Daily Dose Podcast — Elevating to the Next Level: When Peaks Become the Start for the next Breakthrough

By Scott Sambucci | February 25, 2020

No more $10 ice cream sandwiches.

It’s been two weeks since I finished the Tarawera 100 – a 100-mile ultramarathon in New Zealand. 

Usually the emotional overwhelm of completing a race like this brings me to tears at the finish line. That didn’t happen at Tarawera and since then, I’ve been struggling to figure out why.

Meanwhile, I’ve been giving myself permission to go lax on my diet. Friday night was the pinnacle – I ate more than an entire pizza, downed two large IPAs, then capped off the gluttony with a $10 ice cream sandwich.

Do you know how much ice cream and cookie goes into a $10 ice cream sandwich? 

My next race is on June 27th – the Western States 100, the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race. More than 10,000 runners try to land one of the 369 available spots every year, and I got a spot in the 2020 race.

Not only do I want to cross the finish line, but I want to earn the silver buckle that goes with completing the race in under 24 hours.  I’ve never finished a 100-mile race in under 24 hours. The Western States is one of the toughest races in the world – 18,000’ of elevation gain,, yet I know I’m capable of reaching this goal.

After Tarawera, I told myself I’d go easy for a few weeks and start training sometime in March. I’d eat what I wanted. Train less. Give myself a break.

But I can’t. I spent Saturday morning mapping out the next four months of my life, work and training. I’ve been hitting the garage the past week and feeling strong. On Sunday, I paced a local 13.1-mile race, and felt good the whole way.

I’ve got four months to the race start and no excuses about why I can’t start my training now. Today. On February 24th. So I am. Right now./

I’m plenty proud of finishing the Tarawera 100, but what I realized is that was once a peak accomplishment is now my foundation, my starting point for the next big thing. It’s time to break through the next ceiling, to elevate my mindset and personal expectations because I know that I can. 

All of the work, all of the training, all of the endurance races that I’ve done over the past 12 years is all just foundation to get me here, to a place where I can seize this opportunity ahead of me over the next four months. The only person holding me back is me.

This is my public accountability to every single person reading this post. My goal is to run the last 1/4 mile around the track of Placer High School knowing that I’ve done it – to see a finishing time of 23:59 or better. To cross the finish line at 4:59AM or sooner on Sunday, June 28 because I know that I can, if I put in the right work and the right effort in the next four months.

Let’s do this.

#GoFarther