52 Adventure Marathons In 40 Weeks

By Samuel Westlind

What is a Marathon? 26.2 miles. The original: A Greek soldier, Pheidippides, ran to bring news of victory to his countrymen in Sparta. He ran himself to death. He loved his country so that he sacrificed himself. It was a selfless act that we celebrate in modern marathons to honor a man who did the impossible. There was no glory for him. There was no training. No good shoes. There was no support team, handing him water or snacks. There was no one cheering him on. It was an unsupported run through wilderness on rough mountainous ground, trails and primitive roads, a lonely, silent journey that could only have one end. He pushed. He died delivering the news on his last breath.

Who can claim such sacrifice today?

A marathon should be defined by his sacrifice: The pushing of self.

The modern interpretation of marathon is: A supported group running event, heats, individual times with the best times the winners. With modern nutrition, training and good footwear, people regularly do marathons. Mostly on pavement. The level of competition is fierce. Cool. But, this scene is not for me.

People run faster or slower than me. Big deal. I couldn’t care less.

Boring. Also, very one dimensional. I need more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483542300

Book preview

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PART I

THE BEGINNING

Chapter 1

MEATHEAD

You know what I like about running? Nothing. I am the definition of not being a runner. I am muscular and for the last 8 years, fat. I do not define myself as a runner by any means. I don’t identify that way. My engine is weak. I have poor lung capacity. When I run, I sound like a water buffalo and a Phlegmy Mcphlemerson. What does that even mean? I sound pathetic, gasping for breath. Winded. Even running a short way, recovery takes forever. Going up a flight of steps or playing with the dog for more than a minute? Winded. Pathetic.

When I was a kid, I was the chubby. They called me husky. I don’t know what that means. Maybe it is the land between fat and not fat? I was the husky, winded kid out of breath. I didn’t like sucking for air. I didn’t like sweating so hard for a silly game. I never had a passion for it. Running around bases? Stupid. Tackling somebody? Fun. As long as I didn’t have to run to far. High school track? Not a star. It was a great way to get out of farm chores even if I had to run in practice. My legs hurt. Shin splits. I was a joke.

1996

I am strong, I identify this way. Weights good. Run bad. Grunt. Shin splits. Couldn’t run even if I wanted to. Muscle pain ok. Bone pain. Not ok. No cardio for me. I was ok with this. I just wanted to be bulky with muscles. Didn’t ever realize I needed to upgrade the engine what was powering the muscles. Looked great. Felt great. Couldn’t run more than 2 miles without pain. So I didn’t run! Pathetic.

Here was my focus:

Meathead stats. I am proud of these figures.

Dead lift: 800 pounds. Could have done more. Possibly 1200 pounds. It was a goal. Semester was over before I could finish my test. Bench: max 350 pounds. That was a bitch. Curl max: 170 pounds and negative sets. It hurts, it works. Loved curls and pull ups. Loved em. Pullups: Crazy amounts. I did negatives on all of these. Max to minimum. On curls, throwing weights off at the end of every set. By the time I would get to the bar, 20 pounds, on curls, I would be crying. Inside, come on, I’m in a gym with dudes. Had to have my big boy pants on. Tears are for the weak, and when no ones watching.

The greatest compliment a gym rat can get? People, big muscular guys would ask me for secrets and steroids. Ha! I have never done drugs in my life.

With all the information out there and all that I learned led me to believe that I knew it all. I could be intense. I got hurt. Humble pie. Don’t like bench. Leg press sucks. I lost my love for the gym. I felt I was doing something wrong but I didn’t know what. I didn’t want to destroy my body.

Heavy static weights are not how we are designed to workout. Who knew? I sure didn’t. I am getting ahead of the story. Suffice to say, I have survived and have learned a lot. No cardio. Why? Because I didn’t like it. I Can’t run on a treadmill. Mind boggling numbness, even if I did, my shins would ache. Painful. Running is clearly not for me.

Military

I respect the armed forces. They are cool. I served in the National Guard. They make everyone do a physical training test annually. The perfect score for the run, pushups and situps is 300. I Don’t like being told what to do. I could do over a 100 pushups in 2 minutes. 85 plus sit ups in under 2 minutes. I could score the perfect 300 score, if I had tried. You will never see that on my record, because I hate being told I have to do something. I remember hitting 89 pushups during a test and lifting my hand, thus being disqualified. Why? Stupid, I guess. Running. 2 mile best time? A measly 13:30 I think. I walked for a minute in the middle of it. I met minimums to get by. Pathetic I know. I never felt a need to do more than was necessary there. I had no motivation. I was a bot. I showed them. Pathetic.

