81 Days to Ultraman Mexico

07/28/25 – 81 Days to Ultraman

I’m writing this while making dinner: baked chicken, sautéed red pepper, white rice, and sesame garlic sauce. I’m jittery. My mind feels empty, but underneath I know there are thoughts roiling. Mitch contacted me to say he put an offer on a property in Colorado. I am excited for him and Madison. They have dreamed of having a place for a long time. It is at high elevation and I could go there before Mexico to get some training in. It doesn’t look like there is a pool or swimming source nearby, though.

I am nervous about the race. Good nervous. The point is to do things that make me feel this way. This type of fear is better than the dread of listless comfort. It is going to be a massive challenge. Thinking about it is overwhelming. I couldn’t have signed up for a more challenging race. I just don’t know if I can do the training and earn the money I need to pull it off. Even with both of those bases covered it is too big a challenge to know it can be done.

It makes me wonder why I am even trying. Why did I pick the most difficult circumstance to do an Ultraman? It was my only option at the time. I told myself if I go for it, I will be better off even if it doesn’t work out. Well, I have made it this far. I am about to get through the second major trip of the year and my third weekend of racing. After Milwaukee, all that is left is Mexico. I truly don’t feel I have enough time. I know it will be a matter of will. I simply cannot train at the level I need to be truly prepared. But that has been the case for every single event I’ve done. I have always found a way to the finish line, even in the 50-mile run where I came in just after the time.

I am in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I am training. I am working. Between now and then, all I can do is work to get to the starting line. After that, all bets are off. So fuck it. Don’t worry about finishing. Don’t worry about anything other than getting there. Three long days. One long day at a time. One leg, one moment at a time. That is how these things are done. That is how everything is done. I signed up to put myself all the way out there. Well, it certainly feels like I’m out there. It feels like staying in Hattiesburg before taking the train to Tucson. I had no idea what I was doing then. I just did it. Signed up, got to the start, and lived through everything that came my way. Mexico is no different. Now I am worried and unsure. Good. That’s how I know I’m going into a new area. That’s how I find new levels of self. How often do I wish I could find more, make more, of myself. Here it is. Go get it