I was walking down the street. As I passed two people having a conversation, I overheard someone say, “You gotta draw the line somewhere!” The lady stated this in disgust. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I laughed in my head. It got me thinking about athletes and whether they ever say that to themselves. Why would they say it? Where do I draw the line regarding the events and challenges I add to my calendar?
Where do you draw the line in Ultrarunning?
One of the events I think will go way past my line is a “Last Man Standing” event. I’m pretty sure I plan to add that to my calendar for next year. This race will force me to draw the line on how far I go. It will test how long I can keep things under control. What will be the first thing to cross the line? Will it be my body or my mind?
A Backyard Ultra is a unique and grueling endurance race format where participants run a loop of a specific distance every hour, on the hour, until only one runner remains. The standard loop distance is 4.167 miles (6.706 kilometers), which ensures that runners cover 100 miles in 24 hours if they continue for that long.
Each year, you should review your proverbial “line in the sand.” As an athlete, that could mean the biggest distances, hardest events, fastest times, or newest challenges.
Who drew your initial line? Think about that. Odds are it was the sum of past experiences or maybe someone you admired. At some point, you thought, “Well, maybe I could do that.” Maybe you and a friend crossed the line together in a race. You both expanded what you thought was your limit. Either way, you now have a line in the sand, and that’s it. A limit was born. Each year, I return to my running era. I contemplate ways to erase or redraw that line. I want to make it slightly higher or different than last year. A new line that puts me in new or novel situations to experience life.
It’s been a long time since I’ve crossed over “the farthest I’ve gone”
You should be near, above, or sometimes well below your line in training. That means you have easy days, on-target days, and days way over your line of what you thought was possible. That’s because race day does the same thing. If you are pacing it right, you will reach your limit on race day. Then, you will need to decide if this is truly your limit. Was it self-imposed the entire time—a fabrication of your sum of past experiences? The mind wants to know if there is an end to the suffering, but what if there is no finish line? I think that’s why I want to try a backyard event; there is NO DEFINED finish.
If you do ultras, people will tell you all the time that you’re crossing the line in these events. It will be way past where most people drew their line, which was at 10K, half marathon, or marathon. The term “ultra” encompasses EVERYTHING past the marathon. There’s no limit to the length that these races and events can be, and that’s a good thing.
“You gotta draw the line somewhere!” Or maybe you don’t. They keep making longer and longer events; 200-mile races are becoming the norm just as 100s seemed crazy a few years ago.
I am not at the 200-miler event yet; maybe I never will be. But I want to draw the line over 100, so that’s why I want to try one of these backyard events. I want to understand what happens mentally and physically as I cross OVER where I think my conceived limit lies. My furthest distance to date is 105 recorded at Rabid Raccoon. I can’t wait until my foot crosses over where I drew my line and I am in uncharted territory. That’s where the magic happens, outside of the comfort zone.
Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey. You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.
You wouldn’t think a quote would have much power to change your life, but they do. They can be a framework for how to think. I’ve collected these over the years and wanted to share. These quotes have profoundly impacted me, and you might have seen them in some of my posts. After each quote, I share how I interpret it and use it daily.
“Without noticing we’re doing it, we treat the future as intrinsically more valuable than the present. And yet the future never seems to arrive.”
Act NOW, do what you want NOW. There’s no point in waiting, as the “future” never comes.
“Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.”
Comparison is the thief of joy, right? Don’t compare your life to someone else; you have no idea what they had to do to get there. Racing is never a level playing field. If you win one day, it doesn’t mean you’re better; maybe you just have fewer obligations than your competitor.
It’s not the weight of the load that breaks you down, it’s how you carry it.
It’s your thoughts about the situation that cause the most damage, in racing and in life. Those who remain happy in a race tend to do better. Smile more in racing you’ll have better outcomes.
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”
I do my dance, and if you profit, so be it. I don’t care what others say or think about my actions. I put myself out there. I create videos and write blog posts, because I enjoy having a voice, and who knows, maybe I’ve inspired someone.
“Never look up to anyone; never look down on anyone.” If you look up to someone, you will exaggerate their positive qualities; if you look down on someone, you will exaggerate their negative qualities. But if you simply look—not for something, but just look—you will see things just as they are.”
Accept people for how they are, don’t hold them to some high standard.
“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”
You will always have something going wrong in life. Learn to solve problems and move forward. It never gets easy, you get better at dealing with adversity.
“Not everything that can be counted counts. Not everything that counts can be counted”
Social media is the biggest offender of this. Likes, kudos, subscribers… They don’t matter. They are empty gestures, so treat them as such.
“Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.”
Happiness is a nebulous term. I prefer just being content. I add things to my calendar to look forward to, like races, vacations, and meetups with friends. I have a family to love and plenty to do with my job and coaching.
“If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions.”
