Stumbling into Ultramarathons

I've only told a handful of people this story, and honestly, I never thought to share. Or wanted to... But I've been asked how I got into running ultra-marathons quite often, so here's my origin story..

It was March 2020. Not a great time to be a gym owner. Lockdown. The future was bleak, and there were a lot of unknowns. Stress and anxiety were high, but I didn't know it. I thought it was normal. I was a ¼ twist away on the tuning peg from snapping the guitar string.

"Can I use your facility at like 4am?"

I received that text from a friend and longtime client who has supported my business. So, I did what any friend would do. I gave him an access code. I'll always help a friend. At least it's being used.

The next day, I got a text, "Thanks man, I left some cookies on your desk." My friend wasn't Martha Stewart, but more like her friend Snoop Dogg… He was opening a dispensary in town and was in the giving mood… "Only eat ¼ of cookie and wait an hour before trying more."

Now, at this time, I have just turned 30, have 2 kids under 2 years old, and have yet to try the old devil cabbage since I was in high school. It never really crossed my mind as I spent most of my 20s in the Army.

That night, after the kids were in bed, I took a bite of said cookie… like how most of these stories go, I waited 20 minutes and figured nothing was happening, so I took another bite. I can't tell you how long it was since I was on my way to another planet, but I was blasted.

The TV was on, but I can't tell you what we were watching. I just sat there. Then, I randomly searched the internet for challenges (idk why.. I was high, okay?). Spartan races, adventure races, and suddenly ultramarathons popped up, and I knew my search was over. I'm going to run 100k in 6 months. A big challenge and I wanted to set an example to my clients. If we set our minds to something, anything is possible.

My first ultra was actually 3 months after this initial decision. It was a gnarly 50k. My thought process was if I can do half of it now, I’ll be sitting good. I was completely underprepared but gutted it out. That’s a story for another day.. Pictures by Mile 90 photography

It's funny because we all had ideas when "under the influence" (or we hang out in different friend groups) and woke up the following day, shook our heads, and laughed it off as a crazy idea. This was different, though, and the next day, my excitement grew even though I had never completed a run longer than 8 miles…

During the next 6 months of training, I figured out a lot about myself. I started to realize I had anxiety, and it was eating me up. This is why some of us runners seem addicted (and probably are) because we know when life feels like a box with the walls closing in, we can put our shoes on, find a trail or road, and run away from our problems. Just kidding. Running blows the walls of that box like TNT. The world slows down a bit, and our thoughts do, too. This is why I still run. 4 years later.

I don't recommend ripping bongs to find a passion or fitness routine. If you do so, it should be done legally and responsibly... But for me, at this time, it helped me drop my anxiety. I wasn't scared to put myself out there for once. I even shared it on social media, which, back then to me, was a big deal. The chance of failure and public embarrassment (my perception) would generally prevent a move like that...

The moral of the story (if there is one), don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and take a chance on yourself. Only you know what you're capable of, and it's probably more than what you think. You might end up liking it…

But yeah.. If you want to make a long story short, I got stoned and signed up for an ultramarathon.

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