Eat and Run

Run until you can’t run anymore. Then run some more. Find a new source of energy and will. Then run even faster.

If we read it closely, everything we need to know about running is in Pheidippides’ story. He ran over 300 miles—the first half in a little over one day—and he didn’t even get what he wanted! If you run long enough, that tends to happen. Whatever quantitative measure of success you set out to achieve becomes either unattainable or meaningless. The reward of running—of anything—lies within us. As I sought bigger rewards and more victories in my sport, it was a lesson I learned over and over again. We focus on something external to motivate us, but we need to remember that it’s the process of reaching for that prize—not the prize itself—that can bring us peace and joy. Life, as countless posters and bumper stickers rightly attest, is a journey, not a destination.

In a sprint, if you don’t have perfect form, you’re doomed. The ultra distance forgives injury, fatigue, bad form, and illness. A bear with determination will defeat a dreamy gazelle every time. I can’t count the number of times people have said, “I can’t believe he beat me.” Distance strips you bare.

Cool and stir in the raisins.

knew that the coupons Mom was using when I went with her to the grocery store were really food stamps, that we were getting government cheese, and that Dad was having trouble making ends meet

The best way out is always through.

—Robert Frost

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

—RUMI

you would do 10-minute intervals of hard running followed by 2-minute breaks, or 15 minutes of hard running followed by 3 minutes of rest, and so on.

When an ABC reporter pulled up next to Jones on a particularly punishing ascent late in the Western States and said, “You’ve been smiling since we started filming you,” Jones, without breaking stride, replied, “Well, I like runnin’.”

But you can be transformed. Not overnight, but over time. Life is not a race. Neither is an ultramarathon, not really, even though it looks like one. There is no finish line. We strive toward a goal, and whether we achieve it or not is important, but it’s not what’s most important. What matters is how we move toward that goal. What’s crucial is the step we’re taking now, the step you’re taking now.
Everyone follows a different path. Eating well and running free helped me find mine. It can help you find yours. You never know where that path might take you