[Part I] What I Learned from Ultra
[Part I] What I Learned from Ultra
with 7 takeaways on peak performance
Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes, 35 seconds
I’ve shared why I ran my race, how I committed to it, and, recently, a friend asked me what the experience was like.
Training for this 100-miler helped me grow in unexpected ways and showed me what high achievement looks like, not just physically, but across all parts of life.
In Part I, I’ll dive into the pre-race takeaways and my comeback. In Part II, I’ll continue the comeback story and the intra-race (during), and post-race (after) takeaways.
You learn how I:
Almost burnt out and why my training was so horrible in the beginning
Turned the ship around by having more fun and getting better results
Performed during the actual race and how the entire experience was
Recovered after the race and what I’m working towards now
I’ll show you how to implement these lessons in your own life so you can find ways to create actionable change in your quest for peak performance.
Pre-Race
Doing Too Much
I started training in November of 2023. I was working out 3-5 hours, at most, including a weekly running average of about 15 miles.
My fitness was mediocre at best and I loved the idea of getting back into savage shape. Every time I did, I had a clearer mind, better mood, and higher energy.
Then I met someone who said they were running 100-miles and lifting 1,000 lbs (across bench, squat, and deadlift) so, of course, I had too as well.
But learning how to lift while running longer and faster was overwhelming. I was yapping about my goals online and vlogging everything too so there was immense pressure to perform because I had created this persona of being able to do it all.
I was putting my body under enormous stress by lifting heavy ass weights (335 deadlifts, 385 lb squats, and 235 lb bench press at my peak) and oversharing on the internet. Being vulnerable online added another layer of stress too.
For 5 months, (from November to May), I was doing too much. I was increasing my mileage, tossing in random speed workouts, and juggling a dozen other things.
I kept doing new things, and attaching arbitrary goals to them, until I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. So I began letting go.
I ended my community. I stopped making podcasts. I didn’t write anymore. Then in July, I almost quit running altogether.
Takeaway #1: Less is more. You can only master a few things at a time. Learn when and how to adjust your goals instead of being so rigid. Big goals can be exciting, but overcommitting can lead to burnout, especially when external expectations and the need to maintain an image is attached.
31st Birthday Ultra
My birthday was on Saturday, June 8th, 2024. The plan was to run 50-miles during the day, but there were thunderstorms the day before and the day of.
There was a nice window from 7 PM on Friday, to 12 PM on Saturday where the forecast looked fine and I figured I’d finish in 10-12 hours — so I decided to send it.
My biggest concern was there was only 1 gas station open 24/7 on the entire route I planned. “No problem”, I thought, “I’ll carry 2 extra water bottles.”
I could hit the gas station on the way back and the longest I’d go without filling up on water was roughly 25 miles, which in my head, was about 5-6 hours.
Turns out, the gas station was not open all night long. I had to make a decision to keep going or turn back and run laps around the park by my house all night long.
I decided keeping on my route would make for a better story so I kept trekking on. I biked across deserts before, I was sure I’d be okay being a little dehydrated.
Being dehydrated was the least of my problems. I had a massive burrito at the gas station, on top of a huge dinner, to give myself fuel for the night.
As I would later learn, fueling doesn’t work that way. You can only digest a certain amount each hour, and running on a full stomach — not super fun or effective.
The run was slow but fine until about miles 26-30. I couldn’t put food down. I didn’t like the taste of anything. I was tired and my IT band was flaring up.
I was listening to Choose Strong by Sally McRae and hearing how she overcame abuse to become one of the best ultramarathoners in the world made me question myself.
“Am I pretending to be someone I’m not?” David Goggins, Sally McRae, so many people I admired went through horrible, traumatic experiences as children. Big ‘T’ trauma.
“Were these people great because of their experiences? Did I want what they had without overcoming what they did? Could I? What the fuck am I even doing with my life, vlogging, and lifting, and doing all of these random things?” Thoughts pounded my skull in darkness.
I found myself walking in spurts around 2AM, not only physically tired, but exhausted from the mental barrage of these impossible questions.
The sun came up around 7 AM and I was on mile 37. My feet didn’t feel great and I was demoralized, unprepared for the run and the late night interrogation.
A friend who I was supposed to run the 100-miler with backed out because he had a shift in priorities and I couldn’t help wonder what my priorities were.
I couldn’t suck down anymore Go Gels and dry trail mix nuts and I already ran 11 more miles than I ever had before.
I had done my first ultra, on my birthday, at night no less, and while I could have ran 13 more miles to hit 50, it sounded horrible — so I decided to pack it in.
I was happy to hit a personal record even though I didn’t hit my goal… at least that’s what I told myself.
While everybody else told me how crazy I was and how amazing the accomplishment was, I felt like a failure.
I had no clue what I was doing with my life and I didn’t even have the will to finish my 50-miler. I felt naive, dumb, and lost.
Takeaway #2: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Failure isn’t bad and it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. The hard questions you have in the dark place are a sign to learn, grow, and love yourself more. Self-doubt and insecurity means you’re pushing past a limit. Find a way through the fear. You’ll find yourself on the other side.
The Comeback
From June to July, I DoorDashed a lot of comfort food, binge-watched The Bear, and played an unreasonable amount of Total War: Shogun 2.
Three things helped me get out of the funk:
Seeing Carmy work his ass off day and night (although his work life balance and overall personality was a bit toxic) showed me what it meant to be great.
Seeing my Strava #’s hit an all time low after training for 8 months felt like a gut punch. I trained for hundreds of hours to rebuild my fitness, so I decided to recommit, without the powerlifting this time, instead of wasting my hard work.
I played Total War: Shogun 2 and didn’t eat for an entire day. I’d never been so consumed by a video game before and I knew I wasn’t coping well.
Hitting a low was the wakeup call I needed. I got my shit together the next week and followed up with my best 3 month running streak ever — which you’ll hear more about in Part II. Make sure to subscribe.
Takeaway #3: Greatness requires sacrifice, commitment, and discipline. You can’t avoid the hard work of doing the same thing, day after day, to become great. Hitting a low isn’t the end — it’s just the beginning.
