Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

by Scott Jurek

“Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers . . . simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.” I created my own bushido exercises. I stood in icy rivers to strengthen my mind’s control over my body. I sat cross-legged and meditated, visualizing my breath, focusing.

A lot of people never do something great with their lives. A lot of people never attempt it. Everyone here had done both. Staying

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?” The point was living with grace, decency, and attention to the world, and breaking free of the artificial constructs in your own life. I know all that now. I sensed it then.