Inspiration

I read this amazing book in the last week, it is called Ultra Marathon Man, confessions of an all-night runner by Dean Karnazes.
One of my friends that likes to run recommended that I read this book if I was ever looking for inspiration and motivation. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I was immediately taken in by the author's writing style. As I read and was amazed by how articulate this guy was in sharing his journey, I began to feel more and more like putting my runners on and heading down the road. He shares some familiar ideas;
' it became clear to me that the Western States Endurance Run would be primarily about one thing: not giving up. It really didn't matter how long it took to get the job done; what mattered was getting it done. This was an exploration into the possibilities of self. Being a champion meant not quitting, not matter how tough the situation became, and no matter how badly the odds seemed stacked against you. If you had the courage, stamina, and persistence to cross the finish line, you were a champion. '
Dean also takes his passion and uses it to help others. He has run 199 mile relay races to raise money for children to have organ transplants. (the relay is designed for teams of twelve to run 5.5 miles each, three times, Dean ran it as a team of one). He has run this relay twice and on the third time, challenged himself by adding on an additional 26.5 miles (a marathon). He may be a little bit crazy for doing some of the things that he does but I don't think so. He is no different that we are as we push ourselves to do 1000 of anything in a day, a week or a year. We are all striving towards mastery and pushing mediocrity out of our lives.