What you do today has a huge impact on your future. Stop creating problems for the future version of you. Being lazy or procrastinating now only hurts future YOU.
“Death doesn’t need to be treated as an enemy to be able to delight in life…I encourage people to make peace with death, to see it as a culminating adventure of this adventure of life. It is not an error, it is not a failure. It is taking off a tight shoe that you’ve worn well.”
Once we die, this whole charade and social construct will be over. Is that so bad? I don’t have a death wish, but I am not afraid of death itself, more of the slow dying part.
“If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you will keep getting what you’ve always gotten.”
Nothing changes if you don’t change first, you need to do NEW things every year to increase novelty in life. Novelty is the spice of life.
I am a master of my emotions, if I feel depressed I will sing. If I feel sad I will laugh. If I feel ill I will double my labor. If I feel fear I will plunge ahead. If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice. If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come. If I feel incompetent I will remember past success. Today I am a master of my emotions.
You can CHOOSE to be happy. Isn’t that crazy? Throw on a favorite song from your youth. You will quickly notice how your mood changes. Moods like thoughts can be treated like a passing storm. They are just thoughts, you don’t have to believe them.
“When you get rid of your fear of failure, your tensions about succeeding… you can be yourself. Relaxed. You’ll no longer be driving with your brakes on.”
To do well in racing you need to let go of your fixation on the outcome. No cherished outcomes!
“Perfect love casts out fear. Where there is love there are no demands, no expectations, no dependency. I do not demand that you make me happy; my happiness does not lie in you. If you were to leave me, I will not feel sorry for myself; I enjoy your company immensely, but I do not cling.” You can see a person as a sunset, for all to enjoy. Owned by no one.
I don’t demand anything from anyone in my life. Just be you, and I accept you as you are.
“My work isn’t done tonight. My work was done 3 months ago, and I just have to show up.”
On race day, all the work is done. Now it’s time to enjoy the fruit of your labor. Stop worrying, just let go, and enjoy the race.
“Learn to love slow progress. Learn to forgive yourself for the inevitable backsliding. And of course, expect to be uncomfortable along the way.”
Coaching has taught me this in spades. Progress to the things you want in life is painfully slow. Be patient.
When I prayed for his life it was an act of desperation fueled by the hope that the religion of my youth might yet save what was most precious to me. When he died, a victim of random cell mutation within his otherwise perfect body, I was left with the conviction that no god who would allow such a thing to happen was worthy of a moments more of my contemplation. I envy those who can retain their faith through such a loss and even imagine a purpose to it. I cannot. But still I hope for a reunion with the soul of my departed son, so what kind of Agnostic am I?
This is not a quote, but an excerpt from a book that had a profound impact. I can’t imagine his pain and suffering in losing a child. I feel as though there are still massive amounts of loss I’ve yet to experience. I am grateful for the time I have with those while I have it.
Humor is a form of sharing, an interpersonal exercise. To share laughter is a way of affirming that we are all in this lifeboat together. The sea surrounds us; rescue is uncertain; control is illusory. Still we sail on.
Don’t take life so seriously… Nobody gets out alive, so laugh, smile, and have fun while you are here.
Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about…
Just be kind to people that might be mean. They could be suffering in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine.
“As we have seen, whatever you do with your body, mind, or energy leaves a certain imprint. These imprints configure themselves into tendencies. These tendencies have been traditionally described in India by a wonderfully apt word: vasana. Literally, vasana means smell. This “smell” is generated by a vast accumulation of impressions caused by your physical, mental, emotional, and energy actions. Depending upon the type of smell you emit, you attract certain kinds of life situations to yourself.”
You know the “smell” of a person, it’s their mannerisms and what makes that person unique. It’s why I feel like some people repel, or attract you to them. It’s their smell! The people in your life should have a “good” smell.
You are your only obstacle. Every failure teaches a lesson. Watch your children learn by failure, and provide guidance.
You have to fail and lose to grow past your current level. There is no getting around that. If you meet someone great at what they do, odds are they have failed a 1000 different ways.
“The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.”
One amazing adventure can keep me going for months. To me, that’s what running provides. A true sense of adventure away from the ease and comfort.
“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.”
Don’t be all talk and no action. Practice what you preach.
If I was them I’d be them.
It’s the idea that any person you meet is made up of the experiences they had. Don’t judge them, you would act exactly as they do if in their shoes.
Are you playing a game worth winning?
Will you look back at your years knowing you made the right choices? Was your time wasted? Love what you do, and do it well!
People won’t remember what you said, how you acted, or, even what you did. They will remember how you made them feel.
Your interactions in life might be the only thing left once you are gone. The memory of you survives in the people you interact with. People will remember what it was like to be around you vs what you did. Treat people kindly. That’s it.
Those are some of my top quotes; I continue to add to my list daily as I come across them. Please share your quotes in the comments below; I love hearing the ones that have affected people the most and WHY.
Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey. You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.
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