Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

by Scott Jurek

You could carry your burdens lightly or with great effort. You could worry about tomorrow or not. You could imagine horrible fates or garland-filled tomorrows. None of it mattered as long as you moved, as long as you did something. Asking why was fine, but it wasn’t action. Nothing brought the rewards of moving, of running.

Every single one of us possesses the strength to attempt something he isn’t sure he can accomplish. It can be running a mile, or a 10K race, or 100 miles. It can be changing a career, losing 5 pounds, or telling someone you love her (or him).

What matters more than victory is what I do to reach it and how. Have I prepared? Am I focused? Have I have been treating my body with attentiveness, eating healthfully and with care? Have I been training properly? Have I pushed myself as far, and as hard, as possible?

But whether you get what you want isn’t what defines you. It’s how you go about your business.

No matter what you do, there are going to be haters out there. My Zen self tells me they’re no worse than people who idolize you for the wrong reasons. What people think about you doesn’t really matter.

Whatever quantitative measure of success you set out to achieve becomes either unattainable or meaningless. The reward of running—of anything—lies within us.

It’s not the losing that defines us. It’s how we lose. It’s what we do afterward.