It's Just Hard

Wednesday, April 15

This last weekend in Texas was the annual Go One More Ultramarathon. The course is 4.2 miles, and each runner has one hour to complete the loop. They start again every how on the hour. If you don’t make it in the time allotted, you’re done. If you don’t make it to the starting line before the next lap begins, you are done. If you just physically can’t go anymore, you are done.

Two moments stuck out to me. (By the way, the winner did 73 laps and ran 306.6 miles In just over 3 days. Unbelievable.

1. U.S. Marine Combat Veteran Mike Egan, who has no legs and was competing in a wheelchair. He made it 27 hours and over 110 miles. He was forced to quit after the rains came in and his wheels were caked in mud. But not before he got out of his wheelchair, sat on the ground and started pulling it. That is a level of commitment that is almost unheard of. No excuses. I mean, just go watch this.

2. At around 100 miles (24 hours in), athlete Joey Miuccio was resting in between laps when he broke down emotionally. In a powerful video his coach encourages him. “It’s just hard. That’s okay. Let it out. It’s just hard. That’s why we do these things.” As one of my favorite coaches on the Ladder app likes to say during hard lifts, “It just hurts, you’re not going to die.”

It’s just hard. Maybe the season you are in, the fight you are fighting, the goal you are chasing. It’s just hard. And that’s okay. That’s why you do it. In the process, you find out who you are and what you’re capable of.
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Embrace hard today.
Own What’s Now.
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin