do what scares you
If you’ve read my blog or listened to my podcast, you know that I’m a huge geek for ultra trail running. Summer is a fun time to follow the sport of ultra running, because a lot of the big mountain races are taking place.
This past weekend I spent way too much time following the Mountain Outpost live stream of the Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run. If you haven’t heard of Hardrock, it’s one of the most difficult 100 mile trail races in the US. It takes place in the San Juan mountain range in and around Silverton, Colorado. It’s legendary.
Hardrock is a difficult race to get into. Runners are required to run at least one challenging qualifying race. They then enter a lottery system that favors runners with a lot of experience. Many people wait upwards of 10 years to run Hardrock…if they get in at all.
As a result, the small field of around 140 runners is qualified: each has a number of tough mountain races under their belt. Some runners are fast. Some are slow. Some are middle-of-the-pack. Pretty much all are seasoned. And for that reason…and because it takes so long to get in, Hardrock has a high finisher rate.
And that in itself is remarkable, because the course is HARD.
It’s 102.5 miles and has more than 33,000 feet of vertical gain. (That’s more than climbing Mt. Everest).
Much of the course is over 11,000 feet in elevation.
The highest point is Handies Peak, which sits above 14,000 feet.
While the fastest men and women finish anywhere between 21 to 30 hours, the race has a cutoff of 48 hours. And much of the field finishes closer to the cutoff.
48 hours of continuous movement!
Even to me (and I love this stuff), it just sounds nuts.
And terrifying.
And did I say nuts?
The live stream coverage of Hardrock acknowledged every single runner, from the leaders all of the way to the back-of-the-pack. And as the first day of the race turned towards evening, people in the live chat on the YouTube stream began to cheer on a runner named Laney.
Laney was the last runner appearing on the race tracker…basically, the last runner still on the course.
Laney was chasing cutoffs. Night was falling, and she was headed into the dark alone to climb Virginius Pass.
I’m not sure how many hundreds of people (or maybe thousands) were on the live stream at that point…but everyone was rooting for Laney.
Laney made it to the next aid station, Kroger’s Canteen, which sits at the top of Virginius Pass at 13,000 feet.
Just as the aid station was being broken down.
She had missed the cutoff at Kroger’s.
Her race was officially over.
But the aid station volunteers welcomed her, fed her pierogies, and gave her a bench to sit on to look out at the night sky.
Then they all hiked back down the pass together.
I know this because Laney was interviewed the next day on the live stream. Laney is an experienced ultra runner, but she’s a back-of-the-packer…like me. And while she admitted to feeling emotional about not being able to complete the race, she said something that’s still ringing in my ears.
She said (and I’m paraphrasing):
Do things that scare you. Do things that you’re not sure you can do. Do things that you might fail at, because you won’t know until you try, and in the big, scary challenges, that’s where you find life’s adventures and lessons.
I love Laney’s words. And they scare me. Over the course of my life, there have been many things that I’ve wanted to do, but felt too intimidated to try.
My brain has a governor that says:
That’s too hard, and you’ll probably fail, and it could even be dangerous, and how would it LOOK to everyone else if you DID fail? Better to aim lower. Better to aim for something safer.
And yet, a part of me longs to aim a little higher, to try something a little scarier…because what if?
What if I could do more than I thought I could?
What if I could survive more discomfort than I thought?
What would I learn about myself?
And if I failed, how bad would that be anyway?
How much learning would be in that failure?
How much wisdom would there be in that learning?
I’m not saying that I want to run Hardrock…it still sounds legitimately nuts.
But Laney inspires me to push the edges of my comfort zone a little. To do things that will stretch me to be stronger. Better. More dialed in. She inspires me to challenge my assumptions that I’m not capable and give it a try anyway.
What do YOU long to do that scares you?
Or that feels too difficult?
Or that you think you might fail at?
What’s stopping you from just doing it anyway?
From trying and seeing what it’s all about?
What would happen if you failed?
What could you learn about yourself…how much more might you be capable of?
And even if you failed, what could you learn for the next time around?
As I think about the stuff that I want to do that scares me, there’s a visceral feeling of butterflies in my gut.
I can imagine what Laney must have felt like toeing the line at Hardrock as a back of the pack runner, hoping to get up and down the mountains with enough time to beat the cutoffs.
It’s scary…but also exciting.
I’m excited to see what happens if I give myself permission to do what scares me.
I invite you to do the same.
Let’s talk! Click here to schedule a free connection call with me. And for more juicy life stuff, check out my podcast, coming home (to yourself). As always, may your week be filled with self-love and rich insights. With love, Amy ♡♡♡