If it's not on the calendar, it doesn't exist
A quick glimpse into my 2026 Misogi.
One of the most powerful things I’ve learned over the years, especially when it comes to accomplishing a goal, is that if it’s not on the calendar it doesn’t exist. A small but mighty action that can either make or break you ever doing that thing you tell everyone you are going to do.
For me, that big date on my calendar this year is October 31st. The date I will run 100 miles through the Arizona desert. And yes, it scares the crap out of me just thinking about it.
The 100 mile distance is what first inspired me to start this weird, yet incredible fascination I have with endurance running. Watching the documentary Unbreakable one evening in Pacifica, I was in awe of these people who were running 100 miles through the California back country. It was that same night that I signed up for the Black Canyon 60km, my first ultra marathon.
Back then, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing with this sport. But, we never do when we begin something for the first time. I think that’s one of the cool parts of just getting started … you get to learn so much. All the stuff is new and exciting. Maybe a little challenging, but still full of lessons.
Finishing that first ultra in the Arizona desert and feeling both physical exhaustion, but also a euphoric feeling of self confidence that came with it, is something I’ll never forget. The magic feeling that finishing something really, really hard does to a person is hard to describe, but if you’re ever accomplished something that pushed you to your very core, you understand this feeling deeply. And, you only get that feeling the first time you accomplish that thing.
Over the years and through all the different races I’ve done, the 100 mile distance has always sat way out in the distance. It was something that maybe I’d do one day. Almost as if I was waiting on the right conditions or the right time to sign up. I’m sure many of us struggle with that feeling when it comes to starting a new goal.
That’s why the calendar becomes so important. It serves as the forcing function that determines whether or not you mean it. Whether or not you are willing to do the work that is required to accomplish that goal. For me personally, I’ve always found the days between signing up for something new and the day I accomplish it as the most meaningful parts of the goal.
Most people call this the journey, and there's a reason that word gets so much attention. It requires us to evolve…to leave behind the old version of ourselves in order to meet the demands of the goal ahead. It's the intentionality behind how we live during that stretch of time. And that tends to stay with us long after we cross the finish line.
In the months ahead, I will document a bit of the training and my approach to getting ready for this, to include some of the micro dates on the calendar that will be important to the process. But most of all, as a record for what it takes to put myself into the best position possible to achieve the outcome of traversing 100 miles in the hot and dry Arizona desert.
Now that I have the date locked in on my calendar and the contract with myself is signed, it’s time to get to work.