Ultrarunning: the first step
Ultrarunning is a very specific and demanding discipline: it involves running very long distances on mountain trails. Tens, even hundreds of kilometers with thousands of meters of elevation gain.
Running for dozens of hours, during the day in the sun, during the night in the cold, in all weather conditions, against pain and fatigue.
The question I'm most frequently asked is: "How can you accomplish such a feat?"
Or: "How can you run over 100 kilometers around Mont Blanc?"
The answer is the same one we could give to many other questions, such as:
“How can we move forward in life when everything seems to be against us?”
“How can we resist when all we see around us is darkness?”
“How can we get what we want when all we can hear are hostile voices?”
The answer to all these questions is only one: one step at a time, one meter at a time, one kilometer at a time.
The most important step in ultrarunning isn't the one you take when the long race begins. It's not even the step you take when you think you can no longer do it but you push yourself further. The most important step in ultrarunning is the one you take before you even hit the trail: deciding.
Deciding to accept the challenge and look at life from a new perspective: that of someone who stops being a spectator and starts actively participating in their own life by putting on their running shoes. Deciding to take responsibility for themselves by listening to themselves and no longer to others, listening to the voice that says "You can do it!" and no longer to the one that says "It's not worth it..." Deciding to savor the true flavor of existence, the scent of freedom, and the priceless feeling of being in control of your life when the effort of a workout rewards you with the knowledge that you are better than before.
Our entire life is a succession of decisions, at work and in the personal sphere. If you don't make these decisions, someone else will do it for you, and most likely all this will take you to places you won't like.
Decide now to decide, accept the challenge, look beyond. Define your goal and the action plan to achieve it. Success is guaranteed, because "success" is the past participle of the verb "to happen." Decide now and start making things happen. You decide, don't let someone else do it for you.
Put on your running shoes and hit the track. Take the first and most important step on your journey. Long or short, it doesn't matter; what really matters is that it's your journey. And remember: one step at a time, one meter at a time, one kilometer at a time... And you'll get where you never thought you could go.
