The Biggest Lesson From Finishing 127 100-Mile Races

This weekend, I finished my 20th Superior 100 - my 127th 100-mile race.

It’s my first 20-time finish at a 100 miler (Massanutten will hopefully be next).

At a milestone like this, you’d expect reflection, but no one told me there’d be so much.

All the changes in the race, the place, the people…and in me over the 22 years (missed one for injury, one for COVID). It’s a lot to hold in my mind at one time.

I meant to be present in the race but couldn’t help thinking about the journey.

Here’s where Virgilio and I missed a turn in the trail, then figured it out and laughed about it together even without speaking a word of each other’s language.

Here’s where Brad suffered in the heat on the exposed rocks.

Here’s where I turn on my headlamp. Here’s where I used to turn on my headlamp in the old course.

Oh…the beaver dam is a nice boardwalk now. What faith it took to cross a tenth of a mile’s worth of two wobbly, slick, tilted planks of death every year!

Here’s the view from Mt. Trudee where you can see if the leaves are changing color up the lake shore this year.

Here’s where I’ve been lucky enough to hear wolves.

I’ve pondered it for a day or two because I’m standing in an unusual place and there’s got to be something of value to share.

And sure enough, there is:

It’s not about doing a race well. It’s about getting better at ultrarunning.

A race isn’t a race - it’s part of a mosaic you’re creating.

You just don’t see it at the time. You see a race - one piece - a single square tile.

At the time, that square, and whether it looks like you want it to, is all that matters.

You might finish with one perfect, shimmering square - a PR or a podium finish or a new distance - and hold onto that - or beat yourself up because you ended up with a square that looks ugly.

But it’s just one piece.

You can’t see the picture all the pieces are creating until you’re done and you step back and look at all them together, as I am now.

When you finally look at the whole, you’ll notice a couple of things.

First, if you’ve ever looked at a particularly beautiful, artistic mosaic in detail, you’ll notice it has variety of tiles - pretty and ugly, whole and broken.

But the ugly and broken ones you think you don’t want are just as a valuable to the whole as the pretty ones.

In the mosaic in photo, next to my shoulders, jagged mirror shards are perfect as the splash the jumping fish is making.

The finished masterpiece wouldn’t make sense without the broken ones.

Second, it’s not worth getting overly attached to any of the pieces, good or bad.

One piece isn’t a mosaic - it’s a part of the whole.

Third, as much as you might wish your pieces were “better,” you’ve got to work with the pieces you’ve got. 

How can you make the most of them?

And last, while you might have a plan of the overall scene you want to create - how you want your running career to go - it probably won’t bend precisely to your will any more than races do.

And that’s ok, because it could actually turn out better than anything you could have imagined.

Mine has.

So, love them all. Learn from them all. 

Individually, they’re impressive. Together…they’re breathtaking.

What seems like failing is, in the big picture, just a step toward becoming a better ultrarunner.

You don’t know how the race ahead will fit into the mosaic you’re creating, but it will.

All part of the final art you’re creating but can’t see yet.

Won’t it be fun to see the unveiling?

I’m here to help you get better at creating the confidence you have what it takes for a race, handling race lows, and keep moving in spite of your negative thinking. 

To help you get even better than you already are at ultrarunning.

I’ve done it and can do the same for you.

Let’s talk.