Your strength starts where comfort ends.
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 | | In today's edition, Joe shares: - Training for races = preparing for life.
- Dealing with the urge to quit.
- Excuses never win.
| | Spartans,
Joe De Sena here, writing this week from Vermont where we've held countless extreme events over the years. People think endurance events are about finish lines and medals, but they're not. They're about training for ambushes. The kind life sends when you least expect it: grief, rejection, injury, loss.
The Stoics called it "premeditatio malorum". Visualize the worst, so you're never surprised. That's what we do on a Spartan course.
Meanwhile, we train for the storm. Like these 5 endurance-building workouts.
Twenty miles into an Ultra once, I hit what I call the Dark Place. No water. No shade. Blisters in places I won't name. My brain screamed, "Stop." I told it, "Not today."
When your body quits, your mind takes over. When your mind quits, your spirit takes over. Goggins calls it the 40% rule; when you think you're done, you've only used up 40% of what's inside. Once I saw a 72-year-old vet crawling through the final moments of the Spartan Death Race, laughing like a madman as he made it to the end. He had every excuse to quit, like age, injury, and pain. But instead he chose the Hard Way.
You should too.
If you don't know where to start, the Spartan Run Club is helping thousands of Spartans build discipline, find community, and crush their own "hard." Better yet, sign up for a Spartan event near you - there's all sorts, from obstacle course races, to team challenges, to trail running and even the Summer Death Race.
Spartan is a place where you can prepare for your life's next ambush.
You ready?
Joe | | | NO EXCUSES | Chris Davis showed up at Spartan HQ in Vermont weighing over 700 pounds and said he wanted to change. Most people would've laughed at him. He didn't care. He trained every day, no matter the pain, no matter the weather. He lost 400 pounds and finished the Spartan Ultra, one of the hardest races we've got. I asked why he didn't quit. He said: "Because I already lived through hell. This is better."
More stories: The Spartan Way on Amazon | | | You Ask, Joe Answers | Q: Joe, do you have a mental trick for when your body's done?"
- Jimmy N.
A: Jimmy, I remind myself this pain is rented. Quit, and I'll own the regret forever. I'd rather limp across a finish line than give up half way.
Aroo!
Question for Joe? Want to tell him what you think of The Hard Way? Email him at thehardway@spartan.com. | | | | They Said It | | ""It always seems impossible until it's done." | | – Nelson Mandela | | | THE HARD WAY VIDEOS | | In this episode, hear Joe and Spartan Athletes discuss the origins of Spartan and what it takes to be an elite OCR racer. | | | | | | To keep receiving this newsletter, sign up here. | | | WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS NEWSLETTER? | | | | | |
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