Eliminate Suffering

“You can go into a race hoping to endure suffering or you can go in planning to eliminate it and hit your goal.

But you can’t do both.

It’s easy to assume running ultras is all about enduring suffering. So much is made inside and outside the sport about it.

Enduring suffering is a badge of honor.

Suffering is the debt owed for a good life.

It’s redemption from unworthiness.

The point of an ultra is suffering.

The more you suffer the stronger you are.

And the suffering we voluntarily endure makes us special.

But it all conflicts with running your best.

If you’re serious about getting results, you’ll eliminate suffering so it doesn't slow or wear you down.

I’m not saying you won’t suffer in a race.

Or that it’s not amazing to push your body to the limit.

Or that overcoming suffering to cross the finish line isn’t transformative.

I’m saying that suffering isn’t the point it seems to be.

Running your best - what you’re capable of - is. And suffering doesn't help you do that.

When your plan is to endure suffering, that’s what you do.

You subject yourself to it. Lows, bad pacing, dehydration and stomach issues…that’s just the way it is.

You don’t put much energy into trying to prevent it. You expect it to happen and hope willpower will get you to the finish. You have no other strategy.

As a result, you end up suffering, your willpower to endure it can wear out, and you’re likely to drop.

Suffering becomes a familiar “comfort” zone and you don’t improve from one race to the next.

On the other hand, when your plan is to hit your goal, suffering becomes an obstacle to get through. So you plan to prevent all the ways - when, where and how - it can happen.

As a client said when we were planning her race, “The ultimate goal is to make the right decisions at the right times so you don’t have to suffer.”

The benefits of planning your race this way are immense.

Obviously, less suffering makes races more enjoyable.

You build discipline and belief - and know how to do it with your next goal.

You’re more likely to finish but even if you DNF, you progress. You know what to change next time and what’s possible when you do.

You feel more confident and in control with a solid plan.

You’re more likely to achieve future ultramarathon goals.

And your success at those goals gives you the skills and belief to achieve success in other areas of your life.

When you take the races you train long and hard for seriously, you’ll eliminate all the suffering you can between you and your goal.

There’s no doubt suffering gets a lot of attention from others but reaching your goal gives you more satisfaction.

Suffering makes a good story but hitting your goal makes a better one.

And at the finish, it’s not the suffering that proves you ran a good race, it’s the results.

So plan your race.

Suffering is something you can get through, not just endure.

And you deserve to do more than endure.