My workout at the gym? Inspired, wired and on fire. I was setting personal records every week. Amazing. Opposite lives. Weird. I don’t always like me but I do understand me better now. Back then I couldn’t put this paragraph into words. Time gives insight.

Graduation led me away from the gym and to the trail. I fell in love.

Chapter 2

DESTINATION: FAT ASS

Just follow these easy to follow steps and you can be too!

Simple really. One paragraph.

The successful recipe is something like this:

Note: Feel free to mix some of your own favorite ingredients into the recipe!

2 parts:

Get lost In the mess of hours and bills. Stress out. Stuff your face with stuff at every opportunity. Get bigger clothes and hide the guilt. Drink.

1 part:

Ignore the obvious. Delusional mental images of a youthful, fit you, when looking at the fat blob in the mirror are required. Simple plan. Don’t forget to let 8 years slide by!

Stir:

Until thick around the middle.

That’s all there is to it.

Success is guaranteed.

Chapter 3

LIFE: USER PARTICIPATION REQUIRED

2012 Summer.

I see myself in mirror by the pool with all my fit buddies. We all have our shirts off. Harsh reality. I can no longer hide from the truth. I realize I am fat. 8 years of denial, gone in a flash. I’m not sure which is worse? The realization of being fat, or the realization I could plausibly deny it for so long? I gulp the rest of my beer, while everyone around me is chattering happily away. I have the sobering thought...

Now I gotta deal with reality. Who wants to do that? Jeez, this sucks. I miss my blatant ignorance! When did this happen? I poke at my belly. It jiggles back at me. To my face! When did my belly get this disturbing attitude? Injustice. My own body is a physical mockery of the fit body my mind insists I am and the real physical, giggly jiggles I find. Sigh.

Chapter 4

NUTRITION

The first step in all of this madness is to learn what food is. Society and companies lie. Then I have to acknowledge and deal with my rate of consuming deliciousness. This ain’t gonna be easy. My first goal is simple: I need to be in decent enough shape to be happy. What does this look like to me? It needs to be sustainable or I will only return to fatman land.

I could go into the long journey this was to discover fuel and rediscover what I once think I knew, but here is the short version:

Be healthy. It is a mantra in our society.What does this even mean? Good question, because I’m confused. There is so much misinformation. Need to figure this out.

Journal posts:

Fat. Fat Hides the Guilt

1.25.13

I am now 199.2 lb.. 20 pounds lighter than I’ve been in years. I look and feel great. It is amazing how easy it is to forget what I once was. I am seeing lines and curves what have been hidden for a long time! Fat hides the guilt. In some ways it is a fix. An excuse to not do what we are capable of. It robs us of our vitality. I am angry for time lost. Why do we want to be fat in our society? Foods that have been processed are often fortified with lesser ingredients than were taken out. This is dishonesty that we literally pay for with our wallets, our health and our looks. Why aren’t people angry about these things? Marketers of modern diet and the assholes that tell us its ok to eat crap that is not consumable. Edible food like substances should not be legal. Period. So many points here, where should I begin? Years of my life, fat. Because I have no off button to potato chips and processed crap. We laugh at our dogs as they drool over anything that may soon sooth the eternal hunger. Are we any better? No. We can only hide our behavior better. Shorter tongues to hide the drool and social values to culture us… And we don’t lick our own butts. Slight improvement. As I drive by a fast food joint I catch myself drooling. Enough of the rant, it is up to me to know what foods to eat. I have no one to blame but me. It is obvious to all of us what should be eaten and what is not food. Even if 90% of our grocers’ floor space is not real food, we know in our core, what is real and what is not. WE are not dumb. We are just weak, and like to stuff our faces. Which reminds me, I’m hungry. Steak! Organic, please. Medium well to well. With some grapes in a bottle, pronto. Thanks.

1.26.13

FAT CAN’T BREED IF IT CANT HIDE, PEOPLE!

