Life Lessons while Running an Ultramarathon

A couple of weekends ago, I ran my fourth ultramarathon. What is an ultramarathon? I thought you'd never ask. (Ultra runners talk about their exercise almost as much as CrossFitters...)

An ultramarathon is any race longer than the 26.2 mile marathon distance. I completed the Bull Mountain Epic 50k, a 33ish mile trail race with 5,000 feet of elevation gain.

As it turns out, when you run hundreds of miles over five months and run a further distance than ever before, you learn some things along the way. While I posted some short thoughts on Twitter, this is a better medium for more nuance. So, here are a few life lessons that apply to everything, not just running.

Preparation is good. Grit is better.

I ran every bit of this trail ahead of time. But when I put it all together, with some course reroutes, I ended up running 3.8 miles more than I thought. I prepared as much as I could, but the preparation wasn't required to finish. Grit was essential.

That's true in marriage, parenting, career, side hustle, etc. You cannot possibly prepare for everything life will through at you. You can train in those things, but the unexpected is where you rise or fall. You can train your grit so that no matter what comes at you, you can continue to move forward. Preparation is good, but grit is better.

If you want to do more than you've done, you're going to sleep a little less.

I trained for about 5 months, starting at 5am most mornings. Whether that's setting the alarm a little earlier or staying up a little later, more of something requires less of something.

This can become detrimental. But it was surprising to me how little sleep I needed. I might suggest I was better off sleeping a little less because I had a fire to accomplish something I hadn't done in quite a while.

If you want to write a book, you'll need to get up earlier or stay up later. Exercise requires time. Reading requires time. Managing finances requires time. Find the things that get you out of bed earlier, and you'll be excited to lose sleep.

Purpose heightens your pain tolerance.

At some point, running that far just hurts. I took a good fall at mile 17, banging up my left knee and right ribs. I had some good nausea working at mile 27, hurting my ability to take in calories and move forward efficiently.

But there was a clear finish line and goal in my mind. I had my time goal. I had the goal of just getting the dang race done. I had a purpose. Your purpose is why you're doing something and what will be different when you get it done.

When you're clear on purpose, you can deal with all sorts of pain. When you're unclear on purpose, even the slightest pain will cause you to quit. Give yourself clarity of purpose (marriage, parenting, career, exercise, finance), and then see how far you can push.

Be intentional with your speed.

When you go out too fast at an ultra, you can "blow up." You blow up when you fail to complete the race because you ran too fast at the beginning, depleting yourself for the later phases.

This is why I love running ultras. If you do it right, you've trained for months, you've tapered off so your weekly mileage feels incredibly easy, you've eaten a ton of carbs, and you're ready to go. Then, you have to hold back. Because you're going to be out there for hours.

People with a lot of capacity don't always win in life. It's the people who have a lot of capacity and know how to reign it in when necessary to keep the future sustainable. Keep your pace sustainable in life, leadership, work, and family.

Most of the time people criticize you, they're doing less than you.

I ran with some great runners who've gone further than I have, and I ran with some runners that have run less. The common denominator: everyone was encouraging each other.

When you've gone the distance (literally or figuratively), and someone is behind you doing the same thing, you're excited. You know the challenges, and you're enjoying the journey with someone else.

It is easy to throw stones at the person at the top. And we see that a lot in our culture. So when criticism comes your way, even if there is something to learn, it is wise to remember that person is probably doing less. And if you're criticizing, be careful you're not throwing stones from the bottom of the mountain without climbing it first.

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