How much longer? How much more?
How much longer do I have to keep going? How much more effort do I need to put in until I see the results? How much longer do I need to suffer until this is over?
Whether we are moving toward ambitious goals or fighting not to give up after we've been knocked down by life's struggles, we ask these questions.
These are the questions that sit at the core of human existence.
And I think they are the reason why people view running as more than a form of physical exercise.
Running is one of the best metaphors for life. Whether you are going for a 10-minute run down your street or you are running a marathon, the questions "how much more?" and "how much longer?" are going to show up.
And, if running is one of the best metaphors for life, American ultrarunner Harvey Lewis recently gave us an equally powerful and beautiful life lesson with his running.
Some of you may be familiar with the name of Harvey Lewis from my book The Art of Showing Up, where he took up a special place as one of the three people who greatly inspired my philosophy of consistency.
By running every single day, and I mean literally every single day, even if it's just 1 mile, Lewis managed to become one of the world's best ultrarunners while being a full-time teacher and living a life much more similar to yours and mine than to the one of David Goggins and other inspiring but unrelatable (lifestyle-wise) ultra-endurance athletes.
But this time, I'm talking about Harvey Lewis because of something other than his consistency.
A couple of weeks ago, Harvey Lewis won the Backyard Ultra World Championship.
Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra is a “last runner standing” race.
Competitors have to run a 4.167-mile lap every hour.
They all start running together at the beginning of every hour and are eliminated if they fail to complete a lap in an hour or if they are not ready to start running at the beginning of a new hour.
The only rest they get is from the time they finish the lap until the end of that hour.
The length of one lap is precisely 4.167 miles, so competitors would run 100 miles every 24 hours.
For how long does this madness continue? Until there is only one person left running and they complete one final lap alone.
In 2021, Lewis won by running 85 laps. That's a little over 354 miles, or 569 kilometers.
This time, he crushed the world record and completed 108 laps.
108 loops. 108 hours of running. 450 miles. 724 kilometers.
The only time he could eat, sleep, and go to the toilet was whatever time he had left once he finished his lap and before the next one started.
4 and a half days of barely taking a break from running and sleeping only 8-10 minutes at a time.
Take some time to comprehend what this man achieved.
If you asked me, I would say it's impossible. But it's clearly not. So, how did Harvey Lewis make the impossible possible?
"One more lap" mindset.
How far do you think he would go if he started his first lap thinking "107 more laps to go"? He would probably be psychologically crushed halfway through. He's confirmed this in multiple interviews, saying that the single most important thing in this race was focusing on just completing the lap he was running at that moment.
Once again, this is why running is one of the best metaphors for life.
Whether you are right now on an exciting but overwhelming journey toward your goals or if life has brought you down to your knees and you are barely keeping it together, the message is the same.
One more.
One more moment. One more step. One more day.
Looking too far ahead only tricks you into feeling more exhausted than you actually are.
By thinking "how much longer?" and "how much more?" you are, rather than taking one step at a time, putting the weight of all the future steps into this moment right now.
That's not the reality of your situation, no matter how challenging it may seem and feel. You cannot and don't have to bear all the weight at this moment.
But if you ask yourself honestly if you can take one more step, you will always find out that you can.
And that's what I'm inviting you to do. You don't have to run 450 miles. Just be the hero of your own race.
Stop sabotaging yourself by wondering how much more and how much longer.
Get through this moment. Take just one more step.
And then the next one. And the next one. And the next one.
Thank you for reading.
Free Resources:
My free ebook: The Lost Art of Reading
Paid Resources:
The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency
The Gold Pill: Timeless Ideas for a Life Worth Living
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Really enjoyed reading this, I only use Substack when I’m at the gym and it’s solely for your page. Happened to open this one while on the treadmill and I turned my 5 min warmup before strength training into a 20 min run. Much love brother, stay strong and disciplined.