An ultra marathon. I had no idea what this was even until a few years ago. Probably around the time I was deciding to do my first half marathon, which even then was a big deal for me. Maybe I truly will not understand it till I do more of them, seeing how it changes me in mind, body and heart.
According to research 0.1% of the global population has ever finished a marathon, but for an ultra 0.001% of the world. 600,000 people in the world have ever done ultras. A rare breed of crazy for sure. I started my journey wanting to see what a half marathon was like. A big achievement for me back in the day, and now a half marathon is just part of routine weekly training day. When did that happen? Or rather how did that happen.
I am the guy who started off his exercise passion, with only being able to do 0.1 mile at a time. That was it. Anything more I would feel I would die. If 400meters of running was put into my CrossFit workout, the coaches knew they would never see me.
And here having done 50miles of running I did 500 times that initial amount. Running translates into mindsets. It is not just about loving the legs, getting the heart rate up. In fact it is more about mindsets than anything else. It is about training the mind to be rewired that it can do more than it believes.
How can we translate this unleashing of potential in other areas of our lives. If I can do 500 x of running, how can I expand that belief in my learning, studying, reading, writing, relationships, wealth management, other hobbies or activities? Most of the time we are limited by one thing. Our mindset. We have been programmed to believe that we cannot do things BECAUSE……. ( finish that sentence). We procrastinate, frustrate, and hesitate. But what can you do 500x more powerfully, more openly, more lovingly, more expansively?
This 50 miler at least for me was about pushing through that which I resisted the most. MY fears. It is so easy to give up. I have done it 1000x. It started with small projects, the little lies I told myself and gave myself a pat on the back for mediocrity, with excuses that made me feel better. Eventually bigger projects, or opportunities were lost because of fear of not being able to, or thinking I did not know enough, or believing I could not. Failures that should have been learning opportunities became cocoons to hide inside.
Yet to break a shell one is compelled to go through the storms that we face. The storms actually shape us. Our fears are needed, not as excuses but as barriers to build us, just as a new cell is born from the parent cell. It takes the lining and materials from that prior cell, the constructs, the elements to become something new. Fears transforming into a new person, a new mindset.
The same mindset that once told me that a marathon (26.2) miles was impossible for me to accomplish, led me to train and try it. Action. Now here I stand at a 50 miler done ( almost twice the distance of a single marathon). I could have given up at 23 miles when I had muscle cramping, but that just fueled me to go forth harder.
What is my next mindset that I can break in other areas of my life? When I achieve that, I can use running to break my next distance barrier that I have told myself that I am not enough to do be able to do.
The bottom line. unleash your light each day. Push through those limitations and birth possibilities into your life. We only get one round on this rodeo, make it count.
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I love you
