Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness

Researchers speculate that music suppresses pain by, basically, focusing the brain on something else—tunes. In one study, researchers found that listening to music created the same pain-easing results of taking a tablet of extra-strength Tylenol.

Four simple steps: First, I let myself worry. Second, I took stock. I would be doing the equivalent of a 38-mile training run with someone who had been running for the better part of a day—not a huge deal. Third, I asked myself what I could do to remedy the situation. That was easy. All I had to do was be a good pacer. The fourth and final step: Se

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?

If you are not on the edge, you are taking up too much room. —RANDY “MACHO MAN” SAVAGE

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. —MAHATMA GANDHI

Focus on the “runner’s five”: hamstrings, hip flexors,

It was time to pull out the four-step checklist. Number one: I was exhausted. I let myself feel that and I acknowledged it. Number two: I took stock. I was slightly pissed off that I had just expended so much energy, all to put distance between myself and someone I needn’t have worried about. And I was still exhausted and upset. But it wasn’t life-

Bushido is letting go of the past and the future and focusing on the moment.

MAKING PROGRESS Regular running is satisfying in itself.