9.2 lb. left. 190 is college weight. Sweet. I can’t wait! Actually when I am at the upper end of my range, I fill out and my body kinda hides fat well. It is not until I have steadily lost it that I realize how fat I really was. 20 pounds is a lot of fat to carry around. Trust me. I do not want to be a free ride for my blubber anymore. Oddly, I didn’t really ever realize how bad I looked. I have a muscular body and a big chest so it is easy to buy a big tshirt that hangs off my shoulders and back and makes me look proportional. Presto! Instantly the fat is gone. In my mind, anyway. But I’m not fooling anyone. Being out of breath, sucks. Sorry, the pun couldn’t be helped. Worse, I know the fat is still there, lurking. Dammit.

The weird part now? I actually feel I look fatter between 199 and 205. Why? Because the chubbies are less full, and look like they are hanging around. Up to no good, probably breeding in the dark. No worries, I got my eyes on them. One day at a time. How many years since I have been below 200? 7? 8? I don’t know. I think maybe when we are fatter, it is so far beyond hope we accept how we look and justify that we don’t look too bad. When we have lost some weight and are in close proximity to what we could be or have been, it is more real to us. Therefore, I feel fatter the more I lose. The less fat I have, the more tangible it becomes. No matter how my looks improve in the mirror, I can do better.

I own this. I have donated all of my fat clothes. Your not a true believer until this step is taken. It is a change in perspective, a change in reality, noodle flipper. To keep the clothes says your coming back. To throw them away says, No more. It is a line drawn in the sand. Fat can’t breed if it can’t hide, people! Fat ass no more.

I love the new me, which is really the old me, before the 8 years of fatty me. Fatty was the culmination of discovering the working world, a somewhat sedentary lifestyle and bad fast food. Feeding the temple became a process anything goes, while focusing on being financially free. My book, Noodle Flipper Chronicles: Confessions of a Real Estate Operator discusses this journey. I became financially free. However, the untold story, in my personal life, was amazing how far I’d fallen. Apparently, I’m not much of a multi tasker.

Am I the first male to ever admit this? The challenge to free my mind usurped wholesome care for the very body that carries me to freedom. Damn. I can be thick sometimes. The temple was forsaken. Can I forgive me? A bloated sack of dough was me. What is that saying? Can’t see the six pack for the beer belly? Forest for the trees or something? That’s me. Sigh, the challenges of life are many.

FAST FOOD FASTER POOPS

1.31.13

One month anniversary of my first marathon. To celebrate I was going to run a ultra in Billings. Snowed all night. I will take a raincheck. Tomorrow? Sounds good. I will spend today writing.

Tested theory. Went to burger joint for gut rot, had to wait in line, five cars deep. Not moving. I’m here almost against my will to begin with and now I have to suffer this? My push to test my gut conflicted against my fiercely protective value of time all waged against a chicken sandwich and salted fries. Waiting. Talk about adding insult to injury. Caught between drooling and impatience, I drove away. Barely. I showed them. I really love my chicken sandwich. I’m sad.

Then I thought, I will try the taco place as it’s only a bit further. See, I can compromise! I love you so, my mistress, I’ve missed you… wait.. The greasy bag and.. your smell, your taste.. Um, but now you turn my tummy. Literally. You belong to others now, sweet sorrow. My dog ate them. True love. But then again, Abby will eat anything. An hour later I had to run to the bathroom. I’m so over it. Even with all the fast food I have consumed in my life, my body has healed and knows it will not process what it once could. I am free. I’m happy. Seriously. I physically cannot consume that stuff anymore. It has real, immediate physical consequences. I like results. How much better than the insidious, unseen? Wow. How far I have come. I can truly only consume food now. Duh. Why are we so stupid to think otherwise? Marketing. Tricksters. I own this.

Experiment completed.

Amen.

1.31.13

HEALTHY IS WEALTHY!

Why do people care more about the grade of fuel they put in their car, than they care about the fuel put in our bodies? Why do we like to be fat in our society? For all the care and words we hear of people fighting fat, there is a lot of fat to go around. Look around you. Obesity is very, very real.

I believe that the term diet is largely a creation of our modern lifestyle. There has only ever been one method of eating. Our ancestors survived to create us. They knew what to eat. That is consuming, through trial and error the foods around us. Be it plants or animals and mostly both. Wholesome and holistic. Period. Science and marketing and processing foods are modern invention and corrupting what is an already perfect system. Evolution rocks. Marketing sucks. Convenience shouldn’t sacrifice my pant size. Or lessen my looks, my health, my vitality. I don’t want what is foreign to my system. I don’t need antibiotics in my food. I don’t need chemicals I don’t understand, I don’t need dyes, I don’t need processed, bleached, leached and altered. I certainly don’t need preservatives. I don’t need enriched crap. I do not need GMOs. I don’t need profit driven multi national companies instructing the FDA what is safe to eat when it is directly attached to what makes these companies the most money. Edible food like substances are not food. Franken foods? Send them back to Frank. He can eat them. Assholes.

