This is The Nooner, a (very short) daily newsletter slash podcast that has its very own section within Dispatches from Inner Space.
To see the first post, which doubles as an explainer, click here.
Also a quick reminder that you can listen to the podcast version of each post wherever you listen to podcasts.
Can you run a hundred miles?
I know a guy who recently got into ultramarathons.
Let me emphasize that this guy is not me. I’m the guy who can cover about a mile and a half in 15 minutes most mornings. I don’t think I’m made of the right stuff for much more than that.
But this guy is.
A few years ago, he realized that the only thing that seemed to cure his depression was to go on long runs. Naturally, he fell in love. Now he spends at least a couple of hours running almost every afternoon.
When he did his first ultramarathon, he found a new tribe. They were people like him, people who just loved running. People who ran because it made them happy.
Last week, he gave a talk in church, and shared what his new tribe had taught him:
If what you’re doing doesn’t make you happy, it won’t last.
He said that anyone who tries to run a hundred miles learns there are lot of things that can get you through eighty miles. Things like having something to prove. Things like the fear of failure, or the craving for recognition.
But there’s only one thing that can get you through the last twenty miles. You have to love running.
Do you have to go run a hundred miles to get the point of this? Yeah I don’t think so.
But everybody has some kind of metaphorical ultramarathon to run, don’t they? It’s worth asking yourself what you’ve been using to get through the first eighty miles.
Will it work for the last twenty?
Click at least one of these or else…
…fire and blood will rain from the heavens, and all will lament your transgression.
Can you run a hundred miles?