Scott Jurek is one the most well-known ultimate racer back when the field was so new they just ran for themselves and didn't even have a name. He ran in the race I became obsessed with, written about by the brilliant author Christopher McDougall in his historic book Born to Run. He wasn't a great runner at short distances (take that with a grain of salt) but he just kept increasing the distance until he found himself outrunning the competition. He wrote an autobiographical book called Eat and Run that includes a lot of his favourite vegetarian recipes. He eats a lot of calories, so there are a lot of recipes! I always loved reports that, even as the winner of a race, he would wrap himself up in a sleeping bag and keep cheering the field of racers that were finishing behind him. That's a rare sportmanship that I adore.
Here is some of the quotes and sage advice from his book:
The best way out is through. --Robert Frost
Racing ultras requires absolute confidence tempered with humility. To be a champion, you have to believe that you can destroy your competition. But you also have to realize that winning requires total commitment, and a wavering of focus, a lack of drive, a single misstep, might lead to defeat or worse.
Scott's mom, Lynn, "You don't have to be a chef to cook great food".
His dad, Gordy, in answer to the question why? "Sometimes you just do things".
Why suffering may be important:
"He tempered his discipline with compassion and a sense of fun...he [Scotts's dad] was teaching me that competition could turn the most mundane task into a thrill, and that successfully completing a job - no matter how onerous - made me unaccountably happy... I don't think they knew it at the time - and I certainly didn't - but my parents were training me to be an endurance athlete. By the time I started running, I knew how to suffer. "
"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." Anon.
Coach Sorensen 1. Be in shape. 2. Work hard. 3. Have fun.
Pain only hurts.
Not all pain is significant.
"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are." Kurt Cobain
Existentialists "did not believe in living life from the neck up. They challenged me to reject artifice and the expectations of others, to create a meaningful life."
Hippy Dan: "Simplicity and a connection to the land made us happy and granted us freedom."
"Always do what you are afraid to do." George Bernard Shaw
"What we eat is a matter of life and death. Food is who we are."
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." Mahatma Gandhi
Ponderosa pine forests of the Black Hills of South Dakota
When you run on the earth and with the earth, you can run forever.
"Storms" philosophy- hardness, toughness
"If you are not on the edge, you are taking up too much room. " Randy "Macho Man" Savage
"If you could walk a mile in my shoes you'd be crazy too." Tupac Shakur
Death as a motivator to keep running!
The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei
Tendai Buddhism Kaihogyo
Most run a 25 mile run every day for 1000 days with a knife at their waist, used to kill themselves should they fail to continue!
Kyoto. 9 day fast. Great Marathon on the 7th year of 52.5 miles a day, stopping to bless the people of Kyoto.
"Don't work towards freedom, but allow the work itself to be freedom."Dogen Roshi
American Journal of Epidemiology
Men sitting more than 6 hours 17% more likely to die than men sitting 3 per day. Women 34%! (Regardless of smoking status, obesity or regular exercise)
"All it takes is all you got-" Marc Davis
FOUR STEPS TO DEALING WITH ANXIETY:
1. Let yourself worry a little
2. Take stock
3. Ask what you can do to remedy the situation.
4. Separate the negative feelings from the situation.
"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places." Ernest Hemingway
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Hippocrates
"Injuries are our best teachers. "Scott's yoga teacher
"Let the beauty we love be what we do. " Rumi
RUNNING BOOKS BIBLIOGRAPHY
Running with the Whole Body - Jack Heggie
Running Wild- John Annerino
The Man Who Walked Through Time- Colin Fletcher
Mad Cowboy: Plain truth from the cattle rancher that won't eat meat-Howard Lyman
Surviving Extremes: a doctor's journey to the limits of human endurance -Kenneth Kamler
Exercise and fluid replacement- position paper Amer Coll Sports Med 2007 Are you peeing?
The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei -John Stevens
The food revolution: how your diet can help ace your life- John Robbins( Dr Frederick Stare Eat right for your own blood type, sugar conflict of interest?)
Leisure Time Spent Sitting Amer J Epidemiology 2010
Why we run- Bernd Heinrich
What is ultra running? Yiannis Kouros
Doaism - wu wei "doing without doing "
EPILOGUE
We all lose sometimes. We fail to get what we want. Friends and loved ones leave. We make a decision we regret. We try our hardest and come up short. It's not the losing that defines us. It's how we lose. It's what we do afterwards.
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