Why is this forced upon me? This is not what I want. Give me liberty, give me what we used to have before modern marketing and processes. What the world had before approximately the 1950’s. Today we call it organic. Foods free of human tampering. Nothing manmade. I want foods harvested in a drug free and chemical free environment. Picked under the sun by human hands. No monoculture. Not from a factory, lab coat and gloves. I am proud to be man, I am proud to feed my soul the foods God gave us. Return to the core, our ancestors, our healthy times. Give me real foods! Paleo, dairy, cheeses, probiotics, nuts! Whole foods for whole people. Read up on it. This I understand. Foods my body processes properly. Health is wealth. The only true wealth there is.

Growing up on the farm, we had real foods. Modern convenience foods were a treat for us kids when we went to town. I used to love me some fast food. But I never grew to like fast poops. Was this phenomenon connected somehow? Thought so, but never much cared because the treat was worth the price. Ahh, youth. carefree even if what I’m doing can hurt me. When were young kids and teens our bodies are so strong we can mostly handle all of these chemicals, preservatives etc. We get used to it. Our body accommodates. Its not until later the true cost is apparent. Bad skin, obesity, bowels etc. We wonder why?

Simple truth, so simple and so easy to inherently know but we think, why would we be sold food that can harm us? The FDA and government protects us consumers right? As you munch on an enriched bun with a meat patty full of preservatives and drugs? Why would they let me consume something that will hurt me? It doesn’t compute and ignorance is bliss. The constant of corporate demand is a stronger will than the occasional public outcry of what is wrong. The will of the people is largely silent and self involved on a million other things. Insidious. Yes. Ten years later, the health problems, the fat, the etc. etc.. is staring you in the face. We cry, Why, would government allow this happen? Pathetic. To late. Way to go, America. Wake up people.

Why do we want to be fat in our society? Our youth centric society and marketing tells us all to consume and be perfect. The reality is far from the truth. You can’t take in all the bad and expect our bodies to not fail under the burden of constant assault. Our remarkable, perfect bodies can only handle so much abuse. Being ignorant is not an excuse.

Fortunately, most of what is bad can be corrected. You are free in our society to make your own choices. Make them. Don’t listen to what others market. Find your answers. Take charge of your body, quit being marketed too. We are a free market economy. If there is no demand for the bad crap in the store, it will disappear from the shelves. We face an onslaught of marketing everyday. It is hard to separate fiction from fact. It is hard to even know what is true when our entire baseline of history has been immersed in a society of marketing dollars. The truth is out there. Real nutrition. Real food. Real products that do not bathe us in chemicals are out there. 10 percent of the floor space of our average grocery store has the foods we need. Search them out. Better yet, your local health food store, 90 percent of its floor space is dedicated to real food. Real food costs a bit more in the short term in dollars. In the long term, the price paid gives you glowing skin, smaller pants, good health.

Who doesn’t want good health? There can always be health issues, but isn’t it your responsibility to feed your body the right fuel? To minimize what can go wrong? To prevent as much as possible? At the very least, you can say that you ate right. And mean it. If something does go wrong, the right fuel used is one less thing to diagnose.

No excuses.

IT’S NOT ABOUT WHAT I WANT, BUT WHAT MY BODY NEEDS

2.1.13

Rethinking the body mantra:

Since I have been talking about real foods and what we really need to fuel our platforms efficiently, maybe it is time to take a moment and look at our bodies. This is based all on consuming foods that we are designed to eat. Real food. I want to really flip your noodle. I believe that my body’s ability to store fat is not a curse as our modern society feels, but a blessing. What? Who is happy about storing fat and getting bigger clothes?

Me Me Me! Well, not the bigger clothes part or storing excess amounts of fat. What I’m excited about is that, really my body and those like me are the epitome of efficiency. Fat gain? What the flubber?

Think about it. All of these people that have metabolisms that can burn through so much food and never put on fat. How would they survive in the wild? Inefficiencies in nature do not last long.

What about what our modern, youth centric society desires and finds appealing? Skinny at any cost is not honoring the body that carries you. It is at odds with what is real. Skinny lean is ok if it is by design, By this I mean proper food and exercise.

