participate in these competitions alongside friends and at the end, I just enjoy being with them and reveling in our shared accomplishment. I don’t do anything crazy. There are no champagne showers. It’s just sharing in that moment with people I care about. Thanks to Jean-Brice for sharing his experience. The whole Scality team will be cheering him on this fall!
