Before I had a chance to run the Western States 100, my mentor in the ultra running world Franz Dill described it as “living a lifetime in a day.” I never quite understood what he meant until I completed the race, but not shockingly, at mile 90 it all of a sudden made total sense…
The beginning was just trying to get to know the world, the middle was filled with learning experiences that shaped us into the people we become, and the latter stages are spent reflecting and sharing knowledge and wisdom with the next generation of hard chargers…
A couple weeks ago our LTP Go Hard squad was in Vegas and played a game that had all sorts or twists, turns and dramatic events…
Ultimately, we lost in the last inning in a heartbreaking fashion.
When reflecting on what had just transpired in our executive post game debriefing soon afterwards, I turned to former college teammate of mine at UCLA and co LTP general manager Chad “Chipper” Matoian and said, “Dude, these super competitive games that we play are starting to feel like doing the Western States, but instead of living a lifetime in a day, it’s kinda like living a lifetime in a game.” 😅
I then explained to Chipper the Western States “lifetime in a day” analogy & he immediately agreed…
It’s my belief that the absolute best any of us can ever hope for is to truly LIVE OUR LIVES, the same way the most we should ever desire to get out of our races or games, is a WELL LIVED epic experience…
Look, of course, we all want to win, we all want to run our best race and play our best game, but ironically, it’s both the wins & losses that shape us into the absolute best versions of ourselves… Without the trials & tribulations, we will never be able to truly appreciate the triumphant victories… We will never know the comfort of warmth without experiencing the discomfort of the icy cold…
Bottom line is that each activity that we do in our lives should actually have an entire life of its own…
Whether it’s the lifetime in a day at Western States, lifetime in an 11U baseball game or a lifetime attached to any other personally meaningful activity, let’s just make sure to keep fucking LIVIN. 👊
-EB
P.S. Have you hopped on a Team GoHard Foot Reflexology Board yet?
