My Insane Fitness Goals That I Never Share With Anyone

Well, I never shared them with anyone until now.

I’ve been called crazy, sadistic, masochistic, and self-loathing. None of that matters because I follow what I am passionate about.

A lot of people will never understand why I want to do the things that I do and that’s okay. There’s no use in trying to help them know because the only way to understand is to go out and do it yourself.

People who run ultra-marathons do dozens of GoRuck events, Spartan Races, or any other type of suffer-fest understand why they do it because they’ve been through it.

In every single extreme fitness event I have ever done, I have asked myself why I am doing this. During a good portion of this, I have an existential crisis and wonder if this is worth it.

I’m putting myself through 24 hours of suffering for what? A medal? A piece of cloth?

It runs deeper than that and started when I trained for my first marathon.

Initially, a marathon was a bucket list item to check off while I was still in my early 20s. I didn’t get a coach to train and was winging it. A few times a week I would do interval training alongside with longer weekend runs.

When I cramped at mile 16, I thought I was done for. Every muscle from the waist down was locked up but I kept going.

Eventually, I crossed that finish line and told myself, “I’m never doing that again.”

For the next three years, that ended up being true until I aimlessly signed up for an event that would change my life.

The Event That Taught Me More Is Possible

This event is now called the GoRuck Tough but in 2014 it was called the challenge. My friend sent me a link to it and asked if I would do the event with him. I aimlessly signed up not knowing what the event entailed. I assumed it was like a Spartan Race or something like that.

“What is GoRuck?”

Then I looked at the event and the bullets were something like this:

• 20 miles
• A rucksack filled with 6 bricks or 40 lbs
• 12 hours
• Starts at 9:00 pm

I’m thinking, “What the hell did I sign up for? I have to carry a 40 lb pack for 20 miles?”

Beyond the point where I could back out, I went to the event and made it through after crawling in mud, rolling around in course sand, and being gaslighted for 6 hours by one of the Cadres.

“I’m never doing one of these again,” I told myself.

A few days later after the event, something changed.

I wanted to do another one but instead, I wanted to do something even harder.

Something changed in my brain after that event. I started to realize how much I was leaving on the table.

I signed up for the Chicago Marathon that year and ran it without training for it. It’s like my brain knew that my body had handled worse conditions and could handle it.

As soon as that happened, I started making lists of events that I wanted to do. Many of them I started to check off. However, the deeper you get into the culture of doing extreme endurance events, the more events you find out about.

My Bucket List Of Events

Qualify For Boston Marathon

• Time of year: September
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Boston, MA

The world’s oldest annual marathon which dates back to 1897 is a classic. For marathons, it’s the gold standard to qualify for.

Being a 33-year-old male, I would have to run a marathon under 3 hours to qualify. That’s an average of a 6-minute and 52-second mile for the entire race.

It’s going to be a challenge for me to qualify but I believe I can do it. To do so, I need to get faster. All of my runs have to have a purpose to them. If I’m going to go easy, I need to go easy. If I want to go up-tempo, I need to make sure I’m running up-tempo.

There’s a lot of training ahead of me for this one.

The Western States 100

• Time of year: End of June
• Distance: 100 miles
• Location: Olympic Valley, CA

One of the original ultra-marathons, the Western States starts in Olympic Valley, California, and ends in Auburn, California. This race is brutal with over 16,000 feet of climbing over 1 day.

Many ultramarathon legends have done this race. Dean Karnazes’ book, Ultra Marathon Man, is the book that made me want to run this race one day. The race has become popular over the years and has gone to a lottery system that can be difficult to gain entry unless you are an elite runner.

Badwater 135

• Time of year: End of July
• Distance: 135 miles
• Location: Lone Pine, CA

Ten years ago, I would have thought this race couldn’t be possible. There’s no way that a human being could run in the scorching hot weather of Death Valley in July.

Badwater isn’t a race for the faint of heart. The race starts 280 feet below sea level and finishes at Whitney Portal at 8,300 feet. So after running about 100 miles in 100+ degree heat, you get the joy of climbing up a mountain to finish it off.

This race is insane and is one of those tests of human endurance that shows we are all capable of doing more than we believe.

Leadville 100

• Time of year: Middle of August
• Distance: 100 miles
• Location: Leadville, CO

I have a friend who had the honor of running this race and he finished just under the cut-off time. With this race starting at 10,200 feet and climbing up to 12,600 feet, altitude becomes a problem for many runners.

I’m a flatlander Chicagoan and I would love the honor of running this race to prove that you don’t have to live in the mountains to run mountainous races. As difficult as it would be for me to find time to train vertically, there are ways to get it done.

Spartan Race Ultra

• Time of year: varies on location
• Distance: 50KM
• Location: varies

As much as I love running, I love obstacle course racing. There’s something about adding in the factor of obstacles that you have to overcome to finish a race.

The Spartan Race Ultra has events all around the world. Instead of traveling to one that is domestic, I would love to run one of the races in places like Croatia.

Who doesn’t want to run 50 kilometers, carry sandbags, and do monkey bars along the way?

Spartan Death Race

• Time of year: End of June
• Distance: TBD
• Location: Pittsfield, VT

In the Green Mountains around Pittsfield, Vermont, is the Spartan Death Race. When it starts, they do everything to make sure to get in your head. You have to hold up a sign with a photo that says, “I may die.”

This race lasts about 72 hours. Some of the contestants had to complete a 26.2 marathon barbed wire crawl during some of the races. There’s no set distance but the challenge is beyond what you could imagine. Most years about 10% of contestants finish.

GoRuck Selection

• Time of year: June
• Distance: 80+ miles
• Location: Most years- Bellville, OH

Dubbed the “toughest endurance event in the world” this event is no joke. Most years, only one person finishes Selection, some years, no one does.

Selection is the peak of GoRuck events, holding everyone up to the standard. You have to carry a minimum of a 45-pound rucksack (dry weight) and go through everything that the cadres would put you through. This event is putting you through mental hell for 48 hours. What do you get if you complete it? A cool patch, a discount on GoRuck items, and bragging rights.

Conclusion

Maybe I am a little crazy for wanting to do all of these events. The thought of not doing them and dropping the goal makes life seem a little more empty. Some of the greatest times I’ve had in my life were in the moments when I voluntarily put myself through something hard.

Hard times in life will always come. It’s how you handle the hard times is that counts.

Events like these will not be easy for me to train my body to do. This requires years of dedication and building up mental fortitude. Maybe I won’t finish all of them but I at least want to make sure that I tried.

Has your passion been waning? Life can occasionally feel like it’s getting away from you. That is why I started Setup Sunday at Running Relentless. Sunday is often the perfect day of the week to prepare yourself for the week ahead. If you want tips each week to look at how to set yourself up for a better future, start here and grow each week.