Overcoming Obstacles: The Only Path to Life

I’ve been running for almost four hours now.

The sun has gone down and I’ve gone from running with a group to all by myself. I’m about 15 miles in a 52 mile race. It started at 6pm and will go all night.

I was feeling fairly good up to this point but my stomach began to turn. I felt nauseous and it was tough to stand up straight, let alone run. But I kept running. I slowed a bit but didn’t stop running.

I felt horrible but I realized it didn’t seem to be getting worse, or better, from running. So I figured that if I could endure this feeling I could keep running.

There are a million variables that could create obstacles during a race. Having a “perfect” race is subjective. There may not be such a thing. I believe the purpose of a race is to overcome yourself and any obstacle that comes your way during the race. There has to be obstacles that come up in the race to have the opportunity to overcome yourself.

I thought about this as a run feeling nauseous. Part of my mind was yelling to quit over and over again, but the other side was smiling at the opportunity to overcome this obstacle.

I continued to run, but after a few miles I had to walk for a bit as my nausea was getting worse. The course was set up as a 26 mile loop which we would do twice. There was an aid station at the start of each loop with plenty of food, drinks and bathrooms. I was about 20 miles into lap one. I had to make it to the aid station to try to address my stomach issues.

There was only one path I could take.

Endure this challenge and make it 6 more miles. I fully believed if I made it to the aid station that I could fix my stomach problem. I only had water, electrolytes, and energy gels with me at the time and none of them were making my stomach feel better. I began to run again, focusing on one step at a time. I broke my progress as micro as I could. Focusing on just one step at a time. After each step, I’d ask myself, “can I take another?” and I always could. So I kept moving forward.

Hearing the voices of volunteers and seeing the lights, I ran up a hill and finally saw the aid station.

I made it.

I walked up to the aid station table and a volunteer asked if I wanted warm bone broth. I said yes so fast. This might help my stomach. I also grabbed some Coke and a banana. I slammed all three and sat down for a minute. I needed to use the bathroom. After a quick push I was done. I came back out, grabbed my running gear, filled my water, and headed out back on the trails for lap two. My stomach was not feeling better.

However, after about two more miles of running, my nausea went away completely. I felt great. I overcame a major obstacle that lasted for hours. I felt high on life and ready to run. I darted through the trails and enjoyed the moment. The darkness of the night. The cool air hitting my face. The calmness of the woods. I felt grateful for the ability to run and enjoy this moment.

Through facing obstacles, you experience the lowest of lows.

Overcoming them makes you experience the highest of highs.

You won’t know what great feels like unless you’ve felt like sh*t.

Facing and overcoming obstacles creates bliss and gratitude for life.