The Ten Commandments of Endurace

Marshall Ulrich

Ironman Wisconsin is officially one week away.  It still baffles me that I am less than 7 days away from the race of my dreams.  I get butterflies just thinking about it.  I decided that I would share one of my favorite motivational posts I have found.  It's called the 10 Commandments of Endurance.  I found it back in 2010 when I was looking for motivational quotes.  It was originally posted on the Endurance Planet Blog at www.EndurancePlanet.com.  It was in response to an interview on one of their podcasts back in 2009.  They interviewed Marshall Ulrich, who was dubbed "The Endurance King" by Outside Magazine.  Sounds appropriate considering back in 2008 he ran 3,063 miles across America in just 52 and a half days.  That's the equivalent of 117 marathons.....in 52.5 days....wow!  During his interview with Endurance Planet he explains his Ten Commandments of Endurance.  If you'd like to listen to the podcast follow this link: Ten Commandments of Endurance Audio.

10. Expect a Journey and a Battle - 

Life is not always simple. Don’t think that it’s just going to be smooth and not a rocky road. Accept that in your mind and then you can deal with things.

9. Focus on the Present and Set Intermediate Goals - 
Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. Just stay in the present. If you've got some sort of problem…just deal with that. Take a deep breath and solve that one problem and then you can go on to others.

8. Don’t Dwell on the Negative - 
I think it helps to step outside of ourselves and not live in our own space or our own head too much. Look at what’s happening out there and focus on even problems of the world or other people. It kind of takes that focus from ourselves.

7. Transcend the Physical - 
If you've got an injury, say you've twisted an ankle and you want to keep going–providing you’re not doing damage to yourself–take that focus off that ankle. You can keep going as long as you don’t get locked into thinking about it continuously. You can transcend that physical aspect.

6. Accept Your Fate - 
Just accept it for what it is and take it one step at a time.

5. Have Confidence that You Will Succeed - 
Recall experiences where you've had success in the past. It will give you confidence to go beyond what you normally thought you could.

4. Know That There Will Be an End - 
There will be an end and we can go on to more fertile soil.

3. Suffering is Okay - 
That’s the human condition. We’re all going to suffer on one level or another.

2. Be Kind to Yourself - 
If you’re running and you need to walk a little bit. That’s okay. Know that you have weaknesses just like anybody else.

1. Quitting is Not an Option - 
Everybody is going to think about quitting. I think about quitting. But you can’t let it overwhelm you. You can’t let it stop you from your success. And if you frame it in that way–that quitting is not an option–I think that’s the best thing to do.