I propose this simple idea: A body that can convert a small amount of food into enough energy to sustain life and put some away for future use, is by definition, an efficient platform. Let the scientists argue theory if they must. They can take it up with my spinach, eggs and my smaller waistband. It’s the difference between a gas guzzler and a hybrid. No matter the size, little or big, what has the lowest operating cost? A hunter gather that can put on fat has a lower opportunity cost of staying alive. A civilized man in todays’ world has a lower operating cost the more efficient the body is. Efficiency defined by consuming less. I’m not talking starving, crap foods or any disorders, I’m talking about real foods people. Finding the right level of intake for the right level of output. Talk about a 180 degree spin of what we feel and believe in our society.

As Dr. Bruce Banner sayeth, Don’t make me… hungry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m…. hungry. Hulk rules. We have to soothe the savage beast. I like to stuff my face. Who doesn’t? I consume too much food. Why? I don’t know. Why do we like to be fat in our society? This paradox of what images we are given and what we are, is maddening. I believe availability and comfort are the answers. We like comfort and stuffing our faces. Binging. It is peace and happiness. Temporarily anyway.

Another part of the puzzle? Age changes our metabolisms. Youth needs more to grow. Adults need less to sustain. Age makes our bodies more efficient at storing energy. It seems our appetites are strong when we are growing. The joke? They stay that way after we grow up. Son of a bitch. I love eating! I put on weight. And more as I grow older. Simple. Anything I consume beyond what my body needs is stored as fat. Simple. Lets define this.

On my path from being a healthy muscle bound nutrition nut in college to a fat ass in these past 7 years to now being able to complete ultra marathons, I have a unique perspective. I have discovered much. A big issue for me? A constant in my journey? Portion control. It has always been a problem for me. I was raised to finish what was on my plate. I finish. No matter what I put on my plate. This is a problem of conditioning. I have not been able to circumvent this training. Really. So the next step? Knocking out the food I may or may not really like and focus on what my body needs. Not what I want. It became a quality issue. I needed good foods that wouldn’t make me fat. Or at least not fatter. 5 years ago, I cut out all fried foods. Felt better, but I didn’t lose much weight. 3 years ago, I started watching refined goods, convenience foods like chips etc. Didn’t stop, just became aware of how much of these nothing foods I consumed. Moderated consumption. Didn’t gain any more weight. 225 was my max. Hovered around 218. 2 years ago. No more chips, fries etc. in my regular day. Sometimes a snack would be ok. Also I started experimenting with greens drinks, 4 hour diet, fruits, etc. I started to lose weight. 200 to 218. No consistency. Hungry, dissatisfied and too complicated. I like simple. I needed more knowledge.

Finally, I researched the Paleo diet and really the context of simple whole foods. This isn’t even a diet. It is simply, real unadulterated foods. It is nutrition. Whole foods, my friends. I am not deprived, I am eating real foods and as much as I want of them. Beautiful. Breakthrough! Simple!

A big step? I eliminated cereal for breakfast. I could never portion control cereal. The bowl is this size, so it needs to be full. Duh. Then I add milk and more sugar. Yum. Not good for me. Cutting out processed grains really was the game changer. Instant weight loss. Instant feel good. Adulterated, processed grains are nutritionally inferior and actually cause physical damage. Whole grains every once in awhile are ok. Any grain bastardized by being processed and enriched. No. Really? A farm kid, raised on an small grains farm saying such a thing? Blasphemy! I do like corn and rice. Sometimes. God gave us corn to pop, people. Sushi would not be the same without rice. Hello. Bread was made to be buttered. Duh.

Gone were processed foods, especially grains and refined sugars. I minimize all grains as the carbs are instantly stored on me.

Consistently, steadily losing weight. A pound or so on average every week. Sometimes more sometimes less. But always, I look and feel better. I feel full and satisfied. I was starting to develop allergies in 2011. I have never had allergies. Scary stuff. My body was telling me to switch fuel grades. The allergies have disappeared. Also, physically, my calves and my back no longer hurt. Is that nutrition or less mass to carry? Probably both.

To honor the temple is a worthy price to pay to feel good.

Healthy is wealthy. The only true wealth we have. The really cool part of what I am learning?

My wonderful body is so efficient, it is amazing of how little I need to eat. Seriously. Those of us that can store fat have a good thing. We only need to learn how little we need to consume. I am still learning. A typical day for me?

