Injuries are our best teachers.

We move forward, but we must stay in the present.

You can hurt more than you ever thought possible, then continue until you discover that hurting isn't that big a deal.

Only the most saintly and delusional among us welcomes all pain as challenge, perceives all loss as harsh blessing.

We all lose sometimes. We fail to get what we want. Friends and loved ones leave. We make a decision we regret. We try our hardest and come up short. It's not the losing that defines us. It's how we lose. It's what we do afterward.

We strive toward a goal, and whether we achieve it or not is important, but it's not what's most important. What matters is how we move toward that goal.

For me, challenging myself with this type of endeavor [ultramarathons] brings the best out in me because even at the darkest, deepest moments when I feel like I can't go on, when I feel like there's no chance I could break the record or much less finish the trail, somehow I find that strength inside of me.