16 Surprising Lessons from My First 50-Mile Ultramarathon

‘It always seems impossible until it’s done.’ ~Nelson Mandela By Leo Babauta On Saturday, I did what I thought I couldn’t do. I ran a 50-mile ultramarathon. Now, I’m certainly not the first to run a race like this — thousands of other stronger, tougher runners have done it. I’m not even one of the faster ones to run this kind of race — I was so slow I almost didn’t make the official cutoff time. So I don’t take any special credit for running the race. If anything, most of the credit belongs to my friend Scott Dinsmore, who encouraged me to run it and then played a huge role in getting me to the finish. But I am proud of running the 50-miler. Because it showed me that my limitations aren’t what I thought they were. And it was a way for me to teach my kids the same thing about themselves, through my example. There’s a lot to say about the race, which started at 5 a.m. in clear, freezing cold conditions … and continued for nearly 14 hours in beautiful (though cold) weather up and down endless hills in the gorgeous Marin Headlands. Seriously, it’s extremely beautiful country and you should hike it if you’re ever in the Bay Area. But instead of walking you through a boring recap of my race, I’ll share some lessons that I learned along the way. Lessons from My Ultramarathon Here are a few of the things I learned: It was way, way harder than I anticipated. I mean, I knew it would...
Source: Zen Habits - Category: Life Coaches Authors: Tags: Goals & Motivation Health & Fitness Source Type: blogs