Well let us look at perfect foods: My favorites:

Eggs. Natures perfect food. Vegetables. All. Except for potatoes. Sweet potatoes are ok. Especially love baby spinach and baby kale. Popeye was right. Gosh I love blueberries. Nuts. I love nuts. I never thought I would be man enough to admit it. Especially almonds and walnuts. Fermented foods and drinks: Kombucha, Kimchee, sauerkraut etc. They keep our system optimal. Meats: all, especially bison. Smoked Salmon. On my adventures I eat pemmican. It is a native American meal of dried chokecherries, bison and the bison fat mixed together. Amazing. Anything from the ocean. Seaweeds like Nori. Any sushi! it’s too good.

Spices, raw honey, teas, coffee, wine, kombuchas.

I love eggs. Boiled, fried in macadamia oil, scrambled. yum! I get one egg for breakfast. With this I can have sauerkraut or kimchee and a salad of spinach kale, etc. sometimes I will cook it all together. Delicious! I also love food God wraps in wrappers. Bananas especially! Oh and I have a glass of juice, real juice. This week it is Simply Nutritious, morning blend, though h I try to minimize sugars., maybe a glass a week.

Lunch: a 6 inch flat bread yellow egg with all the veggies except yellow banana peppers. Not because I don’t like them but because they are dyed and have preservatives. Toasted. With apples and green tea. I don’t know what it is about this meal, but it gets me. By the way. I don’t eat the flat bread. It is like a banana peel, I peel it as I go to get at the delicious meal within. Dinner: as long as it’s not processed I will eat it. Usually ground bison, a salad of baby spinach and baby kale. Yum!

This is not a lot of food in a given day. I am now 195 pounds. I used to eat 3x this amount, and not all good foods either. My bowels are no longer a waste warehouse with ill chemicals and other foreign substances that the smells alone can knockout a passerby, but a healthy system. The savings in toilet paper alone save a forest! It does not cost a fortune to eat great foods when you know what to eat and how much you need. Not how much you want. I have taken my body back from the marketers. Knowing my body has brought me peace. I feel healthy and like a kid again.

I do spike foods once a week, meaning, eating as much as I want, usually on Saturday to load my body and keep the metabolism going. On race days, I can generally eat anything I want of the foods I like. After a 14 mile day last week, I had a steak and a baked potato. I earned it. Yes, occasionally I cheat. I belong to this generation of crap food lovers. Bring on the Oreos! And milk. Yum.

The weirdest part of learning how backwards we view our bodies in todays world, is also that many of the fake foods I used to enjoy? I can no longer consume. I can taste the fake.

After awhile of not consuming what is forced on us, I can tell what is not right by taste and feeling. That takes care of the urges to stuff my face with bad substances. Sometimes I get an urge that is too strong. To fast food I go. I can eat the patty as the bread tastes gross, the fries I can force a handful in my mouth, but the salty deliciousness I remember is cancelled out by the acrid gross aftertaste of the fake oil the fries are cooked in. A couple times of this cures my desires!

Our bodies are a precision instrument. We have only to listen. A big one for me is milk. I grew up drinking udder juice. I was always phlegmy and running was not good. I would hack up saliva to no end. No more. Milk. Gone from my life. Except for cream in my coffee, yogurt and cheeses. Every once in awhile.

Vinegars, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut. The more the merrier. Salt too. Along with all of this. Water. The nectar of life itself.

My body is my vessel to all that I will ever do in this life. I need to take care of it so it will take me to wherever I may roam. It takes care of me, I must take care of it.

It’s not about me, it’s about what my body needs.

Efficiency

If I can do the same task as another, but consume less energy to accomplish. It is like getting rid of your incandescent bulbs and replacing with L.E.D. Consuming less energy to do the same task, then I have a decided advantage. If my resting metabolism is less than the other, I can exist for less. The advantages are many to my body type. A singular really cool factor? To be lean, I consume less. To stay even, I stay the same, to add weight or insulation in cold climes, I only need to increase my food intake by small amounts. Incredible.

This is so simple. Why has it taken me a lifetime to figure out? Every magazine, every article, every picture confuses me. It took me being in the rat race, becoming a fat ass and wondering what the flipper? happened to me.

Realization is the game changer. Realizing that I was fat, I could no longer hide behind the denial of years that hid my fat rolls behind bigger shirts. No excuses.

I’ve Been Marketed to

Have you been marketed too? Yes. Every day, every hour someone is telling you through media what to like and who to be.

