“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
When most people think about running their first ultramarathon, they imagine the finish line. They picture the final miles, crossing the finish line, the exhaustion, the emotion, and the satisfaction of accomplishing something they once believed was impossible.
What they rarely think about is what may be the hardest part of the journey.
It isn’t mile 40. It isn’t climbing a mountain in the middle of the night. It isn’t sore legs, blisters, or aching muscles.
More often than not, the hardest part of your first ultramarathon isn’t getting to the finish line.
It’s getting to the starting line.
The Race Begins Long Before Race Day
Long before you pin on a race bib, another race is already taking place. It’s the race inside your mind—the conversation you have with yourself every time training gets difficult.
Maybe you tell yourself you’re too busy or too old. Maybe life throws unexpected challenges your way, and you convince yourself you’ll start again next year. Or maybe you quietly wonder whether someone like you even belongs in an ultramarathon.
These thoughts rarely arrive all at once. They appear slowly, disguised as logic.
“I’ll wait until life settles down.”
“I don’t have enough experience.”
“I’ll never be fast enough.”
“I’ll sign up after one more marathon.”
Over the years, I’ve had plenty of reasons not to race.
When I ran my first 100-miler, my wife was eight months pregnant. She stood at a few aid stations throughout the night, making sure I didn’t give up when things got difficult.
Days before flying to Florida to run across the entire state, I came down with a terrible cold. A few weeks before another race, I accidentally drove a box cutter into my knee at work.
Then there are the birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, work obligations, and unexpected life events that force you to adjust your training.
The excuses always sound reasonable. That’s what makes them so convincing.
But here’s what I’ve learned.
Getting to the starting line is part of the training.
Life rarely goes according to plan. Training teaches you to adjust, adapt, and keep moving forward. That’s exactly what you’ll have to do during an ultramarathon.
Every obstacle before race day is preparing you for the obstacles you’ll face on race day.
Fear Is Creative
I’ve learned something over the years: if you go looking for excuses, you’ll always find them. Life is incredibly good at presenting reasons not to chase difficult things.
There will always be another responsibility, another bill, another family obligation, another injury scare, or another reason to wait.
Fear has a remarkable ability to disguise itself as common sense. It tells you you’re simply being realistic, but deep down most of us know the difference between wisdom and fear.
Fear rarely tells us to grow. It tells us to stay comfortable.
Yet every meaningful goal requires us to become comfortable being uncomfortable.
That’s one of the greatest gifts ultrarunning has given me. Once you learn to embrace discomfort, very little can stand in your way—not even the miles between you and the finish line.
RELATED: Running Your First Trail Ultramarathon: Four Lessons Every Runner Should Know
Becoming a Runner Happens in a Single Step
One of the greatest lessons running has ever taught me is surprisingly simple.
You become a runner the moment you decide to run—not after your first race, your first marathon, or your first ultramarathon.
The identity comes before the accomplishment.
Every ultrarunner once stood exactly where you are: unsure, inexperienced, and wondering if they belonged.
The only difference is that eventually they took the first step. One decision became another. Then another.
Commitment Is More Powerful Than Motivation
People often ask how I stay motivated to train.
The truth is…
I don’t.
Motivation comes and goes. Some mornings you’ll wake up excited, while other mornings you’ll want nothing more than to stay in bed. If your training depends on motivation, your consistency will disappear the moment motivation does.
Commitment is different.
Commitment doesn’t negotiate. It simply shows up.
There have been mornings when I’ve stepped outside at 1:00 a.m. to begin a long run before my family woke up.
There have been freezing winter mornings when my eyelids nearly froze shut.
There have been scorching summer runs where I found myself standing inside a grocery store’s walk-in freezer just to cool down and gather myself before continuing.
Those runs weren’t powered by motivation. They were powered by commitment.
Stop Asking for Permission
One mistake I see many first-time ultrarunners make is looking for reassurance from everyone around them.
They ask family members, friends, coworkers, and anyone willing to offer an opinion.
“Should I do this?”
“Do you think I can finish?”
Most people mean well. But unless they’ve experienced ultrarunning themselves, they’re trying to explain something they’ve never felt.
Running fifty or one hundred miles isn’t logical. It’s deeply personal.
I’ve learned to keep my biggest running goals to myself. The fewer opinions I invited in, the more my own belief grew.
Sometimes the only permission you need is your own.
The Starting Line Is Earned Every Day
Many people think courage appears on race day.
I disagree.
Courage is built quietly. It’s built on ordinary Tuesdays when nobody is watching—during the training run you almost skipped or when you lace up your shoes after a difficult day at work.
By the time race morning arrives, you aren’t hoping you belong there. You’ve already earned your place.
The starting line simply becomes a celebration of all the invisible work that brought you there.
What This Means for Your Training
If you’re training for your first ultramarathon, don’t judge your progress by one missed run or one difficult week. Training isn’t about perfection—it’s about showing up consistently despite life’s interruptions.
Those interruptions aren’t distractions from training.
They’re part of it.
Keep Moving Forward
Before my first ultramarathon, I thought the challenge would be surviving race day.
And don’t get me wrong—race day is hard. It will push you beyond what you thought was possible.
But the real challenge was believing in myself during months of training. It was showing up when nobody cared—running before sunrise, after work, in the rain, and during the weeks when progress felt flat.
Every one of those decisions led me to the same place.
The starting line.
And once I stood there, something unexpected happened. I realized I’d already won.
Because getting to the starting line had already transformed me into someone capable of finishing. Crossing the finish line was simply the celebration.
So if you’re dreaming about your first ultramarathon, don’t spend all your energy worrying about mile 50. Focus on today’s run.
Take the next step. Then take another. Because every ultramarathon begins long before race day.
And sometimes the hardest part isn’t finishing.
It’s simply having the courage to begin.
Ready for Your First Ultramarathon?
If you’re looking for a simple, step-by-step guide to training for your first 50K, check out Long Run Academy: Your First Ultramarathon.
Inside, you’ll learn how to choose your race, train with confidence, fuel properly, and prepare for race day—without overcomplicating the process.
Plan. Train. Finish.
About Long Run Academy
Long Run Academy is the educational platform of LongRunLiving, helping runners build endurance, confidence, and a lifelong love for running—from the first mile to the first ultramarathon.