Why is there so much misinformation about foods, products, image and everything else out there? Everyone wants to sell you something. Endless chatter. On the airwaves, the fridge, bathroom counter. Looks at all the crap that you have that has been marketed to you. Daily. Endless. Do you have a valid reason to use the toothpaste you use? Other than reciting the spot ad facts? Probably not. This is true for all of our modern consumerist lives, but lets get back to food. Lets get to basics, even a long held belief such as, (insert product here) makes you fat. Bullshit. Nothing makes you fat. We make ourselves fat through the choices we make. Shocker.

Make conscious choices!

Part 2

Training and Gear

Self Discovery is the Epitome of Our Life’s Journey

Chapter 5

2008-2012

My lower calves were aching more and more. It was my body telling me I needed to walk more. I occasionally go hiking, backpacking etc. Still my lower legs were stiff. Like after a really intense workout, except every day 24 hours. I was becoming afraid that something was wrong. Diagnosis: Pussy. In my search of career and bills etc. The diagnosis was one of: oh well, part of life. Put back in the Deal with it some year file.

In 2009, my father passed away. Relatively young, this headstrong, seemingly healthy man, suddenly died. I don’t have the answer for why. What I do know is that, as he grew older, he chose to consume and forgot the staying in shape part. Almost as if it was a earned right. Being less active kind of became a lifestyle. I seemed to be following this path. Wakeup call. Scary. I started walking more. I made dedicated trips to the park to walk. The goal was simple, 2.25 miles every day or, at least, a couple times a week. It helped.

This became progressively more and then less. The ebb and flow. In 2012, I started occasionally running with my walks. I did not get shinsplints. This is a first. I like this. A lot.

Journal entries:

12.20.12

I ran 7 miles today. In 58 minutes. I walked for 1.25 of those miles. This is without trying. Weird. Even weirder? I like it. I want to run a marathon.

Actually, I am. My buddy and I had talked of doing one. We agreed and to hold ourselves to it, we wrote it on his bulletin board as a goal for summer 2013. It is of our own creation. The Beaten path. From Cooke City to East Rosebud, a bit over 26 miles. Perfect!

I have done some ultras backpacking and canoeing. I have never done a marathon or ultra in running, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing. That’s going to change. The idea is great! Dang, be careful of an idea sowed in a fertile mind. I agreed to something I have never done.

When I led backcountry crews, I was in great cardio and physical shape. One day, the horse riders left camp, I challenged myself to catch up to them. I did it! I caught up to the horse riders. It took me all day. Try it. That’s hard.

I can do this. 26.3 miles. I think I can. I will at least try my hardest. I will be happy with whatever the outcome as long as I have given it my all.

12.23.12

209 pounds. Run. 4 miles? 1 hour. Icy had to walk after sun settled. Beautiful. I feel great!

12.25.12

14 miles. 3.5 hours. 4 miles per hour. Doesn’t seem to impressive except that, I had to break trail on fresh snow over ice and crust on hills. 2 to 6 inches. That was hard. Ran the first 2 miles hard. Walked and jogged to switchbacks. Solid 14. Ran 5 to 6 walked rest. 3.5 hrs. I’m tired. I think I can totally walk a marathon in 7 hrs plus. Run walk probably about 6. Over halfway mark. Still a long way to go to actually run it.

Confidence and lung capacity and weight loss are all increasing dramatically. I am hoping that since my body had to feed the fat, My new body can feed more efficiently since heart and lungs already have that capacity. Now it is helping me run.

208 lb.. 18 lb. to go to college weight.

12.28.12

Went x country skiing this afternoon. Took off at 2pm. Beautiful. 15 degrees. Snowing when I started, soon it was partly cloudy.

It felt great to be on my skis! 16 miles? Learned the next day that I only did about 12? Bummer. But.. I had the idea of a life time:

I want to do 52 Marathons in 52 weeks!

Whoa.

Chapter 6

LIFE IS A HUNT

12.29.12

My body is not designed for this punishment. Can you see the attraction? It is said to focus on weaknesses to make them strengths. The time it takes makes your weaknesses stronger and your strengths the same for all around mediocrity.

It is also said to focus on your strengths to become great at your skill set. Weakness is part of us too. Hmmm. I’m not a runner. The attraction? I want it more.

Life is a hunt. I want it more than anyone else. I will be stronger than anyone else. Why?

I don’t know except to say I need this.

There is no glory on the trail, it is punishment, yet it makes me smile. The hardest thought, only 15 miles more to go! The saddest thought after going so far? Is its nearing the end and time to go home. The maddening realization I want more. I crave the path that wants wear. I am proud to give it my all. The path claims me as its own, only my will keeps me free. I plod on. One foot in front of the other. Because I realize, miles is smiles. A year leading up to this. 2 months of progressively running longer distances. A couple half marathons completed. I’m going to try it. 27 miles. I’m ready. Sort of.

First Marathon. Ever.

12.31.12

Billings. Riverfront park. 0 degrees. Frost on the snow, trees bow with the weight of glistening angels. Frost forms on my hat as I run. I’m blessed. Deep breath of that crisp cold air. Mile 9. That’s a third. Stop, hydrate, think and plan. Not so bad. I can do this. I had no idea all these trails existed here. Cool. But I’m growing tired. Desire. Run. Mile 9 to 11 solid pace.

The first 14. Halfway. I hurt. I walked among these miles. My mind is not focused, I have to run a business. Maybe I should have not planned so much for one day? Stop to take calls and nourish. Need singular focus. Mile 15 tough. Where do I go? I find myself smiling in the agony of my choice. Brutal cold and crunchy powder on trail. Hard. Like, running on the beach. Abby, my boston terrier is too cold, put her in truck. I walk because I can. I want to run. Can’t. 17. 18. Cold. Lost core heat. Scared. No heat in the furnace? I don’t know what this means. I don’t care. New territory for me. I’m weak. I haven’t physically been here. I hurt. A half marathon is not a whole marathon. I’m not leaving till it’s done. Push. Simple. Can I? Can I do this? Mile 19. I got no gas left.

They aren’t making any more 2012. 9 miles to go. I’m cold. My core is gone. I have no warmth. Push. Miles is smiles. This thought now my mantra. Boom boom crush. Go. Miles is smiles. The beauty of the frost on the trees and the steam of the water between the ice is amazing. Happy place. Go. 21. I hate this Garmin. It lies. I’m sure I have gone 30 miles. 21.2 miles. I’m going to scream! But I can’t. One foot in front of the other. Why? I lose my way. I see another run past. They are here for fun. Walk or run a couple miles and go home to their false sense of comfort. Sadness. I want to go.

Bullshit. I need to finish. Have to go to meeting. 22. This is mine. 23. 5 miles to go. I will do this. I hurt so bad. Have to stretch. Losing light. Run. Joke. Walk faster. Do. Pause and stretch. Feels good. 25. Going to miss meeting. Call to cancel. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Journey begins but with one step. One foot in front of the other. 26.4 marathon. Not so great. I’m here. Go. Goal 28. Losing light. I have spent my day doing what I did not know I could do. I weakly smile. I’m not fast. Not setting any records here. I’m doing this. Why? I don’t know. 27. Close. Back to car. Want more. I want to cry, I hurt so bad. 2 tenths more. K. Argh. 27.1 miles. Done at dusk. I’m not going to destroy myself for 28. I will take it. Prayer and to your glory, amen. It is not me. I prayed to God today, my ancestors and my dad for strength. I say a heartfelt, thank you. I’m wiped out. Go home. Heat on high. Long hot shower. I reflect in the warmth of the mist. 64 miles completed in 10 days. In 6 days: two half marathons and one full marathon. I can do this. I like it. I smile. To bed, so I can whimper in peace. Pain. I dread tomorrow and the hurt it will bring.

Morning. Feel great. Recovery awesome. I think I can do this epic quest! I will be ready for our marathon this summer. I like this. A lot. But, a maddening idea strikes. I want more. What? Is this possible? Time and my body will give me the answer to my question. Mentally, I’m ready!

Chapter 7

EPIC QUEST TRAINING

Red Lodge Nordic Ski Center ultra cross country ski trip.

1.08.13

If i’m going to marathon, it is going to be doing the things I love. I’m going to go places I have always wanted. I’m going to go around the world, in backcountry and on the water! I need gear. Hehehe! Need to define this further.

Beautiful day and a groomed trail. Snow a bit worse than a few days earlier when I did the half marathon. I had learned much from that trip. I’m not here to explore. I’m here for miles. Miles is smiles. Stick to the groomed track. Cross country skiing is amazing but it is not the most efficient means of travel as skis slip. Motion is lost to the sides and back. Staying in the groomed track keeps the majority of effort into forward